i’m-officially-a-moomin-guy-now

It’s been a terrific couple years for unlikely video games based mostly on beloved comedian characters. Not the apparent superhero comics—I’m speaking a few couple way more shocking variations, like final yr’s Crayon Shin-chan life sim on Nintendo Switch and the upcoming Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley, which simply obtained a pleasant highlight through the Wholesome Direct.

Why aren’t extra videogames based mostly on Nineteen Forties Finnish image books, anyway? I am unable to reply that, however I can say: I believe they need to be.

Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley relies on the Moomins, a household of soppy, spherical characters dreamed up by Finnish artist and author Tove Jansson many many years in the past. They’ve starred in books, comics, animated reveals, and films through the years, however that is the primary time I’ve seen a Moomin game that actually captures the model and texture of Jansson’s artwork. Like many video games on the Wholesome Direct, it seems to be downright cozy, however I recognize it is not one more life sim.

Melody of Moominvalley is extra of an exploration and puzzle game, where you play because the Moomins’ buddy Snufkin, who has type of an elven adventurer vibe. Likes touring solo, communes with nature, yada yada. “It’s a musical adventure game about restoring harmony and valley to Moominvalley and protecting it from the industrious Park Keeper,” the builders clarify within the video above.

Snufkin additionally performed a giant position in my first introduction to the Moomins, the Japanese anime movie Comet in Moominland (the Moomins are huge in Japan for causes unknown to me). It’s a cute movie, and this new game has impressed me to observe some just lately fan translated episodes of the of the Nineteen Seventies Japanese Moomin cartoon. By the time Melody of Moominvalley is out subsequent yr, perhaps I’ll have watched sufficient of the collection to have the ability to correctly clarify what a Moomin is.