PaperSeven is an independent studio based in Brighton, UK, and was founded in 2011 by three friends who were members of Black Rock Studio. Early on in their history, the studio specialized in mobile games, but in 2014 the steam shifted gears to their own IP and developing consoles and PC. Their first release for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Steam was called Blackwood Crossing, and came out in April 2017. (I know, that’s how far behind I am on some of my games!) It’s a narrative-driven adventure game published by Vision Games Publishing.
I’m going to try and stay away from spoilers. I know, it’s a three-year-old game, but the story is something to behold.
Blackwood Crossing is a story-driven first-person adventure game exploring the relationship between Scarlett and Finn, orphaned siblings growing apart as Scarlett is coming of age and leaving childhood behind. When they cross paths with a mysterious figure, a seemingly ordinary train ride evolves into a magical story of life, love and loss.
From http://www.blackwoodcrossing.com
The game revolves around Scarlett and Finn, two orphaned siblings riding a train. The main conflict at the beginning seems to be their age difference; Scarlett is around 15 to 16 years old, while Finn seems probably 8 to 10. (It’s never stated, that’s just a guess.) After playing a game of Simon Says, Scarlett comes face to face with a person wearing a rabbit mask (I instantly thought Donnie Darko), and that’s where the game gets mysterious.
The train gets new places to explore, like the greenhouse of Scarlett and Finn’s grandfather, and the treehouse the two shared. Scarlett even gains the ability to “give life” to objects, and control fire. There’s also something called Umbra that appears; it’s repelled by light.
Finn eventually becomes angry at Scarlett; that she’s spending less time with him now that she has a boyfriend, and she shouldn’t have left him alone. There’s a moment of choice-based gameplay that happens in the treehouse, and the game shifts to a new location – Finnland.
The climax follows soon after, and it is a doozy, as you’ve spent two hours and change getting to know these two. The game packs a lot of life into its short playthrough.
Rosie Jones voices Scarlett, and Kit Connor voices Finn. Those two did an incredible job of bringing the two to life. Their relationship seemed natural to me; believable that they were siblings riding together on this train. And the way PaperSeven handled the whole “Scarlett’s growing up, but Finn’s still a kid,” was real and believable as well.
(Not to mention, Finn just kept on reminding me of my own kiddo; he’s only one and a half now. And that constant reminder just made the ending that much harder to swallow.)
If I had to get nit-picky, I do wish I had played the game with a mouse and keyboard instead of my controller. (I played on the Xbox One) The controls felt strange, and it took me most of the game to get used to them. Other than that, I wish Scarlett had some other movement option than just walking; in the wide open spaces in the game like Finnland, it would have helped the overall pacing of the game out.
There wasn’t a whole lot to do with replay value, aside from the choice I mentioned earlier in the review, but there are some collectibles you can find in the game that may take you a second run through the game.
Overall, PaperSeven did a wonderful job with their first game for PC and consoles. The few hiccups I encountered didn’t ruin my enjoyment of Blackwood Crossing. It also shouldn’t ruin if you’re planning on picking up the title at all. It’s available on Steam, PlayStation 4, and the Xbox One, and it’s normally $15.99!
