All I know about Finland is Kimi Räikkönen, Rauniot, The Moomins, and some bloke who created Linux. From my experience, they have a hilarious and often dark sense of humour, and also a penchant for some heavy metal. Unsurprisingly, Last Drop is a hilarious adventure with a dark sense of humour; there are metal licks throughout, quite a bit of driving, and you could play this on Linux. There are no Moomins, however. Splendid.
Based on the trailer alone, I approached this with a relatively clean palate. On the one hand, it looked like an offball sandbox with an unusual, but somewhat relatable story, though there were also a lot of goofy segments that gave an air of Just Die Already with the large amount of absurdity and ragdolling. It also looked incredibly clunky, which it is, though it’s also in Early Access stage, so all is forgiven.
With that in mind, I initially booted this up on the Steam Deck to see if it’d work – which it did – and was impressed with how good the graphics are, though, naturally, they didn’t work so well in application. Fine: it’s not Steam Deck verified, so will put this on the super duper laptop, which again, pretty much wowed with the texture details and lighting. Once the god-awful motion blur was toggled off, it looked pretty decent. Before going any further on superficial values, what’s it all about…?
Last Drop follows struggling writer Zeze and his pals, who essentially get themselves into one too many situations. It would be wrong to say this is a coming-of-age thing, as Zeze has passed that and seemingly passed everything and missed his potential. However… he’s on the cusp of finishing his first proper book and is ready to go to the editor. His hopes and dreams are soon to be realised, allowing him to escape the city and live out his life in the country as a professional writer. The only problem is a couple of wrong ‘uns have barged into his apartment and nicked it, holding it to ransom.
What follows is a series of side quests – most are obscure and seemingly pointless, but mostly enjoyable to act out. What I find appealing about Lohkare Games’ title is the world-building and freedom. You’re able to walk around town or hoon it about in a banger, much like GTA, though less populated and dramatic. Everything about the game feels low-key but charming and inviting. The sea of tower blocks would sometimes instil a bit of depression, but I was adamant about wandering around and soaking it up.
Y’see, Last Drop is inspired by real events and an actual location. It’s way different to the typical cities and slums you’re used to in gaming and instead feels very real. That bubble bursts quite frequently with the intermittent jank and poor cutscenes. Interestingly, the game starts well with cinematic panning and setups. The story and dialogue (voice acted in English, though when out and about, it’s the original dialogue with subtitles – the best option, methinks) are mental. It’s quite hard to follow what’s actually happening in scenes, not just because of some of the translations, but technically, the cutscenes jump a bit and are often flawed. Interestingly, the in-game visuals and textures, while occasionally scatty, are very good.
My biggest issue, which is a user error, is the lack of autosave in-game or when exiting. I’d managed to lose all my progress on the next playthrough and was unable to skip through the majority of dialogue. Again, It’s Early Access so no big deal, but frustrating nevertheless. Without a doubt, the unusual story paired with the 80s references (while taking place in 1994) is the biggest highlight and makes you want to explore. Zeze isn’t your typical protagonist, nor are the characters you interact with either. Additionally, like any good sandbox, there is definitely a lack of morals, encouraging players to unlock their special abilities by boozing it, driving like a nutter, and picking random fights with people that mimic old school beat ‘em ups. Just don’t expect anything exciting or reliable camera angles.
Despite all this jank, Last Drop is charming. Once the loading screens reduce, the autosave options kick in, and there’s a bit more on the narrative path for our hero, this could potentially be quite a cult hit. As we all know, technical things can be ironed out (we hope!), but there’s undoubtedly charm here, fun storytelling, and the freedom to be a successful scribe, or embellish life as a lush with your deadbeat mates. I choose both.
