Grundislav Games returns with their best adventure yet: Rosewater, which is available now on Steam. The developer’s back catalogue is relatively small, but Lamplight City was excellent, and A Golden Wake looks like the business. If only Lady Time would grace her presence and give a cheeky wink in this direction for some extra time in the day…
Freelance writing is a mug’s game, and one would be better off seeking their fortune sniffing out nuggets from the webbing of a forty-niners’ soggy plate in the Wild West than pursuing such folly. A belief which Harley Leger intends to disprove as they seek their fortune in the titular town, seeking the Way of the Journo. A destiny doomed for failure? Fortunately, AI doesn’t exist in the 1800s.
Like Thomasina Bateman, Harley is a strong female lead who can handle herself in an alternate timeline populated by dodgy blokes. Heck, on her arrival to Rosewater, she flirts with being mugged, but her streetwise intuition and strong left hook keep her on her toes. Don’t you know, she’s an ex-boxer? It is not a skill synonymous with a point and click, but it is enough to keep her out of, but predominantly in, trouble.
Rosewater Review
After receiving her assignment, Harley sets out on a road trip with her posse (spelt correctly, perv) of loveable rogues. These relationships are expertly crafted through Harley’s actions, typically by moral decisions. Are you a courteous cowgirl or a complete and utter c-. You decide, as choices matter and will impact the narrative and how your party interact. Getting ahead of things, Rosewater warrants multiple playthroughs, though, unlike many other adventures in the genre, you can shift some parameters to experience these multiple paths.
If Rosewater were released on the Amiga, you’d fill your pants – front and back, and in a sexy way at that. However, according to this note, it’s now 2025, and the visuals are far from RTX-induced puddle reflections. That said, the art style is impressive and helps paint the picture of a very vibrant Lamplight universe, which is populated by some superb storytelling and character development – fully voiced from the likes of a TB-sufferin’ favourite that, given Arthur chance, could feature in a Rockstar epic.
The time invested in its development (playing the voyeur these past few years on Twitter, then X, Steam Next Fests, and reading anything Francisco cared to share with Johnny Public) has paid off. This game is vast. It’s a little slow to begin with, but we all need some premise, and not everyone is a fan of the Wild West – even if it’s a fictional version. The hook was firmly in place after <gulp> a couple of hours.
A Road Trip Out West
Playing this in the wild (West) via the Steam Deck was great, but without the modern hotspot feature, it’d be easy to miss a lot on offer. Even since Unforeseen Incidents on the Switch, playing a point and click adventure on a smaller screen requires a pixel prod here and there. Sure, you can be a purist and say that no decent adventurer would ever consider this hack, but it would be mere tumbleweed. You do you. Besides, Rosewater isn’t a hidden object game; it’s an immersive experience – an epic – that’ll take you on a true journey of discovery, friendships, a plethora of minigames, and copious amounts of baked beans.
The puzzles in the game are fair throughout, though they aren’t the main draw. Using some abstract examples and seemingly irrelevant yet meaningful links to other games on the site, Rosewater has a little Curious Expedition flavour to it, some elements of Chronicle of Innsmouth: Mountains of Madness, but more than anything, it’s a 2D version of Red Dead Redemption 2. Not the action elements, but the world-building, side quests, and character development all add to the feeling of companionship. Stuff the science quest malarky – it’s time to hang out with the boys and explore the frontier.
Rosewater Review Summary
There’s nothing else to say about Rosewater besides saying it’s the Wild West version of The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow. Well, less folk horror and more beans and varmints. It’s a narrative masterpiece that raises the bar for game writers and levels up gamers’ empath skills, and you don’t need a decent PC to run it. The only real negative? The font used in the game? I hate the ‘g’s.
I haven’t done this in a while, but a big thanks to Application Systems Heidelberg for the review code. They do wonders for the genre with PRIM and The Plague Doctor of Wippra.
