This is a lighter, narrative driven adventure where it’s more about interaction and discovery than necessarily something too hardcore. It features light interactions, lots of walking about and the occasional light puzzle solving. It’s not too long, I finished my adventure in just under four hours though I imagine some would likely take longer to visit the world.
You’re going about sucking, blowing and scanning gunk or well other stuff within this linear world. It’s a planet you’ve visited hoping to strike it big, but instead finding yourself on a bit of a noble quest to save a corrupted world. You play as Rani, one part of a duo using their skill to get the job done.
The levels are varied in terms of location, from lost mysterious structures below the surface to the wondrous landscape above. From plagued lost lands, to ruins of a time from before. There’s a deep mystery to discover as you explore and that aspect was rather interesting.
It’s perhaps somewhat bleak from the start, but fairly easy going and not too hard to really keep any particular audience out from enjoying what it has to offer. There’s not really anything to do afterwards, so this is sort of a one and done kind of experience.
You’ll be moving about the environment occasionally platforming and this has the odd loading screen here or there but it is largely seamless. You’ll be sucking and blowing a ton of gunk up. It’s the way you get the job done, never done so much prior quite honestly. You can upgrade equipment too if you gather items that you may find slightly off the beaten path.
It’s very easy going difficulty wise, you’ll face the odd foe but for the most part it’s just guided exploration down paths. The puzzles are very easy, nothing takes too much to figure out so I don’t imagine any will struggle and I felt that was fine. It just flows easily, providing a casual easy going time.
The Gunk provides a fun mystery in what’s a very easy going and guided journey, it’s rather short but at the same time a fine experience. There’s not really anything to replay here, so you’ll finish the game and likely be satisfied with what it has to offer. I enjoyed the game, though do keep in mind it’s not super long.
That could be fine though if you’re wanting something to work through in one sitting. I found it engaging enough, with some decent characters and an alright mystery behind. They could have leaned into that further since it’s somewhat light but I imagine you can have some fun working through it.
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The Gunk Review on Xbox Series X
Review Code Provided by Plan of Attack