Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley – One of the most famous children's story characters in the world, besides the Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck or Robot Cat Doraemon is family Moomin and friends, written by Finnish author Tove Jansson.

Round, adorable, recognizable white characters, with adorable gestures and a colorful, family-oriented world Moomin instantly became a favorite character of both children and adults.

Beautiful, lovely and humane, family Moomin has been a companion of many generations of children around the world, from Europe, North America to Japan, Korea, appearing in all mass media, from TV series, movies, live-action children's programs, comics, coloring books, dolls, stuffed animals,… but strangely… family Moomin very rarely appear in the game!

Aside from a few “blood-sucking” mobile games and low-quality minigame collections, fans of the Moomin family have never had the chance to fully experience Moominvalley… until Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley Launch!

Developed by a team Hyper Gamesa small but experienced independent game studio from Norway, they promise that this is the “most complete” game about the Moomin family and Moominvalley, with an extremely interesting adventure and full of the spirit of the original books by author Tove Jansson.

So can the Hyper Games team deliver the complete Moomin gaming experience they promise? Or? Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley will continue to be forgotten among the myriad of other failed “copycat” games?

Let's find out with MarkGame through the following review!

YOU WILL LIKE

Winter is over, Spring is coming!

Melody of Moominvalley follows Snufkin, a close friend of the Moomin family, especially Moomintroll. He often spends a lot of time with the Moomin family and friends, but leaves in the winter to escape the harsh cold of Moomin Hollow and leave the Moomin family to hibernate.

But this winter, something strange has happened! When Snufkin returns in the spring, the once peaceful Moominhole is full of rubbish, rude policemen and signs – but worst of all, his best friend Moomintroll is… missing! And it will take Snufkin’s wits and musical skills to track down his friend and restore peace to Moominhole.

The most impressive thing the Hyper Games team has done with Melody of Moominvalley is to convey the very distinctive drawing style of artist Tove Jansson in their own style while still maintaining the spirit of the original.

The game's world is filled with soft, gentle colors that look like they were drawn with fine pigments, with simple touches that seem like they were drawn with colored markers to decorate the environment, and the outlines of the details also have a very clear “hand-drawn” feel, giving the feeling that they were painted with pastels, crayons, or watercolors.

The characters are then placed in environments with particularly interesting animations that balance between rough and smooth, making the player feel as if they are sometimes watching a stop-motion animated film made of colored paper, and sometimes reading a beautifully illustrated picture book, but still making movement, puzzle solving, and exploration feel fluid and convenient.

These visual elements combine to create a poetic, beautiful and extremely lively Moomin Valley, but most notably, it does not “dissolve” into previous products. From Sniff Cave, Bathing-House beach, Moomin family house to the stream flowing at the foot of Lonely Mountain, familiar and strange locations of Moomin Valley are now open for players to explore, the game also expands to locations such as the cave system inside the mountain, or interesting and completely new locations on Hattitafener Island.

The magical world of Moomin Valley is now animated in a very modern, innovative way, but still meticulous and respectful of the original.

And this modern, unconventional yet deeply respectful spirit is also carried into the game's storyline and content. Snufkin's adventure will have him running around Moomin Hollow, searching for his friend Moomintroll, while helping other residents of the valley such as The Groke, Moominpapa and Little My on their own adventures, and it seems that no character is more suitable for this role than Snufkin.

Choosing Snufkin as the main character rather than the “brand ambassador” Moomintroll was a bold decision in itself, but the Hyper Games team understood that Snufkin was the right character to tell the game’s story. He is a more flexible, more clever, and above all, more “wise” character to solve people’s problems. His personality is also more quiet, making it easier to “blend in” with the stories surrounding the adventures of Moomintroll and other characters.

And this makes the story that Melody of Moominvalley wanted to tell a much more prominent story. Although Snufkin is the main character, the game's story is actually more about Moomintroll and Moomin Hollow, and it is through a special character like Snufkin that we can feel the game's extremely profound messages about nature, peace, and friendship.

Another thing that makes Snufkin such an effective protagonist is his… musical talent. With his ability to play the flute, guitar, and drums to solve puzzles in the game, Snufkin also contributes significantly to the “construction” of the music in the game, making the game music always seem to match what Snufkin is experiencing, making the atmosphere and world of the game more enchanting and attractive than ever.

Snufkin also contributed significantly to the “construction” of the music in the game, making the game music always seem to match what Snufkin was experiencing, making the atmosphere and game world more enchanting and attractive than ever.

YOU WILL HATE

Simple, simple.

Despite the excellent visuals, sound and content, Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley The gameplay is a bit lacking. The main gameplay revolves around Snufkin using three instruments, with different controls, to solve different types of puzzles.

This makes certain moments in the game more impressive and engaging, especially when the game's music matches the notes Snufkin plays during special puzzles and chase sequences, but unfortunately the game makes very little use of these interesting sequences, mostly just having Snufkin play music at times that are somewhat “out of place” and solve very simple puzzles to clear the way.

Not only that, the game also has a very strange and redundant “upgrade” mechanism, forcing players to spend time collecting musical notes to “upgrade” musical instruments, solving “higher level” puzzles, instead of placing these puzzles parallel to the plot naturally.

Another significant drawback of Melody of Moominvalley is a very short game. It only takes 3-4 hours for players to complete the game, and collecting all the items in the game only takes players about 1-2 hours more.

The journey to Moominvalley was so magical, but it ended so quickly!

The game uses those interesting segments very sparingly, mostly just letting Snufkin play music at off-key moments and solving very simple puzzles to clear the way.