The rain was pouring outside, but fortunately, I had managed to find shelter… however temporary. See, some odd words on the wall almost literally told me to press on. To leave my sanctuary behind. I decided to do just that, under the safety of my umbrella of course, and lo and behold, not long after did I discover a note lying in the mud. A note which made me remember, but also piqued my curiosity as to what lay ahead, ice-cold rain be damned.
Now, most point-and-click adventures feature extensive dialogue, intricate puzzles and a variety of locales. Not so with Petrichor. Here, you’ll be trekking back and forth across the same water puddles quite often, learning more as you go along, each new discovery (read: note) granting access to otherwise unreachable areas. A bit of Metroidvania, I suppose.
You won’t be able to put new ‘abilities’ to use immediately, however, as first, a trip back to a campfire is required to, well, dry the paper, I suppose? Quite stylishly designed, if a bit cryptic, these things. The first you’ll acquire enables jumping across gaps, while the next lets you climb… and so on. In a way, I guess these could be treated as puzzles, however simple. I prefer to think of them as abilities though, as you’ll be using them numerous times before the end. Oh, speaking of the ‘end’: for some reason, even though walking in the rain isn’t harmful, attempting to cross under even small waterfalls is quite lethal (hint: umbrella). Peculiar.
Aside from that, the only downside is that it’s a rather short adventure, running about twenty minutes or so for most. But that does also mean it won’t outstay its welcome, as the amount of backtracking required can get a bit annoying, even if the sound of falling rain is oddly relaxing. That and I have to say, while the art style is extremely low-fi, it does look pretty darn good, on top of matching the overall experience nicely.
But don’t just take my word for it. Petrichor is not only free but also available for Windows, OS X, and Linux, so why not take a walk in the rain yourself, and see what happens? Oh, and its soundtrack (Bandcamp), is full of soothing tunes which, again, goes well with the actual game. Groovy.
