Eastward: An Eternal Cycle of Life And Death?

Do you ever take the train eastbound? Do you ever take the train, get stuck riding in circles in a fog surrounded by giant mushrooms that turns out to be a time loop? Do you ever take the train that turns out to be the reaper of death called Charon? Welcome to Eastward, a pixelated laid back 2D adventure game with a surprisingly dark undertone from Pixpil. Let’s see what happens when we ride this train all the way to the Edge of Time… This game flew under my radar until so1o highly recommended it on their blog. I had little expectations besides journeying through The Legend of Zelda-inspired 2D dungeons. Presentation-wise, Eastward more than delivers: it’s one of the prettiest sprite-based games I’ve played in years. The attention to detail is simply stunning: from wandering around in the countryside in broad daylight to revisiting that same place during the night; light sources that radiate, heavily contributing to a cosy atmosphere; to the dark and scary-looking “human factories”…