Mira is a point-and-click Slavic-themed adventure game that is full of art and mysterious encounters. Developed and published by Too Husky, Mira was released on March 25th, 2020 for PC. This game’s folklore vibes and green aesthetic drew me in, along with its point-and-click story style. While it has an intriguing story, its lower rating is largely due to some major grammatical issues. Otherwise, the game is entertaining and functions well. So, with that said, let’s dive into the details of Mira, the forest, and her Slavic fantasy mystery.
In the beginning, this game feels incredibly spooky. It comes off as a horror/thriller type of game because of its dark appearance and soundtrack. I honestly felt very creeped out and was worried that Mira would end up being gory and ghostly. However, despite my initial reaction, Mira definitely isn’t a hack-and-slash horror game. Instead, it follows a dark, fairy-tale-style story. You’ll find yourself a little lost when first playing the game, but that’s okay. If you can stick around for the first few minutes, you’ll be sucked into the story in no time.
Mira is available on Steam for $8.99 USD.
The spooky, mysterious tree.
Story
The game begins with a woman at an orphanage. This woman is later known as Mira. While reading fairy tales to the orphans, Mira finds herself on a fantasy adventure amongst the Slavic creatures. The game often switches back and forth between the human world and the fairy tale world. The human world knows these Slavic tales and sees them as fictional, but Mira’s fantasy world is very real. Or so it seems. This feels confusing at first, but it makes more sense as the story progresses. It is difficult to tell whether or not Mira is mentally-ill, or if she’s actually part of the Slavic fantasy. But that’s the fun part: you must play if you want to understand what’s really going on. As the game nears its end, the player gains a better understanding of the story. However, I will say that the ending isn’t exactly fulfilling and leads me to assume there may be a sequel to Mira.
The biggest complaint I have about the story revolves around its grammar. There are several misspelled words, too many unnecessary commas, and sometimes there are missing words. This may be nothing more than a translation error, but it does need to be addressed. Any editor could fix these issues quickly and likely wouldn’t need to charge the devs too steeply. Without these grammatical errors, the story is rather unique and entertaining. Further, as I stated before, the story does seem to end rather abruptly. But, this isn’t really a problem unless the devs aren’t planning on making a follow-up to Mira. Overall, it is important that the story flows well since this is a story-oriented game. Implementing better grammar will help Mira reach an even higher rating and better reviews, as the story itself is appealing.
Gameplay
The gameplay is rather simple in this game. The player simply points at objects and characters to move Mira and to view the dialogue. You’ll want to make sure that you hover over the entire scene each time because there are bonus discovery items in certain areas. These data are collected and compiled into a book. This helps you understand each species and character that is mentioned in the game. That’s about it regarding Mira‘s controls.
Like most point-and-click games, the most difficult part of this game is its puzzles. Some of the puzzles make sense, and others are difficult to find a pattern for. There are many puzzles that involve symbols and witch references, which is pretty cool. Others feel random and while there probably is a pattern to them, I simply guessed until I got it right. Nonetheless, I wouldn’t say that any of the puzzles are really overbearingly difficult. Most of them only take a few minutes to complete. Additionally, this isn’t a free-roaming game, so it’s not too hard to navigate. You simply complete each section and move onto the next. Another interesting aspect of Mira revolves around free-choice. The player is allowed to make a few choices that range from minor to very serious, which makes the story even more interesting. This makes me want to play through the game again and make different choices to see if there are different outcomes or new cutscenes.
Mira and a dark creature.
Graphics
As with many story-driven games, the graphics in Mira are among its best aspects. In fact, I believe that Mira’s Slavic fantasy-themed graphics are what saves this game. Despite Mira’s grammatical issues, the graphics help hold the player’s attention. The mossy greens and vibrant animations often distract from the story’s errors and make up for its poor sentence structure. I feel that the game looks like a hand-painted fairytale that has been digitally animated, making it much more lively. My experience with the game leads me to believe there are no visual glitches or errors, which is definitely a win for the game’s devs.
There are several instances where certain objects glow different colors, which really makes the backgrounds pop. This aspect also draws attention to the important objects, helping to differentiate clickable items from the decorative ones. The background objects flow with the wind and act as if they are real rather than being boring and stationary. The creature’s animations have to be my favorite part of Mira‘s graphics. This is especially true in regard to the kinder creatures. They are very cute and pleasant. They help bring some hope and peace to an otherwise uncertain universe.
Mira and the Architect
Audio
Mira’s music comes in as a close second to the game’s number one aspect. As one would expect, the music in Mira matches its Slavic fantasy aesthetic quite well. Some games have soundtracks that are good yet have an annoying song here and there, but that isn’t the case for Mira. The music style is consistent and it matches the game’s theme and aurora. I think that the game’s sounds effects are what really make it feel the spookiest. For example, the player can hear trees whispering, and some of the creatures sound incredibly demented. The audio keeps me on edge more than anything else does, which almost gives the game a slight thriller aspect. While there aren’t any jump scares or anything similar, the sound effects keep me on my toes, constantly expecting an attack of some sort.
The background fillers are nice as well. The birds chirping and the wind in the background blends well with the music. The volumes seem to be well-balanced and nothing feels too loud or too quiet. In Mira, the player doesn’t have to worry about that awkward bone-chilling silence, even when they’re idle or working on a puzzle. The game’s audio does more than just add to it: it gives the player a more realistic experience.
