Bottle: Pilgrim, a reminder that sometimes it’s better to put the bottle down and take a walk instead.
I’ve had some hits and misses with some of these walking simulators, but I still love trying them out and seeing where their story takes me and what the environment is going to be like. The first Bottle game wasn’t that great, and since this one has come out as a sequel it should’ve had a chance to better itself, and it definitely has, while also sort of sticking with the main concept of what Bottle had revolved around.
The bottle.
- Developed by Tonguç Bodur
- Published by Tonguç Bodur
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FAQ
What is this page?
This is an in-depth critique of the game Bottle: Pilgrim. I go all in with my review by picking apart the game, piece by piece. By doing this, I try to help not only the devs that created the games, but also future aspiring devs by giving my viewpoint on everything as an avid gamer, but please understand…
There may be spoilers.
Title Screen
Background
At the start of a new game, the main background will be on the right portion of the screen while the left is a solid black–and that’s completely fine. It allows your eyes to focus on the actual background, though the setting is a bit odd to look at, perspective-wise.
I’ve already played the game, so I know the location they’re hinting at with the scenery they’ve chosen to use, but disregarding that, it’s the focal point that’s sort of confusing to figure out.
Everything in the foreground is blurred.
The seagull and the…what seems to be a palm tree, perhaps, along with the rocky outcropping is blurred, because they aren’t what we’re meant to focus on. They’re more of the “tell” for the setting–something of a beach or a tropical place. And then you got the wooden deck heading out to sea that’s more in focus as well as the buoy and even the island in the distance it looks like.
Someone first booting up the game won’t understand why those three things are in focus.
Especially the island in the very back–that’s just there to have something there, honestly. One could say it’s Isla Nublar. Personally, I would’ve added a bottle floating in the sea for more of an effect, so this is something to watch out for as there’s no real context to the background chosen other than the fact the character does go here at some point.
Title Font
I don’t necessarily mind the font, but I think the “Pilgrim” portion is a bit more fitting in the sense that it’s within the bottle portion of the imagery. It reminds you of the calligraphy font you might read if you pull out a note within a bottle that you find floating in a sea.
If, you know, that ever might occur for you.
But the two other fonts are just…chosen because they look the part, I guess? There’s nothing bad about them. They’re rather generic, I guess.
Then again, so are bottles.
Menu
I really wish they’d stuck with the black background instead of the chosen opacity, or even created more of a bold stroke around the font because everything is difficult to read against the background of the sea setting.
When you click on one of the menu settings the font turns orange.
Why orange? No idea. Doesn’t really match with the color scheme. Doesn’t really help the font pop to help us out, though I guess as long as we know what we’ve chosen nothing else matters.
On the right side is a bit better, as the sections have a dark grey background to them when hovered over…though still an orange font.
- General
You’ve got your headbob–which a lot of people might not like, because it can cause headaches if not done properly–, crosshair, force feedback (not too sure on this one), and if you want subtitles off or the language you want them in.
- Controls
A lot of this deals with your mouse and controller–such as sensitivity as well as if you want the X and Y inverted or not. Plus, it’ll remind you of your controls for the game.
- Audio
You’ve got your master, music, SFX, and voice volume bars.
- Display
Choose what your resolution is, what window mode you’d like, disable or enable v-sync, and FPS limit.
- Graphics
Bottle: Pilgrim doesn’t have a large amount of options in the graphics department, despite being a walking simulator that focuses on the visual side of the spectrum. But you can tinker with the textures, shadows, anti aliasing, post processing, and effect.
Gameplay
Achievements
There are 24 achievements in total.
Plot
Every year, at the same time, a man makes a personal pilgrimage from the top of a mountain to a beach far below. Bottle: Pilgrim is a story of loss, regret and redemption, which reminds us that while we cannot change the things we have done, we can always learn from our mistakes.
Game Length
Overall, the game should take you 1.5-2 hours to get through, the latter being if you’re trying to round up all the achievements and do some exploring for some nice looking screenshots.
Replay Value
There’s not much point in coming back to play Bottle: Pilgrim after you’ve completed it.
Genre(s)
Although there are some puzzle elements to the game in which you need to look for some stuff to progress or even search for items to gain achievements, for the most part, it’s purely a walking simulator. You’re on a long walk from one place to another, reminiscing on past events, going from chapter to chapter as the memories click into place.
Controls
Can’t do much but a couple different things. In fact, you can’t even crouch in this one, though in some of their other games you’re able to. Your controls include:
- Running
- Toggling to either auto walk or auto run
Interactions
Your basic interactions involve picking up drawings and batteries for radios and that’s it. Even then, you don’t actually pick them up as part of an inventory system–you merely look at the drawings for achievement purposes.
Characters
Movement
You can only walk/run in this game, and at times, you do get hung up on some rocks in your journey, which is a little annoying. Not only that, but when the ground slants, so…do you? It’s a weird aspect. It looks like you’re actually standing sideways instead of keeping your body even so gravity doesn’t pull you down. Sometimes I felt like my equilibrium was off, but it didn’t happen a lot.
It definitely happens at the start of the game so if you’ve played it, you know what I’m talking about.
Another thing that’s weird is when you look down you don’t see your feet, though in some of their other games you can. It’s like sometimes they deem it necessary while other times they just don’t really care to put your body in.
Narrative
Voice Acting
There have been some problems with voice actors with other Tonguç Bodur games, but I really like the one chosen for Bottle: Pilgrim. Much better than the one in Bottle because you can actually understand what he’s saying, and while I think some people have mentioned he doesn’t have much emotion to his words, I think they’re wrong.
I can hear the emotion behind what he’s saying.
He’s not speaking in a purely monotone voice like you might’ve heard Katniss speaking in in Hunger Games or Max speaking in in Life is Strange. But you also have to take into the fact that he’s not completely heartbroken here and emotional because he’s a guy and their emotions are a bit more locked down than us females.
I know we don’t like hearing it, but there it is.
If anything, I don’t really like the female voice actor, but we don’t get to hear her say too much because she’s talking through the radios that we put batteries in. And maybe that’s why I’m a bit on-the-fence with her. I just don’t connect with what she says as much as with what he says.
Subtitles
There’s nothing unique about the subtitles. No black background with an opacity for an easier read against the background of the game. No real boldness to the stroke of the font to make the words stand out either. They’re just words against the screen.
I will say I never really had any trouble with reading them though.
It’s not like there was a lot of white against white.
Graphics
Style
The graphics go for a realistic style, but the different chapters offer up a different look and feel. So you won’t always be walking around a tranquil outdoors environment, but also take a trip down memory lane to a city area where you had lunch and it’s a completely different color scheme and lighting effects.
Not to mention there’s one chapter where you end up down in an alley of a subway station, I think?
It’s dark and grimy–very creepy–with graffiti on the walls, and yet there’s still a story to tell as to why it’s part of his memories in the first place.
While the environmental graphics are realism-based, there are drawings you pick up that are child-like in nature and look to be scribbled with crayons.
Soundtrack
Background Music
There’s some beautiful piano music throughout the game, and it typically plays when you progress up to a point when the character is about to start speaking, which is a good thing because it’s telling you you’re going the right way in case you’re one of those people that gets turned around easily.
Aside from that, it’s ambiance you’ll mostly hear, as well as the sound of your own footsteps.
Ambiance
The ambiance is fitting to the environment.
In Chapter One, since you’re outside in a sunny environment, you’ll mostly hear the sounds of birds chirping, but also come across waterfalls and a body of water where you can hear water lapping at the rock walls.
Sound Effects
The sound effects in the game mostly come from you walking, because that’s what walking simulators are all about. So you’re either stepping on a rocky surface, squelching in mud, or stepping in grass, and the sound does pick up pace whether you’re running or walking. Sometimes it doesn’t really match up to what you’re stepping on though, as I’ve looked down to see.
Small patches of grass don’t count for grass sounds, it seems.
Final Thoughts
While the story being spoken doesn’t elicit the kind of sadness it’s supposed to provoke within us, the last few lines of the game still managed to get an emotional response out of me. And while a lot of people don’t like walking simulators for their lack of gameplay, I enjoy playing them when I don’t want any kind of action or battles or quests thrown my way.
Sometimes I just want some scenery. Sometimes I just want to be told a story.
I got that with Bottle: Pilgrim.
