Dordogne Review – An Imaginative Escape

Mimi, determined to discover a piece of her missing self in the picturesque French countryside Dordogne, travels despite the objections of father. Awaiting her is the quaint home belonging to her recently departed grandmother, soon to be sold, as well as a summer’s worth of precious childhood memories Mimi inexplicably has no recollection of. Why would she have forgotten something so precious, or the reasons behind her father’s strained relationship with her grandparents? This is what kept me going through the pleasant, beautifully animated adventure. Although not very challenging mechanically, this French escape was relaxing. 

As Mimi inspects her grandmother Nora’s home and the surrounding grounds for clues, I engage in quirky interactions that add a flair of playfulness to otherwise mundane actions. In place of clicking and pointing at objects, I rotate and insert keys to open the doors. Instead, I tilt a cereal box and pour it into a bowl, and all over my kitchen table. In one of the more creative scenes, word bubbles were slingshotted over a cliff in order to communicate shouting at distant friends. Dordogne always finds new and interesting ways of interacting with its environment. The small cursor is awkward to use with the controller and gets lost in the busy, colorful backgrounds. 

Mimi’s unique actions are almost exclusively performed by the 12-year-old Mimi. She is controlled in numerous flashbacks that weave the story of Nora and her vacation. The 12-year-old Mimi documents her vacation by recording sound effects with a cassette recorder and collecting tapes and stickers scattered throughout the levels. Filling scrapbooks with photos, stickers and words collected from the game is the goal. Outside of satisfying an innate desire to clean chapters of their allotted collectibles (and, unfortunately, you can’t replay chapters to find any missed ones), making these scrap pages offers no tangible reward other than the small pleasure of expressing myself in a limited way. 

It’s nice to play Dordogne, but it’s even more fun to look at it. Each scene is interactive, and you can see brushstrokes thanks to the beautiful watercolor art direction. While the framing makes certain scenes look fantastic as static images; it is sometimes difficult to tell where you are walking. You may bump into some stairs and bushes before finding your way. The character models have a similar aesthetic, and when combined with the beautiful soundtrack, Dordogne feels like an indie French art film. 

As a coming-of-age story primarily set in the early ‘80s (the adult Mimi sequences occur in 2002), Dordogne hits the right notes of being whimsical enough for kids but having enough dark overtones and mature discussions to give it some teeth for grown-ups. Mimi’s and Nora’s friendship was beautiful to watch, especially when they shared simple joys like repairing Nora’s kayak and having a picnic on the riverside. The edges of the darker backstory involving Mimi’s family add intrigue that feels decently paid off by the end. However, more clarification on vague topics, such as the cause of Mimi’s father’s lifelong resentment towards his parents, would have been nice. Players are also heavily reliant on finding collectibles letters, which can be easily missed and provide important context to key events. 

Dordogne allows me to interact creatively with the beautiful art. As someone who enjoys admiring paintings, Dordogne is a real treat. The story is also a lot of fun. Like Mimi and Nora’s relationship, there are some bumps to overcome, but good times await those willing to work through them.