The Red Lantern is the most illuminating game of 2020
Despite being the worst year ever, 2020 hasn’t been too bad at all when it comes to video games. So many inspiring games like FF7 Remake, The Last of Us 2, Baldur’s Gate 3… But I don’t think any have quite touched my heart, have inspired hope and a lust for adventure, in the same way as The Red Lantern.
The Red Lantern starts with you and your loyal canine Chomper in a van, trekking your way through the snowy roads of Alaska. You’re searching for something special: 4 dogs that, alongside Chomper, will take you to your new home in Alaska. You have 9 dogs to choose from on your car journey, so it’s up to you to look at their personalities and see if they’ll fit your team and your playstyle. All of the dogs are different – some are fiercely protective, others are too curious for their own good, and some just really, really want to chase that squirrel. How they mix and match with one another is important, so be considerate when picking the ‘right’ pups.
Once you’ve found the right puppers – and have given them all the pets and love in the world – you’ll start on your journey to the beautiful cabin with the red lantern out front. Your old friend Margot left it to you and it’s there that you tell yourself your new life awaits. It’s where your future begins. Perhaps you’ll have a farm, your character muses, and you’ll be able to fend for yourself with nothing but hard work and your loyal canines.
All you need to do to get that future is get to that red lantern. It’s a simple want when said aloud, full of childlike hope that doesn’t take stock of the hardships that you may encounter getting there. That’s where the roguelite elements of The Red Lantern comes in, as it isn’t as simple as getting to point A to point B – you’ll be met with challenges from the wildlife and the environment that ranges from a tree falls in your path to you and your dogs getting obliterated by a giant elk. Each time that happens though, you jerk back awake in your camper van as though it was just a dream, or a rather vivid daydream. You may be emotionally scarred from your journey of seeing your best canine die in front of your eyes, but at least you’ll have learned something new to make it easier for you to survive the race to your new home.
However, The Red Lantern knows how traumatizing it can be to see animals, especially animals you’ve chosen to protect and love, get killed in front of you. So I chose the option of turning on the ‘dogs do not die’ option which does exactly what it says on the tin. Or, I at least assume it will, as unfortunately one of my dogs, Barkley, met a sad end thanks to a wandering ox. I can only hope that this was just a bug, and will be fixed at release as it only made me feel worse about the poor job I was doing – dream or not. Still, it wasn’t too much of a dealbreaker as the option of turning off dog death actively made me pause. A part of me wanted to ignore it, to experience the game ‘as intended’ – to traumatize myself to get the full idea of what The Red Lantern was about. Only, the option to spare myself was there for a reason, and I’m so glad that Timberline Studios included it so that there is a gentler experience for players to have.
Though, even when you aren’t fighting the elements and the wildlife, you’ve got to keep in mind that you have very limited resources. This slowly opens up as you play and find other items, such as the axe, fishing pole, etc, but even then, you’ve got to pay attention to the fact that it’s very easy for you and your dogs to get hungry, lose their energy, and have to start all over again. You need to balance caring after yourself, and caring about your dogs. It may sound easy on paper, but trust me when I say that it’s anything but. Your dogs energy wanes after each ‘encounter’ and if you’re poor with your shots, you could go back to camp with nothing to show for it.
So you’ve got the game plan, your dogs, your equipment – what else does The Red Lantern have on offer? In all honesty, one of my biggest criticisms is that the game feels too short. I wish there had been more of an endgame where you could hang out with your pups and know more about them. That said, I’m aware that’s born out of the desire to play more, rather than the game being empty. There are a ton of different encounters, and while they can get a little stale when you come across the same ones time and time again – with the same dialogue over and over – I found myself finding out something new each time. For example? Caribou shriek. Don’t moo. It offends them.
What really spoke to me about The Red Lantern is that it feels I’m able to sit down and play a daydream in the shape of a game. There’s something wonderful about starting anew, and not just by yourself either – with five working dogs that are the only source of your companionship. No other people. Just you, your dogs, and nature. In a year where staying inside is the safest thing you can do, The Red Lantern has created a longing for adventure the moment the ‘world returns to normal.’ It’s what has made this game so appealing to me, and something that I think will speak to others, too.
The player character often says ‘how do you know something is for you?’ and it’s a question that’s stuck with me. How do you know? From what I’ve gathered from The Red Lantern, you find out by just doing. By taking the plunge and risking it all – it may bite you in the ass, or it may lead to something extraordinary. I think that’s something that we can all try to aspire to be like, it doesn’t mean we have to go to Alaska to start mushing – unless you want to! – for ourselves. But to try new things, to take that leap and make a difference – whether it be for yourself or someone else.
And who knows? Maybe you’ll find something that changes how you look at the world or what your goals are – like your very own Red Lantern.
Gayming Magazine was provided a Nintendo Switch code by Timberline Studios. You are able to purchase The Red Lantern for yourselves on Nintendo Switch or PC (Epic Games Store).
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