Europa review: a beautiful journey with some bumps in the road

Humanity has screwed up. Earth is on fire, and the people have fled to the stars in search of a new home.

This is the relatively simple premise of Europa, the new adventure game from Helder Pinto and Novadust Entertainment. Part Journey, part interactive Studio Ghibli movie, it’s a meditative and frequently beautiful tale that falls just short of greatness thanks to some baffling design choices towards the end.

Europa takes place on Jupiter’s moon of the same name, a moon which humans have managed to terraform and colonise with the help of robots who went on ahead, years before man stepped foot on the planet.

Players take control of Zee, a young android boy who, guided by torn pages of a journal written by his late father, must travel across Europa and discover what happened to the humans who used to inhabit it.

Europa creates an incredibly strong first impression. Minimalist piano chimes in the background as Zee navigates a series of gorgeous and generously sized vistas, solving light puzzles and collecting secrets as he moves between areas.

Make no mistake: this game is drop-dead gorgeous. While it’s become all too common to describe a certain artstyle as Ghibliesque, Europa has earned the right. Deep green fields rustle in the wind as bizarre mechanical creatures scuttle around the ruins of a long-since abandoned world.

Zee is able to glide and even fly for short bursts, making exploring each area a uniquely joyful experience. At its best, Europa invites you to relax, unwind, and fully lose yourself in its world.

Unfortunately, Europa doesn’t quite have the confidence to simply be what it initially presents itself as, ultimately throwing arbitrary obstacles at players that almost completely derail the game’s final act.

I have no issue with games giving me challenges to overcome. I’ve played Bloodborne more times than is healthy. But much of what Europa opts to pull out in the second half of the game is so jarring, so misjudged, that it completely spoils the tone of what came before.

Suddenly, Zee finds himself in areas with giant turrets that can fire devastating lasers, and fields filled with explosive mines. There are no real fail states to speak of, and Zee can get hit by as many lasers and explosives as you want; it simply knocks him over and slows him to a crawl for a short time. But then why include these elements at all?

Getting caught in the blast of a landmine as a laser blasts you hither and thither isn’t tense or challenging, it’s irritating. It’s as if the development team panicked and decided Europa wasn’t enough like a proper video game.

Add to this a denouement that I still can’t quite wrap my head around, and what began as one of the most promising games I’ve played this year careens all too quickly into disappointing inconsistency. I gather there’s a secret ending that can be unlocked by tracking down all the hidden collectibles, but the game’s later stages are such a drag that I’ve no desire to attempt to find them.

When Europa simply allows you to unwind and explore at your own pace, it’s one of the most captivating experiences I’ve had this year. There is real beauty to be found here, for sure, but it’s all-too fleeting.

Pros: A gorgeous world, sweet story, satisfying movement

Cons: Awful ending, arbitrary obstacles towards the end

For fans of: Journey, The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild, Spyro The Dragon

7/10: Very Good

Europa is available October 11 for PC (version tested) and Nintendo Switch. A review code was provided by the publisher. Read a guide to our review scores here.