Discussion Europa Announced for Nintendo Switch (2024 Release, Demo Available Today)

[kirbyfan407]

As part of today's Indie World presentation, Europa was announced for Nintendo Switch with a 2024 release date. A demo was also made available on Switch today. The game was previously announced for PC.

The game is developed by Novadust Entertainment / Helder Pinto and published by Future Friends Games.

On the moon Europa, a lush terraformed paradise in Jupiter’s shadow, an android named Zee sets out in search of answers.​

Run, glide and fly across the landscape, solve mysteries in the ruins of a fallen utopia, and discover the story of the last human alive.

Europa is a peaceful game of adventure, exploration and meditation. As you travel you’ll gradually upgrade the capabilities of your Zephyr jetpack, boosting yourself further through the air until you can flow freely into the sky.

~A breathtaking world of lakes, meadows and mountains to explore, scattered within the remains of a fallen civilization.
~Free-flowing movement that empowers you to glide serenely from boost to boost, building power and momentum over time.
~Uncover secrets, solve puzzles, and navigate hidden dangers in the ruins.
~An intimate story about growing up and humanity’s relationship with nature.

“Come to the Island if you ever get lonely. Come here, and think of me.”

US eShop | Steam

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Having played just a few minutes of this demo, I am blown away. The graphics are stunning, and the game seemed to run fine on Switch while docked. The music combined with the atmosphere and narration were giving me chills. I saw descriptions online mention Breath of the Wild and Studio Ghibli. I'd also add Journey, though I've played only a little of that game. I strongly suspect Europa won't be for everyone, but I think this game is for me. I'm very curious to see how the game holds up over hours of play and if/how the gameplay evolves.

Give the demo a shot!

 

[Comic Obsessed]

The demo runs fine enough and I like the calm nature of the gameplay.

However, there's a certain input lag in the jump and I really hope they fix that in the full game.

 

[kirbyfan407]

The demo runs fine enough and I like the calm nature of the gameplay.

However, there's a certain input lag in the jump and I really hope they fix that in the full game.

That's true. I figured it's an intentional part of the animation, but it did take me a few jumps to adjust.

 

[TheSpaceBetween]

Really beautiful looking game. Bummer about the input lag though, hopefully it plays well enough otherwise...

 

[TheCongressman]

I've been watching this one for a while. While it looks beautiful, the animations and movement seem way too floaty and slow imo. I'm glad there's a demo, so maybe it feels better when playing.

 

[ILikeFeet]

I played the demo on steam some time ago. looking at the impressions, they haven't fixed the controls, which is a shame

 

[kirbyfan407]

Really beautiful looking game. Bummer about the input lag though, hopefully it plays well enough otherwise...

If this comment was made before playing, I'd recommend giving the demo a try. It didn't bother me, and the gameplay I experienced didn't demand anything more than the controls offered. Of course, different strokes for different folks!

I've been watching this one for a while. While it looks beautiful, the animations and movement seem way too floaty and slow imo. I'm glad there's a demo, so maybe it feels better when playing.

From what I played, it is a slow and floaty game. I didn't mind how it felt, so I agree with trying the demo. The game is somewhat dreamlike, so the motion of the character sort of matches that energy. If you want something snappy and tight, this probably won't be for you.

 

[VegiHam]

So what do you actually do in this game? The whole trailer was moon jumping around pretty landscapes. Do you actually interact with the world at all, are there gameplay elements? Or is it just a walk around a pretty environment experience?

 

[kirbyfan407]

So what do you actually do in this game? The whole trailer was moon jumping around pretty landscapes. Do you actually interact with the world at all, are there gameplay elements? Or is it just a walk around a pretty environment experience?

I played only about 10-15 minutes of the demo, and title card info was still coming up a few minutes into my brief time so I think I only got the tiniest taste. From what I gathered, it's walking around with some light platforming and puzzling that I expect will get slightly more demanding as it goes on based on the trailer. There was a collectible to find that was sometimes hidden or at the top of a structure (very easy at this point), but I don't know what those collectibles do if you find them all. There were also pages from a book you could find that provided some of the story via text and voice acting. There is an interact button that lets you trigger things, as well as a slightly different interaction if you jump and then hit the interact button (basically becomes a ground pound). If more is unlocked as the game progresses, I can't say.

My guess is the game's appeal is going to lie in the story, music, environment, and atmosphere creating an overall ambiance. Like I wrote in an earlier post, the game is somewhat dreamlike. There were creatures I could find (I climbed onto a turtle), but I am skeptical there will be any enemies. I think it's a game where "you're there for the vibes", but that's me after playing for 10 minutes. Today is the first time I heard about this game, so I am definitely not the best person to speak to what this game is. (I should probably push this game a little less in this thread for that reason.) The limited interactions as you traverse environments may be why I thought of Journey. That plus the sliding the character does when on a slope.

 

[bixente]

The developer said new elements are introduced as the game progresses, on the Steam page. In the game's early moments it'll be kept pretty simple.

 

[bixente]

Playing the demo, and I'm enjoying it so far. Just flying around collecting crystals is fun. Beautiful visuals too.

 

[yu?]

I don't know if the game uses any sort of upscaling, but man, the image quality really looks smeary when moving. Got bamboozled by the Indie World footage

Also, the game won't save for some reason, but that's for me to figure it out!

 

[KilgoreWolfe]

The demo was very charming! I'll keep an eye on this one, it's something I'll probably really enjoy.

It did seem particularly blurry but that kinda works with the watercolor vibe anyway, so j wasn't too bothered by it (though I hope for improvement in the final release).

 

[Scrawnton]

The demo was nice. I love the atmosphere, art style, and music. With that said, man we are in desperate need of new hardware. You can tell that by looking at this game that it is technically gorgeous but the resolution was cranked way down to get it running on Switch....

 

[kirbyfan407]

I don't know if the game uses any sort of upscaling, but man, the image quality really looks smeary when moving. Got bamboozled by the Indie World footage

Also, the game won't save for some reason, but that's for me to figure it out!

The demo was very charming! I'll keep an eye on this one, it's something I'll probably really enjoy.

It did seem particularly blurry but that kinda works with the watercolor vibe anyway, so j wasn't too bothered by it (though I hope for improvement in the final release).

The demo was nice. I love the atmosphere, art style, and music. With that said, man we are in desperate need of new hardware. You can tell that by looking at this game that it is technically gorgeous but the resolution was cranked way down to get it running on Switch....

If I can ask, were you playing in portable or docked?

I admittedly have a terrible home set-up for noticing blurriness/softness (which is probably a blessing for some Switch games) unless resolution gets really low and is paired with sharpness, so I would not be the best to identify this, especially with how little I've played. The last game I remember noticing the resolution on was the Sonic Frontiers demo. I think the art of this game also masked/excused it for me, like KilgoreWolfe said. Further Switch optimizations and Switch 2 support would absolutely be welcome!

As for saving, since it's a demo, I figure it might be disabled. I didn't check, though. I didn't see anything about save data transferring to the full game, so I didn't bother worrying about it and decided to limit how much I play the demo anyway to avoid repeating content.

 

[KilgoreWolfe]

If I can ask, were you playing in portable or docked?

I admittedly have a terrible home set-up for noticing blurriness/softness (which is probably a blessing for some Switch games) unless resolution gets really low and is paired with sharpness, so I would not be the best to identify this, especially with how little I've played. The last game I remember noticing the resolution on was the Sonic Frontiers demo. I think the art of this game also masked/excused it for me, like KilgoreWolfe said. Further Switch optimizations and Switch 2 support would absolutely be welcome!

As for saving, since it's a demo, I figure it might be disabled. I didn't check, though. I didn't see anything about save data transferring to the full game, so I didn't bother worrying about it and decided to limit how much I play the demo anyway to avoid repeating content.

I played it in portable mode so that definitely probably contributed to some softness. I should try it on docked mode.

 

[kirbyfan407]

I played it in portable mode so that definitely probably contributed to some softness. I should try it on docked mode.

Ah, I'm curious if you still notice the softness. It's probably not 1080p in docked mode if people are noticing softness in portable, but I think I find with my TV and viewing distance, 720p or ideally a little higher is often "good enough". Then again, Sonic Frontiers was not "good enough" for me and that was 720p from what I've read, but perhaps it had effects and other elements that were lower res.

 

[KilgoreWolfe]

Ah, I'm curious if you still notice the softness. It's probably not 1080p in docked mode if people are noticing softness in portable, but I think I find with my TV and viewing distance, 720p or ideally a little higher is often "good enough". Then again, Sonic Frontiers was not "good enough" for me and that was 720p from what I've read, but perhaps it had effects and other elements that were lower res.

So I fired it up in docked mode, and it still looked blurry to me, but again, I think it kinda works with the watercolor aspect. It would be nice to see it improved for the full release though.

 

[Aether]

No harm in just trying it for yourself, the demo is free after all

Personally: lovely artstyle, a little to floaty and delayed jump movement for me, gets annoying fast. Resolution is just to low on switch for my taste. Animations are so so. Already hit many buggy environment interactions and unfinished assets in straying from the path.

I see that this game won't be for me at all.

But it also reminded me why I loved BotW and TotK nor so much: just the feel of looking over such a new world and wanting to explore it to see what's there. (That's also where it's kinda disappointing, it's more linear then it looks).

If you want a floaty chill dreamlike game , give it a try.

 

[buildz]

Tried the demo. I'd probably agree with others - this isn't really my type of game. I appreciate a solid, chill platformer but the incredible input lag / general stiffness is just a big turn-off. While the demo seems to have tutorial / early game levels, the level design itself wasn't even that interesting - having lots of ways to traverse forward doesn't mean a lot if the simplest (and sometimes quickest) way to get from A to B is just to walk there!

That said, the main character was pretty adorable and I did like the approach to storytelling. Shame the resolution is awful - compared to what was certainly PC footage in the Indie World - but at least the game holds a good 30fps.

 

[Imitatio]

Played the demo both on PC / Deck as well as Switch. I like it! Probably won't pick it up asap though, given my backlog and the fact that I wasn't outright blown away or anything to that degree. It's been a nice, cozy experience still.

The Switch version is pretty solid, only a few dropped frames here and there when rushing down a hill and boosting into the air rapidly. Otherwise stable 30 fps from what I've played thus far. The colors are also beautiful on the OLED, the art really does shine on there as far as vibrancy is concerned. Makes everything seem even more tranquil and dreamy.

Resolution wise it's a bit of a different story. It's pretty blurry and somewhat fuzzy overall on the Switch. I do think the OLED does make up for it to a certain degree, especially compared to my LCD Steam Deck and PC monitor. The art style also doesn't suffer too drastically from the lower resolution.

In my current set-up, it'd basically come down to whether I'd want the nicer looking colors / more vibrant image vs the sharper, more clear looking one. It does feel like the OLED elevates the experience more so than the sharper image resolution does, so my current pick would probably be the Switch version after all.

Looking forward to picking it up down the line either way, good stuff!