“Wind flows past me like a gentle stream, leaving by a droning echo
Dragonflies flitter around me; the bees hum to proclaim their existence
Leaves turn dry, from green to yellow and finally red
Time flows by, the seasons its only testament
And I simply observe without any purpose,
I chase rain-bearing clouds, their shadows casting a solemn layer
I flock past the cherry blossoms, listen to the breeze playing invisible chimes
Sounds and sights are my only guide, my curiosity the only driving force
Never interacting once, I remain separate from this world,
Yet as the solitary observer, silently I watch it evolve through time,
I witness it transition from its vibrant pinnacle to the cold depths,
From the spring brimming with life, to the lifeless serenity of winter,
And when I have seen it all, I shall quietly ascend to the heavens
Closing my eyes one final time, I shall reflect back on this odd journey
For I am nothing but an adventurer biding my time in this world without a purpose.”
Developers: Ed Key and David Kanaga
Genre: Minimalist Adventure, Experimental
Platform: PC(Steam)
Best described as a curiosity simulator that takes place on a procedurally-generated island, Proteus seems to visually inhibit a space that feels like it’s straight out of an arthouse version of Minecraft. The game exists purely for exploration without interaction. Following up from Dear Esther’s concept of adventure without any interaction, Proteus often feels like a visit to the museum. You can observe and move around freely, but you cannot perform any other action besides that. Jump, crouch, shoot, and dig are actions that are strange to Proteus. There is no goal or objective either; instead you simply wander from dawn to dusk, immersing your senses in the oddities of the island, littered with random curiosities that pique your interest and mystify you at the same time.
Think Myst without the puzzles or Skyrim without its quests, and you have a proper idea of what Proteus is. When you think along those lines, the game does tend to grow on you. In many games, we are often given an open world and the freedom to explore it, but it’s the quests that often drive us. The quests often rob us of the mere concept of exploring the world for the sake of it. Proteus does that: it removes the layer of quests and objectives and simply leaves the world for you to explore.
This is what Proteus is: an experiment in a closed room full of odd sights and puzzling mysteries that have little purpose other than to simply hold your fancy and mystify you. Capable of moments of serenity that can give you goosebumps, Proteus is an impressionist wonder when it comes to aesthetics.
Ironically, as a game without any goals or objectives, Proteus does have some semblance of progression. As dawn turns to dusk, the world is enveloped in the magical realism of the starry sky . Objects of mere interest start having an effect, albeit a brief one, in the world around you. Stone structures drone as you walk past them, wind blows imaginary wind chimes as fireflies slowly gather at a particular spot on the island. Once you discover this spot and step into the circle of fireflies, time moves past quickly. Day turns into night at a dramatic speed as you stand rooted to the spot. In the background of the ambient synths, it is an experience that few games can claim to provide.
When you emerge out of the circle, you are living through a new season. From Spring to Winter, you experience all four seasons, witnessing the island at its very peak, brimming with life and joyful off-key synths around every corner, to the cold, lifeless, and serene beauty of Winter, where you wander the island whose every last relic is frozen in stasis and every key of the music gives you chills.
Like a lonely adventurer, your journey comes to an end, barely hitting the 45-minute mark, which is exactly how long a complete playthrough of Proteus takes. The procedural generation means every time you restart, you’ll be witnessing a different island unlike any you’ve previously played, but even these islands tend to harbor many similarities to one another.
For many gamers’, Proteus will easily be dismissed as a pretentious, MS Paint-art explorer without any purpose. It will challenge their definition of “games,” but not convince them due to its abstract nature. Others who see “games as experiences” and appreciated Dear Esther for what it was, will appreciate Proteus as a further distillation of the concept, leaving a player in a world full of mysteries that don’t have any answers. A world where you are a silent observer to its oddities—where time is the only medium of change, the music your only companion, and the seasons are lingering indicators of the time that has sped past .
Proteus is akin to a beautiful impressionistic painting in a museum where you can observe its many mysteries from a distance but never fully participate in it . At once, a briefly mystifying experience to the senses both visually and sonically, Proteus is quite literally the game made to describe an “experience.”
WHAT’S ILL
- The island’s many oddities and sights
- interesting exploration of the concept of freedom without anything specific to do
- Ambient synths provide a minimal layer befitting of the experience.
- Certain events can result in brief sensory overload and goosebumps.
WHAT’S NOT
- Not for everyone
- Procedural generation doesn’t increase replay value
- As a one-time experience, the price of admission is a little high
RATING
- Gameplay Progression: Not Available
- Graphics: 7/10
- Sound: 9/10
- Unique Selling Proposition: 7/10
- illFactor: 7/10
