Caravan SandWitch Review – A Friendly Post-Apocalyptic Voyage

Caravan SandWitch by Studio Plane Toast

Ruined structures and destroyed robots leave an impression of what living on the planet of Cigalo used to be like. Food and water are finite resources, and the few people still living there are doing their best to survive.

Sauge, the protagonist of Caravan SandWitch, finds herself returning to this planet on a crucial mission.

Sauge has received a distress call from her sister, who’s been missing for six years. With the help of others and her trusty van, Sauge takes it upon herself to follow the signal and sets off to uncover the mystery surrounding her sister and the planet itself.

Get By with a Little Help from Our Friends

It’s not easy living in a post-apocalyptic future, so it’s important to stick together. There is such a strong sense of community in this game. Although they come from all walks of life, the characters in Caravan SandWitch do what they can to help each other survive.

It’s so easy for media nowadays to focus on gritty, everyone-against-everyone stories, so I really appreciated this game’s hopeful, more positive outlook on humanity. And it’s an open-world game with no combat, which is also a nice change of pace.

Most of the game involves helping other NPCs by retrieving items for them. One mission involves helping a woman with her dying tomato plants, while another has you scavenging abandoned water filters.

While many of the missions feel like fetch quests, they thankfully aren’t too time-consuming, and they feature dialogue to help flesh out the characters and the setting.

NPC quests also help Sauge get precious components, which you can find in the disheveled, broken-down machines scattered throughout the map or receive from NPCs as quest rewards. These components are crucial to upgrading the van and are directly tied to story progression (don’t expect any RPG-style upgrade paths here).

Upgrades like the grappling hook are necessary to enter new areas and get crucial new story-related items.

Upgrades are also crucial for exploration, which is a big part of Caravan SandWitch. There are plenty of locations to explore, usually featuring some light platforming or requiring the aforementioned van upgrades. There’s a nice flow that offers just enough freedom to players like me who get joy from exploring open maps.

And since there is a moderately sized map to check out, it’s easy to get lost in the sauce.

Been Through the Desert in a Van with No Name

As much as I enjoyed my time with this game, there were some areas that could use improvement. For one, jumping feels a little too stiff for my liking. Jumps where you have to grab onto a ledge feel awkward and tricky.

Driving around the map and exploring is also a little tedious. Most of the time you’ll find a location, collect some items, and move on. It left me wishing for more environmental storytelling. Instead, the game relies heavily on dialogue for its story, which isn’t a big issue in the grand scheme of things but does make the world itself feel less compelling.

Caravan SandWitch features a vibrant cel-shaded style that definitely gives off a more lighthearted, whimsical vibe. I enjoyed driving the van through large open spaces, appreciating the colorful but desolate landscape.

The game also features a cool, inviting musical score that captures a hopeful yet slightly somber mood, creating something that’s ultimately comforting. Tracks are groovy, many are ambient, and a number of them have appropriate sci-fi synths. The music throughout is so excellent; it has quickly become one of my favorite game soundtracks of the decade.

The Verdict:

Caravan SandWitch is a fun little open-world exploration game with plenty to do. It nails its core idea of making exploration just fun enough to keep you playing. That being said, it can feel tedious at times, since most of the exploration involves collecting components around the map.

But I really enjoyed this game’s overall vibe. It’s a piece of post-apocalyptic fiction that’s actually hopeful, which is a refreshing change of pace.

Caravan SandWitch is available via the Nintendo eShop, Sony PlayStation Store, and Steam.

Check out the official trailer for Caravan SandWitch below:

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