Adios Review – A long way to say goodbye (PC)

Video games live and die on the gameplay. Every single time I boot up a brand new game, I always take a couple of minutes to see how the gameplay feels. When you boot up Adios, you’ll be immediately struck with how your protagonist moves, how strangely janky some animations look, and how graphics may look a bit unimpressive.

But the minute you feed the pigs alongside the enigmatic Hitman, you’ll feel compelled to see the story through to the end.

Graphics and Sound

We’ve gotten lots of very pretty games over the past couple of years, especially in the indie-sphere.

Adios isn’t the prettiest game to look at, but for the kind of story its trying to tell, its aesthetic does the job well.

The art style is stylized, as its characters have a cartoon-like quality to them while the world they inhabit lean more on the realistic side for the most part.

This is most exemplified by the character you interact with the most, the Hitman; he looks like he stepped out of a cartoon with his lanky figure, but immediately grounds the player with his charming demeanor.

His expressions give you the sense that this is a character that has plenty to say, as well as hide.

The art style of the game, as mentioned in the review. This scene in particular involves pigs.
Credit: PC Gamer

The same can’t be said for the animals on the farm, which have an eerie quality to them with their blank eyes and equally stiff animations. However, the strangeness of their models add to the almost dreamlike quality of the game.

The entire farm you explore for the entirety of the game is serene and lovingly crafted; from the garage with its coupe that cant start, to the field where you can shoot skeet later on, every major part of the game is crafted well.

Coupled with the more stylized character models, the environment becomes a dream that you have to navigate in someone else’s shoes.

Gameplay

Despite having a unique presentation, the gameplay will be a point of contention for anyone who tries Adios.

The narrative is the main focus of the game, but it’s structured through small “scenes” that have the player accomplish different tasks alongside the Hitman.

Everything from shoveling manure to milking goats, you’ll be doing things that seem very mundane.

The part of the game where you get to shoot some skeet with the Hitman.
Credit: Windows Central

The different scenes don’t take much longer than a couple of minutes at most, and they’re mainly moments where the player has conversations with the Hitman.

You’ll be feeding a horse apples and will suddenly be talking about how strange horses look when you pay attention to their features.

Most of the scenes play out this way, but each one reveals something new about both the Hitman and the player character.

Whether you’re shooting skeet or listening to records, there’s something new revealed to you when you interact with the world.

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The mechanics of the individual scenes aren’t complex, but lend themselves well to the narrative at hand, by using mundanity to relax the player while the narrative plays out.

Story and Voice Acting

The story of Adios has a simple premise. You play as a farmer that wants nothing to do with organized crime anymore, so he attempts to bid the whole business “adios.”

That simple premise leads to a discussion of loneliness, guilt, redemption, and purpose. The entire time, you learn more about both the Farmer and the Hitman.

A serene moment where you are tasked with fishing for a notable fish.
Credit: WayTooManyGames

Both characters are written with plenty of charm, and are impeccably voice acted. When the drama starts to become more intense, both the Farmer and Hitman’s voice actors bring a cascade of emotions that will leave you reeling.

The line between pleasant and uncomfortable is thin but straddled well by the strong writing.

These characters play well off of each other, as they agree, disagree, laugh, and muse over the nature of their situation.

Their conversations are the highlight of the game, as they eventually crescendo into a fitting ending that will leave you feeling very somber.

A Fitting Way To Say Adios

When I reached Adios’ credits, I had to take a moment to gather my thoughts. I felt all sorts of things: sorrowful, cold, and mildly depressed.

While these are things that one wouldn’t want to experience while playing a game, I’d say they were worth experiencing here.

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Adios isn’t a perfect game, but it is a very human game, made by people that crafted it to the best of their abilities.

As it is, the game is an experience that wont resonate the same way with every person. But it definitely will be worth it for some to go through. Maybe more than once.

Indie games represent the efforts of honest, down-to-earth people that want to express themselves in unique ways.

Adios couldn’t be more indicative of a project made expressly for the simple art of making you feel something different. What it expresses is something that is common for many of us:

How hard it can be to say goodbye.

Adios

7.7

Gameplay

7.0/10

Graphics

6.5/10

Story

9.0/10

Fun Factor

7.0/10

Sound

9.0/10

Pros

  • Well realized story
  • Wonderful voice acting
  • Great atmosphere
  • An introspective ending

Cons

  • Graphics are hit or miss
  • Gameplay will not be for everyone

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