Game Review: The Touryst (Xbox One X)

From Shin’en comes The Touryst, a voxel action-adventure/exploration and open-world game that oozes charm from the very moment it begins. Few won’t be instantly hooked by its lovely visuals, ambience and general chilled out vibe.

The player takes control of a tourist (with a glorious moustache) who is exploring a number of holiday islands, each with their own unique design. There’s no backstory and no introduction, you arrive at Touryst Island and are given free reign to explore.

There’s not a lot to do on the first island but it’s dominated by the large and mysterious monument. Find your way inside and the main quest line will be discovered after chatting with a mysterious old man.

There are four more monuments dotted around other islands and inside are power cores that you need to collect and bring back to Touryst Island. There is no pushing you to follow the main narrative though as you’re free to explore all the islands as you wish once you have gotten the map that leads you to them.

Jump in your speedboat and head to the likes of Soggy Island, Ybiza, Fijy and more where you can interact with a whole array of characters who set you missions. A range of missions that can see you taking pictures of every monument, playing soccer, getting a high score while surfing and arranging two strangers to go on a date. There’s a bunch to do and some require a little thought although they’re hardly mind-benders.

It’s an incredibly satisfying experience though and that satisfaction applies to the progression of your tourist too. Unlocking sprints and jumps to make it that little further on a specific island.

It’s a really good game with just a few niggles to stop it being a great game.

The most obvious are the monument challenges where platforming becomes a bit of a pain. This is because of the camera which makes specific jumps quite tricky and one monument in particular has several tricky jumps in a row. It can be frustrating but never boils over into rage quitting, such is the overall charm of The Touryst.

Then there’s the lack of real challenge in the puzzles and the short length of the game. The former might have you scratching your head on occasion but for the most part, you’ll fly through them. While the latter has the game come in at around 4-6 hours depending on skill and exploration.

None of this really matters though as the exceedingly strong visuals, effective music and general gameplay makes a lasting impression. This is the sort of game where you want a bigger and bolder sequel, one with a bit more depth overall.