Forsooth! A Clever Game Doth Approach O’er Hill – Felvidek Review

I don’t think I’d consider myself to be a history buff. I  think about history and the more materialistic reasons as to how we’ve gotten into this particular shitshow we see unfurl before us, but I never really had a big interest in, like, ancient Greece. My curiosity of the world pre-Columbus is pretty hot and cold, and I could probably tell you about historical figures based on whether or not I recognize them from a game of Civilization if I don’t already know them from my US History class. There’s plenty of cool stories out there; The history of what is now Spain comes to mind in terms of the push and pull of Abrahamic faith and territorial expansion, but it’s also stuff I would never actively seek out in the form of leisure. So imagine my surprise when I end up seeing a trailer for a game set in the 15th century with a song that fucks and gameplay straight out of a JRPG. What I’m describing here is Felvidek, a game by Josef Pavelka that takes a big swing in presentation and concept and hits a hell of a dinger as a result. 

Pavol, local knight to a lord in the Slovak Highlands, is in the middle of drowning his sorrows when he spots a fire not too far from his quarters. He is tasked to investigate with the help of Matej the visiting monk. This premise unfolds into a drama spanning the entire land, the looming presence of the Hussite and Ottoman armies surrounding the land, and something much more sinister lurking in the depths of these old thatched walls. It’s hard to talk about much else in the plot since the game is about three to four hours, but one of the strongest parts of the game is its writing. Josef leans heavy into old English for text, and even incorporates Slovak into sections like the exclamations of the Lord Jozef (no relation) whenever more shit starts hitting the fan.

One thing I didn’t realize coming into this game was just how damn funny it was. Medieval stories tend to have a sense of dreariness to them when understanding that there’s this moment in time that you were either born to royalty or living in shit if you had to grow up in not yet Europe, but there’s also the fact that you kinda just had to laugh at whatever life threw at you. Comedy is inherent to Chaucer, it’s what makes Don Quixote a great champion to root for, and it’s why teenagers today will still flock to Monty Python and the Holy Grail, or at least I hope they still do. It’s the small touches, like encountering a robbed man who hopes he doesn’t hear it too bad from his wife who you can help. In other moments it’s going to the local tavern and hearing the latest gossip. Hell, your overworld sprite while running consists of a few chopped frames of running which is worth a good chuckle at first glance. 

The gameplay itself is also a blast. On paper the game plays like an RPG, you have your standard attacks, skills/spells that require MP or tools in this world, and stat boosting items to increase your health, attack, and amount of tools. The actions in game are presented in rotoscoped movements of disembodied hands slashing a sword, swigging back a bottle of wine, lighting and throwing a petard, etc. You don’t level so much as get better gear and upgrade your stats when applicable. It’s hard upfront, and the odds of getting a game over are pretty high since you can’t just farm encounters for gold and equipment. Ultimately, you learn how to intuit weak enemies from strong ones in a crowd, and the challenge becomes maintaining HP while whittling down cultists, Hussites, and other unspeakable entities. 

There’s such a charm to the presentation of the game and how it presents its world. It feels reminiscent of Hylics in terms of the overall surreal nature of this alternate medieval landscape. The lands consist of monotone backgrounds set against the heroic burgundy of Pavol and the noble ochre of Matej. The character models themselves are also fantastic, with certain events triggering cutscenes that make use of low poly 3D models to convey the action unfolding. These moments are pretty short but feel evocative of a very small Eastern European team having access to a PS1 dev kit when making their first game. The fact Josef has seemed to build this entire game from the ground up is spectacular for what a fully fledged vision that it is.

I also need to gush about the music, easily the most evocative part of Felvidek’s tools. The soundtrack is scored by Marcel Gidote’s Holy Crab, a Czechian psychedelic band who unequivocally kick ass from this selection of pieces alone. Their sound is full of heavy synths and leads in one moment, drums and galloping guitar in the next. In some moments the sound of low, listless whirring tones is all that can be heard, highlighting the desolation of 15th century Slovakia.

The anachronistic appeal of medieval fiction has always been a familiar cultural touchstone, thinking of how wizards have become so essential to modern concepts like heavy metal and airbrushed trucks. MGHC’s music feels reminiscent of Mort Garson’s work under the moniker Ataraxia, which folks might already recognize if they’ve listened to early episodes of The Adventure Zone. The use of guitar, drum kit, and synths alongside an occasional trumpet line or percussion piece is such a great touch on showing how close this patch of land is to being swept up in the brutal reality of globalization that Columbus’s colonization will bring out in the coming century but also calls to whatever simplicity there is to be found in sharing a brew with a friend at the tavern. 

Two years in a row I’ve had the opportunity to be blown away by a game I’d heard about maybe just a week before its release. Felvidek isn’t doing anything new by any means, but it’s doing things in its own way. It’s obvious Josef had a blast making this game from what I experienced. I can tell he was enjoying the hell out of filming the action sequences, texturing the fields, and there’s so much more to check out that I can’t spoil in this review. There’s so many goddamn games coming out that are hours upon hours of time to dedicate. I’m also in the thick of getting through Infinite Wealth, which I’m sure I’ll have plenty to write about as well. There’s a trend recently to make expansive games filled to the gills with capital C Content to try and create justification for inflated price tags. Rather than drone on and on about this being an injustice, which it surely is, I’ll just say Felvidek is less than 5 hours to get through and costs eleven bucks. The countryside is calling, and your lord awaits the aid of your sword!