Cornerstone: The Song of Tyrim Preview

I will get this out of the way first — I was interested in Cornerstone: The Song of Tyrim because it looked so much like The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. From the aesthetics to the gameplay, Cornerstone is very clearly a loving homage to Zelda, as Tyrim even does a little spin when showing off an item he finds in a treasure chest. Of course, as an indie game, Cornerstone does not have nearly the same budget, but a lot was accomplished by Overflow Games.

You play as Tyrim, a young boy on an island born into a Viking community, but by the end of the demo he sets sail to search for a missing expedition comprising of all of the able-bodied men of his village. I found that this motivator was set up quite strangely in the demo, as the remaining villagers simply state that the men have been gone for some time now, and Tyrim harasses an old hermit, fights some wizards, and then the player has the option to builds a raft and sail out without a word. Nothing is driving Tyrim specifically to leave and find the expedition himself, which may set up pacing of the game to be slow as the player meanders through a huge ocean with only a hint to what the main goal should be. The real gem of the game is the wonderfully humorous interactions with the other characters, lighthearted with lots of out-of-place comments and just the right amount of fourth-wall breaking. The writing is not Pulitzer-worthy, but the fun dialogue and the abundance of jokes grants Cornerstone a lot of forgiveness.

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“From the aesthetics to the gameplay, Cornerstone is very clearly a loving homage to Zelda…”

The controls are easy to pick up, but the physics of in-game objects can create for some frustrating platforming. Wooden crates are as light as paper boxes, and cube-shaped boulders bounce and shuffle when you try to jump on top of them. The combat is a bit clunky and relatively straightforward, but Tyrim can use the simple crafting system to make mines and other weapons to mix it up, and he can also throw chairs, pots, or other objects found in the environment. Cornerstone presents itself as a puzzle adventure, but it is not subtle with its heavy hints and simple solutions. Nonetheless, the fact that the game oozes charm saves it in more places than one.

Cornerstone is unafraid to design characters outside of the box, with bucktoothed women and grizzled old men, snotty kids and travelling academics. The graphics quality isn’t the best and there is an admittedly low framerate, but this a willing concession to make for an indie game of such a scale. However, the sound of the game is what truly set the scene for me. The music is soft and bouncing, all islands and winds and simpler times alongside a call to adventure. The birds are chirping, the rickety wooden gates creak, and there is the sound of Tyrim, rolling over the mossy cobblestone.

All in all, Cornerstone is a work of love and it really shows in the detail given to each character, the beauty of its sound design, and the light-heartedness of its dialogue. I have not played The Wind Waker in a long time, but with the coming of Cornerstone: The Song of Tyrim, perhaps any yearning for the ocean can be sated, even just for a little while.

*** PC code provided by the publisher ***