Two Falls (PS5) Review – Culture, and Conflict in a Beautiful World

Two Falls (Nishu Takuatshina) PS5 Review

While many early video games offered a narrative connection to history or culture, it was usually a pretty superficial one. After all, blasting Nazi zombies doesn’t rely on a scholar’s history of WW2. Notably, games like the Assassin’s Creed franchise have been exceptions. They give players deep dives — albeit filled with action-fantasy — into diverse cultural settings, with a fair degree of historical accuracy. Over the past decade or so, developers have begun to use the complexity of culture and history as the emotional and narrative backdrop for their games. A great example is Two Falls, which has recently been ported to consoles.

Clash of Cultures

Two Falls is a narrative-driven adventure, which is code for a walking simulator. There’s a fair amount of choice and interactivity for this genre, including multiple endings. However, the focus is heavily on setting, story, and characters. Enough so, in fact, that I’ll be mindful of spoilers. At less than five hours, Two Falls is a pretty short experience. That isn’t a problem in terms of balance of content to length, but it might be a little out of whack with the price. It’s $25 on both PS5 and Xbox, and not available on Game Pass.

Back to the story. Taking place in the 17th-century Canadian wilderness, Two Falls focuses on a handful of major and supporting characters. Jeanne is a young, religiously devout French woman, shipwrecked and desperate to survive in what seems like an inhospitable land. Maikan, an indigenous Innu hunter, feels like the sacred wilderness is being ravaged by a vengeful spirit. Finally, there’s the trader Pierre, who strikes a more pragmatic tone. Oh, and there’s Capitaine, Jeanne’s dog, who helpfully points out things she should notice. While Jeanne and Maikan start out with parallel stories, they eventually — of course — cross paths.

What is most interesting about Two Falls is less Jeanne’s fish-out-of-water story or Maikan’s anger, but the way the role of spirituality is folded into the narrative. With her 17th century Christian outlook, she sees the natural world as a threat. Maikan has a traditional indigenous (very generally) and holistic view of nature as sacred. Pierre splits the difference. What’s maybe best about Two Falls is that it doesn’t really take sides, but lets the player lean into whichever philosophy resonates with them.

Animated Storybook

Opting for stylized, colorful visuals, Two Falls is most artistically successful in its wilderness landscapes. Assisted by excellent environmental audio, the generally unspoiled world feels very authentic, mysterious, and at times, threatening. The main human characters are appealing and generally well voiced. Some minor characters and a few world textures lack detail.

Much of Two Falls relies on dialogue and inner monologue. On rare occasions, both fall into the trap of being too expository or unnaturally introspective. However, by and large, the narrative is well written, and its themes aren’t too heavy-handed.

Making its leap to consoles, the core gameplay of Two Falls remains identical. As far as I’m aware, there’s no new content or changes to the narrative. On PS5, the DualSense controller’s vibration functions add a bit of immersion. Two Falls isn’t a graphically demanding title, getting its visual impact from art direction and evocative lighting.

Timeless Tale

Although they’re archetypes representing a clash of cultures, Jeanne and Maikan also represent a developer willing to dip into more substantive themes. Nature, spirituality, religion, and culture are the engine that drives the narrative that’s equally introspective, smart, and emotional. In its compact run time, Two Falls does a pretty good job of balancing between educational and entertaining, only occasionally becoming self-consciously earnest in its desire to say something important.

***PS5 code provided by the publisher for review***