What comes to mind when I say drifter? Would it be somebody who doesn’t know who they are and what they stand for? Or, is it a homeless person who rides the rails from city to city, doing their best to survive? Ironically, I used to believe that a drifter was somebody who was so lost that they couldn’t define themselves at all, so they would run as far away as they could. And in a lot of ways, this felt like me, after all, I would run away at the drop of a hat. However, I never ran as far as Mick, the protagonist of The Drifter, has when we are first introduced to him, and I would say that he is a drifter in every sense of the word.
The Drifter feels classic in every sense of the word, from the genre all the way down to its art style, and while it is a new series entirely, there is also something nostalgic about it. I was reminded many times of other titles in the point-and-click genre, most notably I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream, which was surprising, as developer Powerhoof hasn’t crafted a game like this before. In fact, each game the developer has made has been in a completely different genre from their previous title.
Running from the Past
Mick is a drifter hitching a ride back home to attend his mom’s funeral; an occasion that is never happy, but for Mick, it’s even worse than normal. He’s running from demons that he can’t nor does he want to describe; instead, he is content with running away. However, it becomes clear that something else is going on when the train he is riding gets attacked by some task force that kills another lost soul who had been rambling about dying repeatedly. And it all gets worse as he finds the dead body of his friend and a conspiracy that involves all of the homeless population, including Mick himself, now that he has finally come home. Will he be able to solve the mystery and make his return home triumphant? Or is he destined to become another statistic in a growing number of bodies?
There are way too many beats and emotions to talk about that I wasn’t prepared for when starting The Drifter. After all, I hadn’t heard about Powerhoof before, and this title never appeared on my radar before. However, I loved every second of the narrative. I was enthralled as I discovered more about Mick, who was more relatable to me than I was expecting. Mick is at first hard and standoffish to most of the people he interacts with, and most of them return that sentiment straight to him. Initially, I thought it was because of the way he introduced himself, but then I started noticing that it was due to the way he looked.
Being homeless is not something I would have accounted to be a major part of the story and gameplay; in fact, many puzzles happen because one person decided that you were there to cause trouble. This simple action was frustrating at first because this problem could have been solved hours ago, but instead, I had to figure out a convoluted solution to a simple problem. This is completely intentional, as it gives you a brief look at what it’s like to be homeless, needing help, but nobody is willing to lend a hand. That’s the moment that I knew I was in love with this game, and I refused to stop playing until I had solved every mystery.
However, that mystery gets buried under some of the more personal aspects of Mick’s life, which he leads a very frustrating one. A significant portion of the problems that Mick faces is his fault, and while that makes sense for the story, at times I would be exasperated about how he was dealing with a situation. This would only be compounded by some of the more esoteric puzzles that you will find along your way. This frustration feels good when you finally get past whatever social hang-up Mick is having, but during a puzzle, it can reach the point where you stop caring altogether, especially when a puzzle solution is being hindered by Mick himself.
An Elegant Solution
The Drifter, at its core, is a point-and-click adventure game with a hard focus on problem-solving and interpersonal relationships, although you won’t be able to control what Mick says. Indeed, Mick is his own character with his own thoughts and feelings, which can be in opposition to the goals of both you and Mick. Much of the story is told through Mick’s dialogue with himself, and puzzles aren’t much of an exception, which can make finding a solution at times frustrating.
The main reason for my frustration is that often a character will say something once, and you are expected to remember it. I mean, this is pretty easy to do when you are playing at the time, but if you need to get up and leave for a few hours and come back, you are left in the dust. As a result, you will have to fumble around in the dark. Yeah, I was disappointed about the lack of a log of any kind; this feature is so common in similar genres that I had taken it for granted. Luckily, the tools you need for each puzzle will be in similar areas, and if you happen upon a clue, it will lead you to the next proper area.
That is a huge strength; you can usually tell what you can interact with, and slowly piece together what you are supposed to do with them. However, even with all of the pieces in my hands, I definitely had a hard time solving some of the more obtuse puzzles. The biggest example was needing to play a cassette via an answering machine. In the normal world, this would be easy, and we would be finished in five minutes tops. In The Drifter? I ended up needing a slightly convoluted method to play the tape that made sense, but had me rolling my eyes once I found the solution.
It is disappointing that the puzzles that come to my mind, even in the last half of the narrative, are the ones that frustrated me. The puzzles that I had a simple time with ended up being okay at best, but the one that stood out to me is the big finale puzzle. This entire puzzle felt fantastic to go through and made sense to me every step of the way. Even now, when I think back to it, I get chills and the urge to play that final section again just to relive that experience. I wish that more of the puzzles were like this, but looking back, all that frustration made the finale even sweeter to me. And I wouldn’t trade that for anything else that The Drifter could be.
Drifting No More
The Drifter is far from perfect; in fact, there are many aspects that I might change if I were asked about it. However, something is compelling about the way it spins the narrative, and how each puzzle pulls together to that satisfying conclusion. I may not have been in complete control of Mick, but by the end, I felt like I understood him in a way that I would never understand a Persona protagonist. Mick is flawed, messy, and an outright jerk most of the time I spent with him, and that describes The Drifter perfectly.
Yes, the puzzles can be frustrating, and many won’t like the point-and-click adventure that the title uses. Even then, there is something here that I know will become a cult classic for any fan of that genre. I compared it early on to I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream, but I didn’t know how accurate that description would be as I looked back at my time with The Drifter. I’m already planning to have my friends play this game when it comes out on July 17, and I hope you take the time to give it a chance. I know you won’t be disappointed and find the beauty in the mess like I did.
Disclaimer: Powerhoof provided a Steam code of The Drifter to Final Weapon for review purposes.
