Road to Guangdong
Road to Guangdong
Road to Guangdong, développé par Just Add Oil Games et édité par Excalibur Games, est sorti le 6 juin 2019 sur PC, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch et Xbox One. Ce titre d'aventure et de simulation indépendant, réalisé avec le moteur Unity et protégé par la gestion des droits Steam, plonge le joueur dans un road trip à travers le Guangdong des années 1990. On y incarne Sunny, une jeune diplômée en art et héritière du restaurant familial en difficulté, accompagnée de sa tante Guu Ma, tandis qu'ils tentent de sauver l'entreprise à bord de leur vieille voiture Sandy. Le voyage impose de surveiller la consommation de carburant, l'usure des pneus et l'état du moteur, ainsi que de gérer les niveaux d'huile et de carburant et de réparer ou remplacer des pièces usagées comme les filtres à huile ou les courroies de ventilateur.
Le score OpenCritic du jeu s'établit à 53 et sa note agrégée à 51,50. La presse a livré des avis mitigés, Finger Guns évoquant « un jeu en deux parties, avec à peu près assez dans l'une pour compenser les frustrations de l'autre », tandis que DarkStation a salué la mise en avant des valeurs familiales. Certains joueurs sur Steam regrettent toutefois la linéarité du titre et le fait qu'il ne constitue pas la suite spirituelle attendue de Jalopy.
Médias
Avis des critiques et joueurs
Critiques de la Presse (Metacritic)
« The game heartily emphasizes family values, where the unifying factor is ultimately to love over good food. Those who enter the family from outside are as much uncles, aunts, and cousins as those who were born into it. Of course, the story is mushy, but these days when gritty games try their hardest to tear you into pieces, there’s a vacant lot for feel-good entertainment. In this context, it’s heartless to moan about some gameplay and design issues, like mostly uneventful driving parts or linear nature of family meetings where a failure is hardly an option. All these gripes are fully acceptable if you put your heart into the game. Road to Guangdong might not be the next must-buy hit but it has more humanity to share than most games out there put together. »
« A game of two halves, there’s just about enough in one half to make up for the frustrations of the other. Easily an afternoon’s enjoyment in there. »
« Road to Guangdong is an interesting experiment in the very niche road trip simulator category that's ultimately worth a look because of its bold form of storytelling and interesting, captivating characters. The fact that its flaws are so persistently visible throughout most of it means that it won't be a game for everyone, but for someone looking for a unique, imperfect experience, this might be just the game they're looking for. Still, in another world where different developmental choices were made, Road to Guangdong could have been the indie masterpiece it's so often striving to be. »
« Whilst Road to Guangdong does suffer from various gameplay issues and a laborious process of managing the upkeep of your car, its story is engaging and uplifting. »
« Family is a big deal in the East and it is portrayed very well in Road to Guangdong on the Xbox One. Sadly though, the family included here isn’t worth the drive to get there. »
« Too slight to be seriously considered a Ja-copy of Jalopy, Road to Guandong has some adorable visual-novel moments that focus on family. It’s just a shame, then, that the road trip sections to reach them are so lifeless. »
« Road to Guangdong can be commended for its unique concept and colourful imagery, but that is all it has. The mundane feel of the story is part of the appeal, as is the relaxing vibe, but there is no substance or discovery to be had, since there is no agency or wrong path. Driving is barely deeper than driving in one direction. Keeping the line under the red bar, and just selling whatever that can found is as engaging as picking out maggots from a heap of rice. The original OutRun is over 30 years old now, and yet manages to have more going on when driving. »
Avis des Joueurs (Metacritic)
« Road to Guangdong is a 3D Story Driven Driving Sim. You play as Sunny, driving your Aunt across 90's China. An emergency has cause you to have to travel across the country to reunite your family and save the family business. Youve inherited the family resturaunt and must learn all ypu can from your family to restore it to its former glory. The game is pretty Zen, as most of what you do is admire the scenery and story. Along the way you will have to take care of your worn out old car, to keep it moving. Filling the gas and replacing parts to keep the jalpoy moving gives you something to do as you freckled across China. The art style is simple yet beautiful, though they feel a tiny bit dated. The heart poured into the story shines over everything else. The way the author captured the Chinese/Cantonese culture and family values was heartwarming. The game delivers exaclty what it set out to yeild, a relaxing and contemplative experience. I feel that some of the dialogue could have used more fleshing, but what was done was delightful. Not the longest of games, but the time spent enjoying the scenery, and cultural immersion was spectacular. Road to Guangdong is a great story and relaxing experience, great for those looking for a calming time killer and good story. »
