Go North review: A cozy adventure that loses its narrative compass

I've wanted to get my hands on Go North for a while after seeing it showcased at several African games industry events. After spending nearly seven hours with it, I can finally see what all the attention was about.

Go North is a story-driven maze adventure developed by Nigerian-based Tade Ajiboye (Gazuntype), where players explore handcrafted labyrinths, solve environmental puzzles, collect unique tools, and compete in multiplayer and procedurally generated modes.

Story

The game follows Dara, a "Littler" on a journey to the mythical Maze God to earn a single wish. Her goal is to use that wish to save her dying mother.

Along the way, you'll travel through three Makers, god-like beings who oversee different mazes before anyone can reach the Maze God. You'll also encounter the Broken Compass protesters, a group trying to stop people from Going North. We'll come back to them later.

Gameplay and graphics

Go North leans heavily into its cozy gameplay, and for the most part, it works. The visuals carry this game in many ways. Early screenshots didn't do it justice, and this is quite possibly the best-looking game I've played from an African developer.

It's simply enjoyable to wander around, admire the scenery and even stop to pet sheep. I appreciated that the game lets you pet sheep instead of copying every other game that lets you pet dogs or cats. Nice touch.

I also liked that the game never encourages you to rush. Especially in the early mazes, you're expected to explore, talk to NPCs and figure things out yourself. Unless you switch on Assist Mode, Go North rarely holds your hand.

The controls are simple and never overwhelm you with unnecessary inputs, which made the seven-hour journey easy to settle into. Timi was easily my favourite character. He brought some humour to the adventure, and I honestly wish the game had used him more.

Some moments genuinely stick with you, especially in the Meadow and Sky Maker sections. Being able to fly in the Sky levels adds a refreshing twist to the gameplay, even if those areas lose some of the NPC interactions from the earlier regions. I also liked the store perks. Most aren't essential, but they're nice to have.

Issues and missed opportunities

My biggest issue with Go North is its story.

The game never really gives you a reason to care about Dara. She leaves home almost immediately, leaving behind her mother and a little sister, and it's only much later that we learn she's trying to save her mother. By then, it's difficult to build much emotional investment in her journey. 

Ironically, I found Timi's motivation far stronger. His father disappeared after reaching the Sky Mazes, so Timi sets out to find him and hopefully bring him home. That's a simple goal, but it immediately made me care more about him than the game's main protagonist. I'd even be open to playing a Timi-led DLC that explores his own journey to locating his dad or something else entirely.

Go North also tries to make Dara feel special without laying enough groundwork for why. Unlike Timi, we don't learn much about her family or whether anyone before her had ever attempted the journey to the Maze God.

We also never know how long Dara has to save her mother. According to her, wishing the Maze God to heal her is the only option, but the game never establishes a timeline or sense of urgency. That's odd because while Go North encourages players to slow down and explore, Dara herself should feel like she's racing against time.

Instead, she sets off on a journey where people have disappeared before, knowing there's no guarantee she'll ever return. What if her mother dies while she's still trying to reach the Maze God? What if she ends up lost like Timi's father? 

Those questions kept crossing my mind throughout the adventure, but the game never addresses them. Without that sense of urgency, it became difficult for me to fully invest in Dara's journey, even though the premise itself had a lot of potential.

Then you have The Broken Compass protesters, another missed opportunity. Their belief is that the Maze God is dying because every wish weakens it, especially larger wishes. It's a very interesting idea, but the game never explores it properly. If granting wishes is killing the Maze God, why keep granting them at all? And can anybody really wish for anything? The game’s narrative doesn’t answer these questions.

There are also smaller gameplay frustrations

You don't keep useful tools like the Slingshot or Whistle between certain maze sections, even though they're useful throughout much of the game. Coins can also be surprisingly easy to miss in the Meadow Maker levels because they blend into the environment.

Though the gameplay never became repetitive, the soundtrack did. It starts off relaxing but quickly becomes stale. Different music across the various Makers would've gone a long way.

The NPCs were another mixed bag. Outside of Timi, I found most of them dull and forgettable. One NPC joking about wishing for a million coins because everyone else was pretending to be noble was funny. If the reward is having any wish granted, there's bound to be every kind of wish, both good and evil, selfish and selfless. I wish there had been more conversations like that. 

Instead, too many NPC interactions boil down to simple fetch quests or taking photos with a camera that doesn't have much use beyond those moments. Mo also didn't leave much of an impression. Even after his identity is revealed, the moment lacks impact because the game never spends enough time building him up. 

One thing worth mentioning is that I didn't encounter a single bug throughout seven hours of gameplay, which made the experience feel remarkably polished. Unfortunately, that changed right at the end. After completing the Sky Maker and attempting to continue the story from the main menu, the game froze on a blank white screen, preventing me from progressing any further. 

Verdict

Go North pulls you in with its gorgeous environments and constantly encourages you to slow down and enjoy the journey. I often found myself appreciating the nighttime levels even more than the daytime ones because of how peaceful they looked.

Unfortunately, the story never reaches the same standard as the world around it. Dara isn't given enough development for her journey to feel emotionally satisfying, and several interesting ideas this game presents never receive the payoff they deserve.

That said, if you're looking for a cozy adventure with excellent visuals and rewarding exploration, there's plenty here to like. Just don't expect the story to leave the same impression as the world you'll spend hours wandering through. You may also find yourself wishing you could swap the soundtrack after a while.

A copy of Go North was provided for review by Gazuntype.