The Magnificent Trufflepigs is a beautifully cut canonical walking simulator that takes us to the British countryside to search for a valuable lost object using a metal detector.
The Magnificent Trufflepigs is an orthodox walking simulator designed by Andrew Crawshaw , an industry veteran who we know, above all, for having created another of the heavyweights of the genre, Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture , although he has also participated in other renowned projects like Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs or Alien Hominid , one of the first indies to make the leap to consoles with a version for GameBoy Advance. With this work, which is signed by his new studio, Thunkd, and edited by AMC Games , the author once again explores the nuances of narrative works with a solvent but unsurprising result.
In this first-person adventure we control Adam , an English boy who helps his childhood friend Beth find a lost earring on a farm in the British countryside . To do this, both take to the field with a pair of metal detectors scanning every corner and trying to find the precious object among metal trash and scrap metal. While searching, both speak through old walkie-talkies in the purest Firewatch style , including deep conversations – very well localized in Spanish – about life, dialogues framed in an existential crisis that Beth is going through and in which Adam will have a fundamental paper.
Detect, dig and converse
Throughout the five days that both protagonists spend in the field – which for us translates into around three hours of play – all they do is walk around swinging the metal detector and dig when the machine signals the presence of some object. At an interactive level, the metal detection and extraction phase is somewhat basic, but enough to make it an exhaustive and tiring job : you will have to kick the ground over and over again, always at a slow pace, and insistently dig with two guys. tool, one to remove a good piece of land and another to investigate it in more detail until you find the object that the detector has found.
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As we said, The Magnificent Trufflepigs is a walking simulator from head to toe , so do not expect an exaggerated display of mechanical design from it: the important thing here is to walk and talk to Beth through the walkie-talkie or from the chat on our phone , which we also use to send you photos of what we have found, although it must be recognized that the inclusion of the metal detector as a conductive mechanism for the storyline gives it an interesting touch that clears the shadow of boredom , very common in works that do not quite understand the virtues of this genre.
The detector has a visual and audible indicator that tells us if there is a metallic object in the direction it is pointing or not.
The plot of this game does know how to take advantage of the possibilities of the walking simulator and it does so mainly through two aspects: the narrative rhythm and the voice interpretation . Regarding the first, The Magnificent Trufflepigs has a well measured script that combines conversational moments with ease so that we do not notice imbalances at any time, and even knows how to introduce the different phases of the game. relationship between Adam and Beth so that we approach her naturally. On the other hand, the own interpretation of the protagonists is probably the best section of the work, with roles very well carried by Arthur Darvill (Doctor Who, Legends of Tomorrow ) and Luci Fish ( Safe House , Another Eden ), who play Adam and Beth respectively.
Good storytelling tools for a bland story
Of course, even if he knows how to tell his story and although the characters are well interpreted, what The Magnificent Trufflepigs tells has not finished exciting us . “It’s a game about finding what we long for,” says the official description of the work, and it literally goes about that. Without surprises, although with a bit of tricks , the story leaves us aside from the action, turning us into secondary actors in an existential epiphany that does not finish finding a way to transmit the power with which they want to tell it to us. It is an intimate and personal story told with good timing and good dialogue, but with little chicha , which means that when we finish the game and give it some thought, it leaves little residue inside us.
The plot explores Beth’s feelings and ambitions, placing us in the background from which we sometimes have something – very little – of agency.
The great thing about all of this is that The Magnificent Trufflepigs doesn’t put all its eggs in one basket: it is neither a metal detector simulator nor a purely conversational game . There is a good balance between its two facets, which is what we mean when we highlight its good narrative rhythm, and ultimately what can be left for a more personal evaluation is the quality of the story that it tells us; the tools with which he does it, however, are well framed within a quality picture difficult to ignore.
Last but not least, the game’s art direction is another fucking favor to steer the story through a romantic space. British rural landscapes are reproduced here with a beautiful almost painterly quality , between the realistic and the oily, which fits perfectly with the romantic and emotional plot that we are being told. Every day we can put extra hours on each terrain to keep looking even when the conversations with Beth are over, something that we will want just to be able to continue admiring the landscape we move through.
Every time we find an object we will have to take a photo of it and send it to Beth to unlock a new conversation piece.
Conclusions
The Magnificent Trufflepigs is a captivating narrative work that proposes a peculiar game system , based on the detection of metallic objects, without letting the full weight of the experience fall on that claim: it is true that practically everything we do on an interactive level is look for metals in precious British fields, but the most important thing about this walking simulator is in its dialogues, in its conversations . That is where the interesting thing about the work lies and where we find one of its main virtues: the interpretation of the two main characters. Beyond that and its beautiful graphics, What this game proposes is nothing that we have not already seen in other genre titles, so those who like this type of work will be able to find a good delivery here, with a powerful story, although somewhat tricky and that suffers from a certain lack of hook , but those who are not related to this format can hardly change their mind with this game.
