Have you ever played a game and didn’t know whether or not you actually enjoyed it? It wasn’t bad. It might not have been good, either. But you didn’t hate playing it.
Well, that might be the kind of game that The Redress of Mira is. It’s a walking simulator that isn’t offensively bad, but it’s not worth gushing over. It’s the type of game that, at some point, I realized I was enjoying — but I won’t play it ever again.
You play as the titular Mira, who begins her journey chasing after another character. Said character warns Mira that she’ll end up just like her father if she doesn’t back off. From there, the story remains mostly relegated to books that you’ll discover as you play — or maybe you won’t. These books are tucked away in treasure chests, most of which are easy to find. That said, reading page after page of backstory can get kind of cumbersome, and it’s optional, so you don’t have to read these books if you don’t care about the plot.
You’ll spend the majority of your time walking through the world of The Redress of Mira. It’s a linear world, but some nice design choices give it a sprawling vibe. No, this is definitely not an open-world game, but the environments are such that they feel bigger than they actually are. Call it a nice optical illusion, but it certainly works in the game’s favor and gives it a good atmospheric vibe.
Along the way, you’ll solve very basic puzzles. These include pushing blocks to create platforms and pulling levers in the correct order. Nothing The Redress of Mira does is overly complicated, and that’s probably for the best, as the game is at its most enjoyable when you’re just moving through the world and getting to the next area.
There are some combat sections where you’ll face off against the same annoying boss character multiple times. These moments are more tedious than anything, and once they’re over, you can get back to the walking sim parts.
It’s strange, because as a walking simulator, The Redress of Mira could perfectly be described as “fine.” In terms of its mechanics, it does nothing inherently wrong. Basically, if you’re a fan of walking sims, you might like this one. You’ve probably played worse, but you’ve definitely played better.
I played The Redress of Mira on an Xbox Series S. While it looks okay graphically thanks to some nice aesthetic choices — okay, but not outstanding by any means — the character movements and animations are choppy and stiff. The bulk of the game is played in first-person perspective, but there are times when you’re pushing blocks or climbing ladders or vines where Mira’s movement is comically stiff. It looks pretty bad because there’s no fluidity to the movement.
On the flipside of that, the sound design is pretty good. The music is nice and adds to the overall atmosphere of the game. The voice acting is another story, but there’s not much of it, thankfully.
At just about two hours in length, The Redress of Mira won’t take up too much of your time. And it gives you a decent little fairytale-inspired world to get lost in for a bit. You won’t be amazed by it, but it does the trick. You should, however, keep in mind the $10 asking price. If you think that’s okay for a mostly-average-but-not-terrible two-hour walking sim, then go for it. Otherwise, maybe you should wait for a sale.
Disclaimer: I was given an Xbox review code for The Redress of Mira — which I played on Xbox Series S — but the opinions expressed in this article are my own.
