Review: Venba

By Dustin Cabeal

"Venba" is perhaps one of the simplest games that I have ever played. Its controls and directions are so straightforward that anyone could pick up the controller and easily finish the short two-to-three-hour game. By no means is that a negative aspect of the game; there is an intentional reason for the straightforward controls and simplicity. That’s because it’s an equal part video game and interactive story. It’s just that both of those things are viewed as dirty words. “Interactive story” is not a game, some would say, while book enthusiasts would similarly say “Moving pictures” are not a book. I’m of the mindset that a good story is a good story, and I love to see new and interesting ways for stories to be told. At the end of the day, all forms of media are just stories being told, and the one that "Venba" is telling resonated with me long after I finished playing it.

I played it twice, and I won’t sugarcoat it; it was to unlock all the achievements. Frankly, it’s an easy 1,000 if you’re looking for them. But on that journey to complete it, I discovered that by selecting the opposite answers than I had picked the first time, I got a very different story. It was a better story than my first playthrough, which caught me off guard. I tend to pick the answers that align with my view of the world. So, to have these alternative answers presented and to answer "what if I had chosen differently," well, it was a marvelous discovery that made the replay feel fresh and different. Again, it was very unexpected and left me delighted.