Blackwood Crossing in 4 Minutes
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Blackwood Crossing is a first-person narrative adventure video game released on PlayStation 4 on April 4, 2017, and a day later on Xbox One and PC.
Gameplay
Video and screenshot of gameplay
The game is set on a moving train as two children — Scarlet and Finn — learn to navigate their relationship with each other, until their paths cross with a mysterious figure. According to the game reviews of Polygon and PlayStation Blog, the main themes of the game's story include the transition from childhood to adulthood and loss, shrouded in surrealism.
Through a series of creative and contextual puzzles, players unlock key details about Finn and Scarlett's past and uncover the mystery behind the train journey.
Plot
Scarlett wakes up to find herself on a train. She searches for her brother Finn on the train in a game of Simon says. Afterward, an unnamed person wearing a rabbit mask appears and a panicked Finn tells Scarlett to wake up, making her awaken on the train once more. Unmoving figures who are all wearing animal masks begin to appear. Matching dialogue in the correct order with the masked persons creates vague contexts for the story and allows Scarlett to move onto the next area.
Scarlett begins to be unsure of her surroundings, as areas such as her grandpa's greenhouse and her treehouse shared with her brother begin to materialize and branch out of areas of the train. Throughout her journey, she develops the ability to "give life" to objects and control fire while also encountering a dark substance called Umbra, which seems to hate light.
Polygon recommended the game for players who appreciated narrative-driven games, such as Gone Home, Dear Esther, and Firewatch. The reviewer goes on to praise Finn's portrayal, stating "I can't recall such a good portrayal of a child in a game, since the Studio Ghibli-produced Ni No Kuni".