Vasilisa and Baba Yaga – PS5 Review

I’m sure we all remember stories of fairy tales from our childhood. Or local folklore. Whilst some of them become referential in games, I don’t think it’s that common for them to become a focus of an entire interactive experience. Vasilisa and Baba Yaga comes Russian developer Baba Yaga Games. Taking the stories of Vasilisa the Brave and adapting them to an interactive medium results in something unique and interesting but short-lived.

From what I can tell, Vasilisa and Baba Yaga stay faithful to the source material. Vasilisa is a young girl sent by her stepmother to the Baba Yaga to earn the family the gift of fire. The titular Baba Yaga is a forest hag who requests our brave heroine to do some light housework. Think of it as some sinister community service. The threat of being eaten for failure is always present but she has assistance from a magic doll.

The doll is brought to life by three scraps of bread and helps Vasilisa in completing chores as well as combat. The story itself doesn’t expand much beyond the initial premise but, as a simply folk tale, it works well. As you progress, an encyclopaedia is built up. Entries are added as you uncover new locations and characters. It does a great job of fleshing out the world whilst letting an unfamiliar audience fill in the blanks.

Whilst the narrative is simple, I think it’s told well. It retains a storybook feeling with a Russian-speaking narrator taking you through the adventure. She even puts on a gruff voice for Baba Yaga, like you would if entertaining a child. That’s a lovely touch and her performance feels spot on. It’s a welcome constant that contextualises and propels the tale. I was mildly concerned there could be some cultural differences that could spoil things. Thankfully, the traditional tropes and were easy for me to find comparisons with.  I do worry about the reliance on subtitles rather than an English dub.  It’s a lot of reading for a child to possibly sign up for.

The art style is very distinct. There’s a lot of thick black lines with characters and environments almost looking like they’ve been made out of craft paper. Animations have recognisable points of articulation and, whilst it’s not stop-motion, it evokes it ever so slightly. It has a dark, jagged aesthetic that makes me think of the more Grimm fairy tales and it certainly plays on more macabre elements.

The woods look dark and ominous and there’s a haunting quality to some of the soundtrack. There’s a lot of wailing involved but the tone does seem to lose its grasp when combat begins. Those sections feature a more guitar-heavy score that sounds too contemporary for a folky setting. It’s a game with plenty of atmosphere but those little decisions derail the experience, for me.

Vasilisa looks perpetually haunted and tired. The doll always carries a confidence and Vasilisa gives her a kiss when her work is done. It’s a lovely touch. As is the wild unsheathing of a cleaver whenever the doll enters combat. He’s got gangly arms and, despite the reach, he feels a little loose with her swings. It can take getting used to but fights are rarely complicated.

Aside from fighting, there’s the occasional stealth segment and other moments like washing dishes to keep you occupied. It’s described as a series of mini-games and that feels accurate. Interaction is light and without much complexity. Indeed, a routine of daily chores is formed when the Baba Yaga is met. There’s a nice loop of work and some late night snooping when the big girl is asleep. As something more suited to a younger audience, it works well enough. Combat and stealth sequences carry enough threat to feel meaningful.

There are failure states. Messing up stealth pushes Vasilisa back a step and the doll only has a few hits he can take in combat. The game does want you to succeed with repeated losses giving the doll more resilience. Boss fights are probably the only time where mistakes mount up with Vasilia needing to be freed from a particular monster. Again, these encounters aren’t tricky to figure out and throwing down salt can offer a shortcut.  The game does like to throw you a bone.  When traversing a maze, any successful moves you make are marked out by footprints, making it straight-forward to retrace them.

I do think Vasilisa and Baba Yaga would work well with a younger audience. The tale is dark and macabre and the gameplay is simple enough for an inexperienced player to feel frustration free. There’s a solid, gloomy atmosphere on offer that is helped by some jagged artwork and animation. The presentation really sells it with the narration giving it a real bedtime story feel. There’s not much more to it but I like how it’s presented and the execution is solid.