Rosewater is just the beginning of this journey. Welcome to Vespuccia.
Here is a statement I made to developer Francisco Gonzalez’ on the social media app FKA Twitter about his 2025 release ROSEWATER
[Lie]. “Indeed, a horrible game, no choices, silly puzzles, you play as a woman who is tough as nails and team with foreigners. Diversity initiatives, amirite?”
Honestly though ROSEWATER is a lovely game with multiple ways to solve interesting puzzles. It is true you play as a tough as nails female, they are also creative, intuitive, intelligent and brave. She does end up teaming with a very diverse group of very well rounded interesting individuals with intriguing backstories and histories you’ll learn along the way and it is this storytelling that makes the game so worth experiencing.
First and foremost I think we must recognize that Francisco is truly an accomplished writer and world creator. To fully explain the depth of that world creation would rob you of reveals in this game, but fans of prior Grundislav games will be absolutely delighted by the developments and tales told in Rosewater.
The way the story and game builds is so intriguing and different, it feels like a drawn out but yet perfectly crafted streaming series but with choose your own adventure decisions that will not actually ever lead to a THE END but will tell you a different version of the story and its intricate details allowing for multiple gameplays outside of just re-experiencing the adventure again. This is a rarity in this style of game but a welcome one.
The simple but very attractive and enticing pixel art, quality sounds and music, brilliant voice acting and pay attention to the details or go for more brunt force choices on certain puzzle areas make the idea of replay value for a retro point n click even higher, especially in 2025 when there seems many games of this genre returning so anything that feels different, stronger, better will standout.
I should state that at the date of writing this review I have not yet completed the adventure (with 7 hours in). It is a long one and every bit of it never loses charm. As you learn more of your protagonist and build them based on decisions that all make sense for the character you learn more about your compatriots and want to spend as much time as possible with them, learning as much as you can about them and learning as much about the world through their eyes. This goes for every character you come across. They are all realized and feel like more then just filler or dressing, each encounter is a full small story of a steampunk western built in a reality familiar to ours and one regaled in many a cowboy or “oregon trail” like book, movie, show or game but feeling wholly original and crafted with love.
ROSEWATER is available NOW on Steam and GOG for $19.99.