Cairn Review (PS5 & PC)

Folks who hike Mount Everest, Kilimanjaro, and the likes have to have daring souls. At least that’s what I think when I hear about solo hikers who made it to the peak. But what if there were far more complex motivations and emotions behind their audacious feats? What if, surprise, surprise, they were as human as the next person, as vulnerable, as anxious, as fearful, even desperate and hopeless at times? In an attempt to put myself in the shoes of professional hikers, because for the life of me, I cannot sum up the audacity it takes to hike up the tallest mountains in the world, I ventured into Cairn from the safety of my home: curious, cautious, definitely excited about what lay ahead.

But even as I grappled with the basics of hiking, putting one foot and hand in front of the other, I began to feel in sync with the protagonist. Somewhere in the midst of the grueling climb to the top, my heart and soul swelled with empathy and understanding. I tussled with defeat more times than I care to admit, but surprisingly drew courage from the protagonist’s will to keep pushing. Why, you ask? That she (and I) kept climbing, even when the protagonist succumbed to altitude sickness, when bruises and wounds dug deep into her palms and body, when the corpses she came across were proof enough that perhaps giving up and returning to safe, level ground weren’t so cowardly after all. 

Lots of emotional and physical testing and resolution that sometimes wasn’t satisfactory, but humane and authentic. Lots of pain but determination on the goals set and achieved. While many games keep it simple, our Cairn review is a testament to The Game Bakers’ interpretation of more than what meets the eye. 

All About the Climb

Without a tutorial showing you all the tips and tricks for summiting the tallest mountain peaks, you’re left patiently learning Cairn’s mechanics, step by step. Pressing the corresponding button to move your hand or foot, and the analog stick to direct where you’d like to grip onto a nearby rock crevice. It’s a manual control system, but aided by assists like automatic choosing of the next hand or foot to move. While it could take a while to fully acquaint yourself with Cairn’s control system, soon Aava, the protagonist’s mannerisms and movement clicks as she hauls herself further up fictional Mount Kami.

No one has ever made it to the top of Kami, and not for a lack of trying. But Aava sets her mind on reaching her highest mountain peak yet in her outstanding stream of hiking feats thus far. She recruits us into a daring mission and goal that we initially take up with gusto and grace. Moving the camera around to identify the possible angles and routes Aava could take, and the crevices that will give her a stable hold. But sometimes, it isn’t obvious where to take the next step. A risky move could leave Aava’s limbs fiddly, her weight uneven. And as you’ll soon learn, weight distribution is pretty important to making it to the next checkpoint. 

Hold On A Little While Longer

Well, weight distribution and placement of hand and foot holds. Without stable holds, Aava exerts too much energy and loses stamina. And while there’s no stamina meter cluttering the screen, you can detect its capacity via sound and visuals. She’ll start whimpering, losing breath, while her legs shake terribly that a fall is inevitable. Controllers with adaptive triggers and haptic feedback might rumble as well, which also immerses you in the moment and the present feeling Aava must be going through. And if you can’t help Aava reach for a more stable crevice, perhaps find a way to relieve her overexerted hand or limb. If too much time is wasted having Aava cling to an uncomfortable position for too long, she’ll fall, resetting your progress.

From calmness, even arrogance cruising through easier sections of Kami’s cliffside, to tense moments optimizing routes and strong holds, to last moments intervention trying to salvage a bad decision, Cairn is almost always constantly surprising. Its audio-visual palette might be misleading, its cel-shaded, naturalistic art style, and ambient music deceptively lure you into solace and comfort. But every so often, the tension rises when the next step isn’t clear cut, when you have to make prompt life and death decisions that not only cost your progress, but also feel terrible; Aava’s screams as she falls certainly unhelpful for your demise. 

Small Sliver of Hope

Still, planning ahead could get you out of tight spots. Pitons, especially, come in handy. They help cement a belay station that can be handy in case of a fall. But Cairn has tricks up its sleeve, where pitons are limited. And even if you can have your side robot buddy recover used pitons, they can be damaged or broken. In fact, planning and management are another significant gameplay element in Cairn. You have the persistent stamina, tracking how solid the surface is for supporting your feet, how heavily you’re leaning on one foot, or leaning too far from stable positioning. But you also have resource management, tracking your food, water intake, temperate, and health, each with individual meters. An easier difficulty option can scrape off any need to worry about resources. But I recommend challenging yourself to scavenging.

It adds to the charm of Cairn when you start off with a few resources. With checkpoints widely spaced, you’re often unsure of when your next meal might be, which replenishes your stamina. But when you do manage to reach a bivouac shelter, the relief of making it there is unmatched. You can finally rest, lick your wounds, with a handy manual system for bandaging bruises finger by finger. You can cook, which has its own relaxing charm. Or simply bid your time waiting for sunrise or rain to stop. Speaking of, weather elements, wind and rain, can be stumbling blocks to your journey. They can find you barely clinging to a precarious cliffside, threatening to send you tumbling down.

As Real As It Gets

Just something so real and authentic about Cairn that must mean the developers have been through hiking ordeals or at least borrowed from real-life experiences. Because it truly feels intense, damning at times, but also oddly persistent. And mix it in with Aava’s own story and those of the NPCs and environments she explores, and you enjoy a truly wholesome journey. Aava’s unlikeable at first, coming off as mean and dismissive of people who care about her. But as you journey along, the nuances of her past begin to unravel. And when NPCs join her for short beats, her motivations for wanting to summit Kami become more apparent. As it turns out, our assumptions about Aava aren’t at all true. She has layers that dig deep, revealing the imperfections and struggles the player can identify with. Even the ending isn’t clean and neatly tied with a bow. 

Running into corpses of hikers who didn’t make it to the peak does push you to reconsider your life choices. But beyond facing your decisions and inner struggles, Cairn also has rich lore surrounding a past civilization that lived on Mount Kami. It features wildlife, among so many other hidden secrets and truths.

Verdict

Climbing games may not be for everyone. But with a game like Cairn that has layers deeper than what meets the eye, non-fans of the genre might want to make an exception. Whether you share Aava, the protagonist’s, love for the mountains or not, Cairn finds its own way of challenging you to an incredible feat. It creates an authentic hiking experience that is filled with tension and reward over small and big wins. It’s immersive during every risk taken, and follows through with the tools needed to problem-solve. While clunky in some parts, playing Cairn definitely feels ecstatic when you finally make it to the top of Mount Kami. 

But is reaching the summit the end of the story? Or is it just a probe into further analyses of the inner self? Of loss, sacrifice, and following your passions, but at what cost? Cairn’s story is vulnerable, certainly relatable, and humane. It doesn’t seek to answer life’s greatest questions. Instead, it offers a glimpse into the emotional struggles Aava faces and how she chooses to address them. Through running away. Through facing a grueling journey and challenges that no one else has managed to beat. But are the losses and sacrifices Aava makes worth it? Is finally reaching the top of Mount Kami and taking in the picturesque view of everything grand and beautiful worth the physical and emotional burden sustained?