[Disclaimer: I received a review key for Poetic Trio through Keymailer, a third-party company that connects publishers and developers with content creators. The game key was given without promise or expectation of a positive review, only that it be played, and content be created. Unless otherwise noted, all content in the following article is from my own playthrough of this game.]
Poetic Trio
Systems: Nintendo Switch 1 & 2, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, and PlayStation 5
Release Date: June 9, 2026
Publisher: Sometimes You
Developer: Tonguç Bodur
Play Time: ~2 Hours 30 Minutes
Playthrough Montage on YouTube
I had high hopes for Poetic Trio, but sadly, after an hour of playing the first of three chapters, I was quite a bit let down.
Before we actually get to the game itself, the problem I have with Poetic Trio is that there is no checkpoint or saving system. So my first hour of gameplay in the first of three chapters didn't register in-game because I didn't finish the first chapter. So if I want to see the actual end of the first chapter, I'll have to start over from the beginning, solving all of the environmental puzzles again. Writing about it again makes me salty. On the Steam page for this first chapter, Pluviophile, because Poetic Trio is a collection of these three similarly styled games, the developer said that adding in a checkpoint or save system would mean having to essentially make the game all over again, so it's not likely to happen.
But let's get to the game itself.
Poetic Trio is a collection of three chapters, each with its own environmental and poetic theme. You walk through an enclosed area where you locate a glowing magenta flower and then take that flower to an ornate white circle painted/engraved on the ground. You are rewarded with a selection of the poem that is contextually based on the environment, and then a new area is opened up, usually in close proximity to where you are. This new area is typically larger in size and has two or more glowing flowers to collect to activate two or more painted circles. After finding two or three collections of these flowers and fragments of a poem, the screen fades to black, and you start the process all over again in a new area in an identical or similar biome. The game is primarily a walking simulator, with the option for a light jog to move faster. At first, I thought that the regular walking speed was enough, but I quickly realized that moving faster, considering the size of the area, was more my speed and likely shaved at least 20 minutes off my play time.
The first chapter, "Pluviophile," takes place in a wooded area outside of what looked like a small urban city. There is a constant drizzle of rain, as opposed to a deluge or downpour of rain. The setting is actually really wonderful, and I could spend a significant amount of time here. And I did, as mentioned above. I was enjoying the languid pace of the game, although I quickly decided that running felt like a better pace considering how large the second area was and how far apart the glowing flower was and where the painted circle ended up being. I was in the second area in "Pluviophile" and had been wandering around for a while trying to locate the last of three (I think) glowing flowers, after the path I had taken had me loop back on an area I had been in earlier. I soon located the last flower and the last circle. The screen faded to black, and I was about to start the third area.
By this point, I had been playing for an hour and felt that I needed to get some sleep since I was playing at night. I knew the Squire would want to play the Switch in the morning, so I exited back to the main menu, a little wary that I hadn't seen a quicksave or checkpoint in between loading screens. When I started the game back up and clicked the "Continue" option in "Pluviophile," I was horrified and annoyed to be back at the beginning of the entire chapter. The thought of having to go through roughly an hour of gameplay was not at all appealing, even though I loved so much about the environment. Needless to say, I was conflicted.
Rather than playing through "Pluviophile" again, I decided to start the second chapter, "Chionophile," and I was immediately glad that I did. This chapter took place in a mountainous and snowy expanse with occasional active snowfall, crunching snow under your noncorporeal feet, and a soft, unobtrusive piano playing in the background. Honestly, my biggest critique was the size of the area compared to how fast you could walk, and I think I only felt this way because I knew there weren't any checkpoints. If I was going to finish "Chionophile," it was going to have to be done either in a single sitting, or if I could keep the Switch away from The Squire long enough.
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to finish "Chionophile" either, but due to different circumstances. First, between the first and second areas, there was a loading screen that went over what looked like a new mechanic. I tried to take a screenshot both for future reference and for the montage videos I was making. As I had earlier been unable to save videos, the game told me that it couldn't take any screenshots, and I was initially confused since I'd been doing this for the last 30 minutes. By the time I thought to take out my phone to take a picture, the loading screen faded, and the level started. Something about when following tracks, to go straight. This new area was similar to the first, but still felt different in that there were more mountains in the distance, but no distinct paths that I could see.
But eventually there were paths, and while I did find one flower and activated a painted circle, I was unable to find the second (and/or possibly third?). I doubled back down the path I'd taken, took different paths while keeping straight if the paths ever crossed. I wasn't sure if there was some kind of hidden mechanic that kept a flower from spawning if you diverge from the path, but I couldn't be sure. Maybe I was just missing it somewhere? So I started wandering willy-nilly. That was when I got physically stuck. I was walking along a frozen river, and tried to walk through some branches, but I couldn't move. Then I tried to back up, but I couldn't move. I could rotate the camera, but I couldn't move. Everything I tried, from pausing and unpausing to pressing all of the buttons, but nothing happened to get me unstuck.
But what did happen when I pressed the B button was that it put markers on the screen where the flower and the circle were located. But I still couldn't move. So I exited back to the main menu and turned the game off.
The final chapter, "Loverowind," was an interesting one, and one I don't think I could have completed if I hadn't accidentally figured out that pressing the B button highlighted where the flowers and painted circles were located. This chapter started out in a castle, but after pulling a lever, rotating a giant spiral staircase, and following a flight of stairs further up, I came out to a vast valley that literally stretched miles. I pressed B and saw where my targets were. One flower was way over to my left, and the circle was way over to my right. I probably could have played this area for an entire hour without finding both of the flowers and both of the circles. The gimmick in this level, though, to help you travel across such a large expanse, was floating white orbs that made you accelerate for about 10 seconds, which was a couple seconds longer than you'd need to reach the next orb if you ran in a more-or-less straight direction.
The second interesting choice "Loverowind" made was introducing a chase sequence. After activating the second circle, the camera panned out and up, and a large neon green dome appeared near the center of the stage with the text, "Catch It" slowly flashing at the top of the screen. It then began moving very quickly, relatively speaking, and while you had to use the white orbs to increase your speed to catch it, it was still faster than you, so you had to flank it and approach it from an angle. Once this was completed, you returned to the castle. And did it all over again after rotating the giant staircase in the opposite direction. While I knew what to do at this point, it didn't feel particularly great to comb a large, expansive valley and then chase another giant green dome all over again. Then the castle opens up, and you make your way back to the room where you started, and the chapter ends.
I feel a little annoyed that my biggest hangup, what felt like it prevented me from fully enjoying the game, was knowing that there was no checkpoint or saving system in the game. I enjoyed the calmness of the first two chapters, and I enjoyed the serene soundscape and the music that played in the background. I was mostly fine with the flower/circle unlocking mechanic, but annoyed that I only found out about the B button locator by accident, which would have made the first two chapters significantly easier and less frustrating because there is no saving. I really feel that I don't have it in me, right now, to restart "Pluviophile" or "Chionophile" again from the beginning, and "Loverowind" was the most gameified chapter in the game, compared to the first two walking sim chapters. Not the best way to end the game, but at least I was able to finish one chapter.
I'm sure that means something. Had I known beforehand that there was no checkpoint system and that pressing B brought up visual indicators for where you're supposed to go, I might have had a different feeling for the first two chapters, and thereby, the overall game.
~JWfW/JDub/The Faceplantman/Jaconian
Night Spreads Its Wings
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