NAIRI: Tower of Shirin

NAIRI: Tower of Shirin is a charming point-and-click adventure game featuring hand-drawn art and a whimsical desert city setting inhabited by anthropomorphic animals and humans. Players follow Nairi, the protagonist, through a story rich with mystery, classism, and intriguing characters. The puzzles range from simple item fetch quests to more challenging minigames, with a generally balanced difficulty curve except for a few cryptic moments near the end.

While the game's art style, music, and humor have been widely praised, many players find the story structure uneven and incomplete. The game abruptly ends on a cliffhanger, leaving many plot threads unresolved and suggesting a sequel is necessary to conclude the narrative. Navigation can be cumbersome due to the lack of a map or fast travel, and some bugs and interface quirks—such as manual saving prompts and inconsistent character animations—impact the experience. Despite these issues, the game's atmosphere and character design make it an endearing experience, especially for fans of narrative-driven adventures.

Highlights

Players consistently praise the game's beautiful hand-drawn art style and charming character designs, which create a unique and immersive world.

The story, though incomplete, is intriguing and well-received for its depth, humor, and thematic elements like classism and mystery.

Puzzle mechanics are generally balanced, offering a mix of simple and challenging tasks that engage players without overwhelming them.

The soundtrack complements the setting well, enhancing the overall atmosphere and player immersion.

Criticisms

The most common criticism is the abrupt cliffhanger ending that leaves the story unresolved, frustrating many players who expected a complete narrative.

Navigation suffers due to the absence of a map or fast-travel system, leading to repetitive backtracking and occasional confusion.

Some puzzles, especially near the end, are cryptic or poorly explained, causing unnecessary difficulty spikes.

Technical issues include bugs, frequent crashes, and intrusive manual save prompts that break immersion.

The dialogue delivery and character animations sometimes feel unnatural or repetitive, impacting the narrative flow.