NeoIkaruGAF
Gold Member
Exactly this.Finished today and I'm pretty mixed on it. The concept is wonderful and there are some really interesting design choices that are equal parts brilliant but at the same time rob the game of any form of challenge. Having the areas lock themselves off once their role in the puzzle is completed will certainly prevent frustration from players, but it also limits the complexity of any given puzzle. At times it feels like you are manually kicking off each step of an intricate Rube Goldberg machine rather than solving a headscratcher. There is so much potential to the concept, especially when you have the orbs, but the lack of challenge robs you of any "ah ha" moments. Maybe the intention was it to be more of journey and less about stumping players, but I do think it lacks any sense of place. In the end, I think the design of game is far more interesting than playing it, but I'd still recommend playing it just to see the design given how short the experience is.
If the areas didn’t self-lock after solving each puzzle it would soon become a nightmare. But as it is, it’s pretty straightforward. I only got stuck at the very final puzzle because it gives you two visual clues that contradict each other (or maybe one of the two clues is true if you seek the hidden ending? I dunno).
It’s a nice little game for what it offers, but one I will never replay.
I’m also not fond of the artstyle or the supremely obscure visual/environmental storytelling. Elden Ring is a straightforward child’s tale compared to this. I wish indies finally got the message that you don’t need this to make a game interesting.