Relicta

(Based on the demo. Had I bought it, I would've requested a refund at the same time that I Alt+F4ed out of the demo because I didn't want to spend another second in this game.) The very first scene is already an indicator of things to come. The main character saying to herself: "Mom's gonna save the day!" Tacky lines like that belong in cheesy action movies, not sci-fi puzzle games. The main character is established as somewhat arrogant, irresponsible, unprofessional (to be fair, so is at least one of her co-workers) and lacking basic parenting skills. I would not have expected her to apparently be middle-aged. Overall, the dialogue seems like something an immature student would come up with, trying too hard to write something authentic. Usually, I don't find myself analyzing visual flaws in games but I suppose some of them were so apparent, that the other ones naturally followed. Like the tiny subtitles, the awkwardly placed fps meter, the trees that look like relics from a number of years ago or the jittery grass. I would expect there to be ready-made assets that look and animate better these days. Which might have been the reason why I also noticed the lack of detail on the ground (~10 years ago, parallax maps were often used, not sure what tech would be common today) and that the water shader seems messed up. The geometry of the river bank, as well as hands and orbs of the character blend into it. Now, I love puzzle games and there aren't a lot of high quality games released in that genre. So just based on the mechanics and overlooking various visual flaws just mentioned, it would've been an interesting, somewhat decent looking games, since I find the setting and overall design quite appealing. Hence the relatively high rating. I think the effort invested and potential that is there has to be recognized. But I obviously just can't stomach the writing and based on how asinine it is, I don't have high hopes for the quality of the puzzles anyway.

In my opinion a very enjoyable, challenging and atmospheric puzzle game with nice story integration. All in all the main game (without DLCs) took me about 33 hours to play through without walkthrough, where I enjoyed almost every minute of it. The game also has it's not so good sides indeed, but 90% of the game I really found joyful. So on the good side: + Great graphics + Challenging puzzles, but fair and always able to find a way out with logic or "creative" thinking + Well I would say "nice" story integration, while not perfect and not always logic, it still gives you a part of the game's atmosphere + Great atmosphere + The chance for a "dead-lock" situation is very low + nice sound effects The neutral side: o There is some music, but I would not really call it music. But it's okay o Indeed there is much profanity in this game, but that's part of the protagonist's personality, so for me it's okay :) The negative side: - There are some few situations where, with bad luck, you really can stuck and have to restart the level - Checkpoint saving ... I personally really did not like that, because it means you have to complete a puzzle before you can save the game .. which in later levels can take more than an hour.. Most time it's not a big loss, as, if you already know how to solve the puzzles, you can usually redo the steps in about 5 minutes, but there are also some puzzle elements which needs accurate moving and/or timing, where it's really annoying if you can not save and have to redo it, if you need to quit the game.. But all in all I would buy this game again and I even rebought this game for the full price to support the, in my opinion, developer's great work. Thanks for given us that game. Perfect for people seeking out for more after Talos Principle or Portal :) It's not the same .. sure! .. it's not that perfect .. also sure! .. but it's still totally worth buying and playing :)

I want to preface by review by saying that I completed the FULL game (with both DLCs) without referring to any guides. And that is no easy feat! I'll review the main game and then the DLCs. Main Game: Pros: + Amazing value for money - it took me MONTHS to complete + Addictive "let's just complete the next puzzle" feeling + Easy to pick up and play a level when you have the time (nothing complex you need to remember) + Puzzles are pretty fun + Nice looking environments + Good story that gives a reason to keep going (You DO get to meet other characters in-person, other reviewers are wrong about this.) Cons: - The levels don't really get much *harder* as the game goes on (aside from a few difficulty spikes) - they just get *longer*. Most, if not all, of the "longer" puzzles are simply several shorter puzzle rooms/sections glued together in one way or another. This is quite frustrating given that there is no way to save within a puzzle, and the "hardest" (really longest) puzzles can easily take 40+ minutes to complete! - Unlike most puzzle games, in this one most "new" elements are just minor tweaks on things that already exist. - The few truly new elements are not well-explained. There is a good tutorial on the basics, but not even one voice line was recorded to introduce the later elements! I was very stuck on one puzzle simply because I didn't have a correct understanding of an element, and figured out how it worked by accident. - Story drags at times, seems "padded" to make the game longer - Main game has a very abrupt ending - seems like they ran out of funds. DLCs: Aegir Gig: 5/10 Simply 12 more, very long, puzzles. Story doesn't really add anything. A few clever tricks are necessary to complete the puzzles, but very skippable. Ice Queen: 10/10 - What the main game should have been. Very exciting story which is integrated at a fast pace, interesting new puzzle mechanics, new environments and artwork, and a much better ending. Highly recommended!

This game stand between Q.U.B.E. 2 and Talos. Near to the Q.U.B.E. series, Game and it puzzles show itself only after half of the game, DEMO doesn't show anything!!!. The start of a game is too boring... Here we have puzzles with cubes and....... platforming! The history is just ok, not interesting but sometimes surprisingly have humor. Near to end of the game much more platforming and a little puzzles. Replayable for me in this game just not interesting, minor bugs (does not takes box or eventually drop it, can't jump on boxes...). This game have a lot of potential but not used it, why developers not used it is the big question