A Story About My Uncle

Well... to give the game just a negative review would be unjust because the game is kinda pretty and cute (although the characters design is ugly as hell). The checkpoints can be annoying but this "save" form is understandable in platform game context. If you could save every two seconds there would be no challenge whatsoever. The story is... well, a story. You need some background story for your hero. It's not the best one, not the worst. A bit silly but acceptable. The jumping and grappling mechanics are... fun but annoying. You very often keep hitting the object you're attached to disturbing your flight and causing you to fall. And there is no way to consistently predict whether you'll be able to grab something or not. You simply have to try and see whether you'll grab the next rock or fall short. Another annoying thing is that the game is very linear but in some places you have no idea where to go next. Make up your mind - either make an exploration-type game or show the player what to do. How was I supposed to know that suddenly after almost whole long level of giving me only very specific rocks to grab on to you'll suddenly decide that the ceiling is "grabable"? And the grapling mechanics itself... well, I'm biased because I'm a huge fan of all Bionic Commando releases except that ugly Nintendo version and its "rearmed" remake. But I loved the Bionic Commando grappling and swinging mechanics. It was much more fun than this game and much more predictable. But as I said - I might be biased here. So, long story short, the game can be fun to some extent but not as much as to justify full price.

First person platformers can be hit and miss but A Story About My Uncle was highly enjoyable for the most part. It had some annoying bits near the end but this was a minor nuisance. My issue near the end was that it became difficult to determine what chunks of ground and rock one could grapple to. I didn’t seem to have this issue before the ice caves level for whatever reason but it meant a lot more deaths than normal. The windmills earlier were also quite finicky. Overall I liked the grappling system as it made me try to plan out a route before taking the first jump. There are also a decent amount of augments you get such as extra grapples; rocket boots; super jumps; and cores that recharge your grapple mid flight. All of this makes you strategize when to use them so you don’t run out mid flight. The story was at times basic but had some promise. You are searching for your missing uncle and need to explore this strange world to find him. My only complaint was that you don’t learn more about the frog people and their history. For instance you get a companion who deciphers glyphs for you but they don’t stick around long and there are plenty of glyphs after that point that I would have liked to know what they meant. The voice acting was very good. There wasn’t much music in the game to judge. The graphics were decent overall. It was never a stunner but had some good art direction. The only bits that I thought looked weak, even for 2014, was the fire; hair and the frog people’s feet. There were also some awkward transitions in the game where it loaded the next section of the game but only had a blank black screen. These transitions only took a couple seconds on my SSD but the first couple made me think maybe the game had frozen. I think adding a “loading” message would have been better. The ending seemed to be a bit flat and weak but I suggest waiting for after the credits when there is a post credits scene which ties things up nicer.

Listed as supporting Mac but does not run on Apple Silicon. Would like an update to the GOG filtering system that would allow us to filter by Mac Processor.

Beautiful aesthetics and a moving soundtrack, surprisingly fluid controls (the place evokes Xen but it plays much better) and an engaging story which starts as an adventure through an alien landscape and winds up being something largely more profound, if you know where to look. Here's a hint : those letters on the wall aren't Easter eggs, they're signposts to the real story. But first you have to learn to read them, which is what the first playthrough is for - also to just enjoy the story as presented to the narrator's niece. Play-through is pretty short if you're not sticking around for achievements, but it's no accident the game ends on level 6. Fun and challenging gameplay, plenty of well-hidden secrets and a sense of immersion I can't wait to test on VR, just as soon as that becomes feasible. Certainly had its frustrating moments, especially in the ice cavern, but overall a great game and well worth the purchase.

It is an interesting puzzle game. Some puzzles will drive you mad, but you will like it! The gameplay is around 10 hours.