The Way

Pour mon avis détaillé en français: https://www.indiemag.fr/forum/vos-tests-jeux-inde/t7192-test-way ________ The Way is not a bad game. It is not a very good game too. In fact, it has good ideas, good story, gorgeous graphics ... but plenty of flaws which ruin the fun. One of the biggest flaw of the game is the controls, very rigid, very approximate ; and the biggest flaw is the fact that the game features plateform, shooting, and even actual bullet hell sequences, with its controls which are totally unsuitable for such stages. Result : there is far, far, more frustration than fun. In other flaws, I find that the level-design brings too much (really too much!) useless goings and comings, like to artificially expand the lifetime ; lots of puzzles are dull (but some are excellent!) and too many are poorly directed ; lots of moment are boring (when you have to cross a large wall, moving slowly from ladders to ladders and patiently waiting for sandfalls to stop... or repetitive sequences against the robots... :/). The good points of the game: its story ! The gorgeous graphics and ambiance. And some really good puzzles. So, overall, is it a good game ? Maybe ; if you are curious AND lenient. Do I recommand it ? No ; not for anybody, only if you know what to excpect, and you think it worth its price.

A game that sets out to rebottle some of the lightning of Eric Chahi's groundbreaking Another World has some pretty big shoes to fill. There have been attempts to craft another game in its vein, ranging from the attempted direct sequel Heart of the Alien to the famous and well-regarded spiritual successor Flashback, and while many of these games are quite fun, I'd be hard-pressed to call any of them, even Flashback, equals to Chahi's masterpiece. Another World was simply without rival. I just completed it, and I can say with confidence that this game is indeed Another World's most worthy successor to date. This is the game I've been waiting for, and were I Eric Chahi, I'd be quite flattered by it. Let me begin with a single caveat: this game demands a modern gamepad with dual analog sticks. Certain scenes are demanding enough with one, but nigh-unbeatable with keys, and I haven't found a good way to control some of the later powers acquired in the game without analog sticks. One particular chase sequence, affectionately called "The Nope" by some players...well, let's just say that I *did* complete it before switching to gamepad, and I consider that to be one of my greatest feats of gamer-fu to date. Save yourself the trouble: grab a modern gamepad to play this one. Even during its "easy" first level, the game's no slouch, and expects you to think on your toes, to put together a large collection of data and refer to it while remaining unseen by various mechanical "eyes," and to solve some downright puzzly problems. This is a new element that The Way brings to the table, something that neither Another World nor Flashback explored much -- both the stealth elements and the puzzle elements add a forced "mental gear change," and I found myself enjoying the regular flips between twitch action and strategic planning quite enjoyable. This would have been easy to get wrong, but The Way, so far, has done a splendid job marrying its alma mater to entirely new territory. The puzzle difficulty is quite demanding, but has never yet felt unfair or even unreasonably taxing. (MABEC will surely earn some choice curse words from some players, but in this reviewer's humble opinion, it was merely demanding, not unreasonable.) The visual design is quite beautiful. It's not quite as smooth as Another World's flat plane of polygons-under-glass, but I don't find that I mind the shift to painted pixels at all -- they're beautiful, and used to great visual effect, with a great deal of information conveyed in, at times, one or two pixels. The levels scroll, unlike Another World and Flashback, but I don't find that I mind this at all; it helps the player map the space, and the relationships between rooms and areas. The lighting effects are particularly beautiful, and quite subtle to boot. I might have liked to see our protagonist have additional Broderbund-like fluidity of movement, but that might have come about at cost to timing and responsiveness. The Way's controls are very responsive, and when the protagonist missed a jump, I never felt the game was to blame, only my own clumsiness. That impressed me -- the balance of "forgiving" and "demanding" felt just right for a first level, and reminded me a lot of Another World's. This is not an easy game, but it's self-aware, knows this, and difficulty ramps nicely over time. The autosave feature bookmarks the game at certain milestones on your path, and additionally, keeps a journal of your deliverables, much like a modern RPG, so you can easily check to see what's left undone to proceed. I had worried this might diminish my sense of accomplishment figuring out what the game asked of me, but the game remains minimal in its "instructions" there. The "task list" is just helpful enough, and easy to disregard completely if you prefer to play by memory alone. I've heard of people beating the game after nine hours of play, but I suspect that's quite aggressive and not typical for a first-time player. It took me nearly twenty-five hours to complete, and that amount of playtime for the price is excellent, much greater than Flashback's, let alone Another World's. Everything I wanted to see from Another World was there -- the breakneck chases, the deadly and unforgiving alien world, the myriad causes of the protagonist's sudden deaths, the pixel-perfect frustrating jumps and dodges, the haunting, atmospheric yet minimal soundtrack. But so many things I didn't expect were in there, too -- stealth-action elements, Machinarium/The Dig-style heavier puzzles, and a richness and broadness to the world that really made it worth the two-years-past-deadline wait. This game was clearly its creators' prize jewel, and the attention to its faceting and polishing cannot be missed. In that one respect, it's more like Another World than even Flashback -- it is very recognizably a personal magnum opus, an expression of love for a genre rarely visited these days. In that one respect above all others, this is well and truly the game Another World fans have been waiting to play for years. It's not just "Another World, one more time." It's the modern child of Another World, and it is both aware of its lineage and responsibility to its fans, but also determined to be remembered as more than simply a "cover band" of its alma mater's greatest hits. This is, put simply, everything I wanted The Way to be, and some things I didn't yet realize I wanted from it. Brilliant. This is the Another World spiritual successor we've been waiting for.

I wasn't sure on this game when I first bought it, but it immediately hooked me pretty solidly. It's got a compelling story, and the first few hours of gameplay are pure action-puzzler fun. The action bits aren't too demanding and are more about clever use of your environment than anything. And then... the twitch gaming/bullet hell sequences start. Okay, so there's only about three of them, but they are absolutely INFURIATING, and placed right at the points where the plot is really taking off. The last one in particular (those of you who've played know what I'm talking about) is maddening beyond belief and completely out of tone and style with the rest of the game. I almost quit playing without finishing right then and there. It didn't feel fun, and it didn't feel fair. That said, the rest of the game is an atmospheric gem. The puzzles are clever and usually very well designed, the mechanics are interesting and change as you go along to keep things fresh, and the art style is gorgeous. As others have said, there are significant problems with the checkpoint system and the hit detection, but if you can push through those 90% of the game is just plain fun. If not for those bullet hell sequences this would be a solid 4.5/5, but as it is, I can only give it 3/5. They really do reduce the fun and value of the game by that much.

I like The Way. For the same Reasons I like Another World. It is a very good puzzle platformer tipping its hat to Another World & Flashback in a brilliant way. It is not however sporting brilliant athletics move and animation. The protagonist is only getting older along The Way after all. Or is it you? Some more arcade-like sequences are here and there, bringing variety and tension to the game. The Way Nice definitely has a nice story, strong moments of poetry and pure beauty... Pixel art and lighting works are top notch, with a strong identity. The whole is supported by a good to great soundtrack and nice sound effects. Some puzzles can be obscure at first (or a long time), if you are not observant (no pixel hunting), and a bit frustrating (I need to go back there to check how it was). But they fit the whole and are fun anyway. They are logic, and mostly an immediate use what you have read/seen and what abilities you have. There are/were some bugs (developer is working hard on those), I gamed through the whole without encountering any game breaking bug. (1.3 to 1.5c / Steam). Earlier, I wrote: But for me, with two left thumbs, the arcade sequence can be very punishing (but only 4 of those so far). Not because they are difficult (they are) but because achieving them once is not enough. You will get you killed again and again until you somehow manage to pass both the major obstacle and the minor ones until the next checkpoint. This being fixed, just know the arcade sequence can be difficult, but rewarding. That's the point! Combat is intelligent and varied. Nothing my two left thumbs couldn't get through despite zombie chucks (and other nasties). I had to switch from controller to keyboard and mouse for some places, but that's me being less dextrous/precise with thumbsticks, and not very good at sequenced jumping with my keyboard. It may look ok for younger players, since you are only shooting at robots and (alien) beasts, but there are two notable exception that could qualify as murder. I certainly hope the first is to be interpreted as knocking someone unconscious. Strongly recommended.