Firmament

not an expert gamer, but long time Cyan fan of Myst, Riven etc. Those worlds were (mostly) uninhabited but full of life - you felt like the residents might come back at any moment - and the puzzles were engaging in all sorts of ways (and yes, I always end up needing a walkthrough at some point because it's easy to miss some key clue). As a KS backer, I waited patiently for Firmament to be released, and even then, because of all the bugs, waited for patch #6 so I could just enjoy the game.... * the worlds of Firmament are beautiful in a cold, detached way - and there was zero depth to the illusion - you can't pick up the myriad books and other objects around, they are only eye-candy. * hated the adjunct - this is just such a shortcut for the developers, probably a VR thing I guess, I much preferred older style puzzles where figuring out the controls was part of the puzzle. * the puzzles are mostly a matter of turning everything on whenever you have a choice - except for the 3 more complex puzzles which were ok but again quite linear to solve. * The Embrace (the "big moment") at the end was quite the anticlimax, and the ending itself (canned) was trite - I guess the lack of character development and story meant that I just didn't care one way or the other I'm glad I backed it, I'm glad I played it, but unlike previous Cyan games, I can't imagine wver recommending it or playing it again... oh well.

I have loved Cyan games since Myst. Firmament is the 3rd Cyan product I've Kickstarted to, I was so excited for this game and now 15 hours in...ugh The biggest pros are the design- Cyan rocks at creating gorgeous locales to run around in. I don't have a great video card, just a default one and still everything looks amazing, which makes me so happy. The story (the tiny bits I've gotten so far) are really intriguing and I would love to see where the plot goes. BUT The gameplay is headache-inducing. First time I played I got nothing from the Mentor after leaving the bunker. Once I updated and started from the beginning again, I got a lot more interaction. It was still really obscure on any direction though until I got further in the game- pretty much not until I was almost finished with the Curievale area. I think it was needlessly vague especially for the beginning of the game, where a little more direction would have been nice. It's buggy as hell. I've had crashes mid-gameplay several times - the crashes mess up the autosave, so if you haven't manually saved your spot, you have to start over. PLEASE put more than 2 save slots, at least until the crashing issue is fixed. The Adjunct was reasonable in most areas, but the sensitivity is all over the place, sometimes whatever I'm controlling will respond to the tiniest movement and other times I have to really bend my wrist to get things moving. The puzzle in Juleston has been especially frustrating - unless the platforms are intended to keep spinning around in circles when you move them. Honestly, I don't have a gaming computer so maybe it's my own setup causing the crashes, but right now, it's just unplayable for me. It took me almost a year of waiting after Obduction came out for all the patches to make it a playable and enjoyable experience, so I'm expecting much the same from Firmament. It definitely still needs more patching to make it worth another try.

I finally got to playing this game. I am a Myst nut. Love everything Cyan does, even though some has been too hard for me and I never finished a couple of their games. But I love the thinking, the planning, the artwork, the music, the FEEL. I have played the first 3 several times. Obduction got me addicted. I have played it several times. It never stops being "new" to me. So following Obduction, I was looking for the same kind of experience with Firmament. Firs impression was jaw dropping. The graphics are stunning. Incredibly realistic and immersive. But I was immediately struck by the lack of interaction. Almost no "literature" at all. Like previous Cyan games, you could "educate" yourself from reading books and documents and learn about what is going on. Sometimes getting ideas and clues as to why you're there. Not in this game. Other than the talking woman who is fun to listen to, but adds no help at all, you really are in the dark as to what to do. And when you figure out what to do, you can't do it because you don't have to right "tools". No where in the game is there any indication as to the order of solving each of the 3 realms. You don't know if you can "carry over" stuff from one realm to the other. This confusion made things extremely frustrating for me. You put enough time into one puzzle only to not be able to complete is because you don't have what it takes...... Not fun. And some of the puzzles are just that....puzzles. No satisfaction or feeling of accomplishment. I waited for years for this game to happen. I regularly checked to see when and IF it was going to be released. After so much time, I expected something totally glorious. It's not. Not for me. Makes me very sad because who knows when and if Cyan will make another awesome game.

I really enjoyed the gameplay overall. Puzzles were decently challenging anf fun. The world design is just gorgeous. The story is very interesting but rally needed to be fleshed out and incorpated more the various worlds. So much of the plot is just dumped on you in the end, making rather difficult to follow and understand properly.

I'm playing VR version and its visually stunning but the puzzles design is absolutely boring. Even when you have understood what you have to do, it is a simple chain of repetitive actions. The story is engaging and the deductive parts are captivating but have I mentioned that the puzzles are really boring?