Posted on: March 31, 2017

UglyMuffin

Игр: 115 Отзывов: 12

Doens't quite get to me

It's pretty and I'm a fan of such games. But it doesn't really get to me. There's something missing. I feel a bit like being a lab rat in the labyrinth that's rewarded for each unlocked secret. Sure, that's what other games of that genre do, but a game like Obduction feels somehow different. These games really got to me while Quern, as much as I want to like it leaves me mostly cold. Another big downer is the music. At first it's alright but after a while it gets very annoying. It's generally the same thing playing over and over again. Turned the volume down but a game like this needs the right kind of nun intrusive background music. A small bug relates to joysticks. I have two controllers connected via USB at all times. Usually they don't interfere with games that don't need them. Quern however picks them up and constantly spins. It's a known problem on the Steam forums. For me it means crawling under the table unplugging cables in order to spend some time on Quern. The devs clearly put a lot of great work into this game and I hate to rate it with just 3 stars. A great adventure for me is one that doesn't let go, sucks me into this world the developers created and constantly occupies my mind. Quern just fails to do this for me.

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Posted on: March 21, 2020

05qs3z4am1n

Владелец игры

Игр: 92 Отзывов: 2

Solid, enjoyable and atmospheric

Narrative justification for being trapped on an island of puzzles starts off feeling rather weak but grows stronger as more is revealed about the characters and their backstories. The idea of what Quern is and how different people react to that can be interesting in flavouring how you would imagine to actually being trapped on this unchanging island which Professor Maythorn felt it was necessary to strategically disassemble because ~puzzles~ and ~worthiness~. This heavily coloured the way I made my decision for the final (and only) narrative choice of the game. It is a binary one, but not one which has an obvious right or wrong answer or leads to an obvious good or bad ending. It doesn't feel contrived that there is only a red and green option. The choice was a satisfying way to clarify my options about Quern and its characters, and end the game. Nice variety in puzzles (the ones in the garden were my favourites). There's a combination of item-based ones, environmental manipulation, logic, find and match codes, and the Simon Says. Some of them are very well signposted, others less so. Poke everything, twist it in every direction, and don't forget to read the item descriptions. Using pen and paper in addition to the sketchbook mechanic is recommended, especially since it only allows greyscale drawings. While you can also type notes it's very difficult to label parts of the sketches, for example with colours. The jump button seems to exist solely for the joy of jumping, but it also fixed the only glitch I encountered as trying to take a running leap off a ledge fixed the solved ladder recognition. Fantastic OST. Really adds to the atmosphere, great listening in its own right, and helps stop the trekking in between bits of puzzle become a drag. You can play nearly the whole game without sound though; there's only one puzzle closer to the end that truly requires it.

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Posted on: January 1, 2022

bansoma

Игр: 58 Отзывов: 1

Echoes of Riven

This is the best modern example of a recreation of both the form, function, and flavor of the original Myst and Riven games. It also has many of the nice to have updates for a more modern experience. As others have noted it does fall down a bit here or there, but these criticisms are by far and away exceeded by the excellent puzzle design and worldbuilding.

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Posted on: December 26, 2017

thanatopsis

Владелец игры

Игр: 84 Отзывов: 2

Too tedious to be worth my time

It looks great at first glance, but then starts to fall apart. While each new area is interesting to discover at first, the amount of back tracking makes it become tedious quickly. There are some clever, logical puzzles, but just as many illogical trial-and-error tasks. There are only a few songs that are very short and they play over and over and over. It is like being part of some sadistic lab experiment. The narrator even states that he's made everything as long-winded and annoying as humanly possible. An example task: you need to make a potion to use. Once you find the recipe for the potion, you have to write down how many parts of each potion you need. But then you have to make the sub-potions by mixing the right parts of berries, powders, and other potions. And since everything is in a weird language, you have to find and use a chart to decipher which each plant, berry, and potion actually is. I'm sure this is a wet dream for a person with OCD. It isn't so much about being intelligent or clever as it is doing mundane tasks over and over and over, walking back and forth to gather all the parts you need. It is really a terribly designed game. I don't understand all the high ratings. 2 stars for decent graphics and a few smart puzzles. But ultimately it feels like a job with little or no reward.

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Posted on: December 16, 2022

guiltf33der13

Владелец игры

Игр: 75 Отзывов: 34

What Obduction Should Have Been

like any other Myst-like game, Quern is essentially a giant maze. But where a Cyan Worlds production like Obduction cames up short in the actual puzzle department, Quern has got you covered with a larger quantity of puzzles, and more of them will actually test your logic skills in a greater variety of ways. You will be required to think, not simply search for the next button or lever. Quern will also reward your curiosity. If it looks like something you can interact with, do it! If it doesn't look like something you can interact with, try interacting with it anyways! I wasn't curious enough and ended up brute-forcing one of the last puzzles in the game, which soured the ending a bit for me. Learn from my mistake! I knocked off only one star because Quern suffers from one QoL issue pretty much every game like it suffers from: walking, walking, walking. Quern isn't too bad since the island you're on is relatively compact, and not a wide sprawling mess like Obduction. Still, some kind of fast travel to go between areas you've visited before would go a long way in Myst-like games. If by some astronomical chance Cyan Worlds reads this, you guys got showed up by an indie production. It's time you stepped up your game. Myst and Riven are great, but it's time you stopped using them as life rings in this vast ocean known that is the "gaming industry."

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