At first, I was somewhat dissapointed in Firmament. After backing it on Kickstarter and waiting 4+ years for it, it felt a bit "sterile" at first. After the grand opening of Obduction, and the legacy of Myst and Riven, I didn't know what to make of it on that steep icy mountainside. But then, the game started to get better and better in my taste. The adjunct (the remote corkscrew thingy on which the gameplay is focused) turned out to be a rather nice and unique way of solving puzzles. The puzzles were amazing, especially in VR; they were very environmental, meaning that you had to look in all directions to get a good overview. They never became problematic, so no pen/paper or walkthroughs were needed. For some, they might've been too easy, but for me it worked and contributed to the immersion. Each of the realms has its own environmental puzzles that tell you something about the story (i.e. the function of each realm). The storytelling is different from many other games, and in the end I quite like the approach. Bits and pieces came to you from comments of your "mentor" (meaning your ethereal side-kick who turns up as a small cloudy ghost from time to time), the environment and some documents. It's all pretty vague until the last scene, where everything falls perfectly in place. Nicely done! Graphics and sound are beautiful; the game has a sci-fi-steampunk-cogwheel-feel to it, and the electronic soundtrack works excellent with it. Moreover, the game has its own architectural style, which adds to the uniqueness of the game. In the end, as the game unfolded it went from a slight disappointment to one of my favorite adventure games, and I personally find that amazing. You have to enjoy the tech-oriented approach, but if you do so and you can appreciate the unique presentation, you're in for a treat. Lastly, I didn't encounter any problematic bugs at the time of writing (upon release little over a year ago there were some).
