As a € 5 DLC, Octopia is understandably not very long or brimming with content, but even in that optic there are a couple of ways it didn't quite nail the landing. - First and foremost, it's weirdly stingy with information where it matters. As an example let's look at the unavoidable fishing minigame: multiple recipes require the elusive Octopus, but the game doesn't specify where or under what conditions you can catch one, even in its description. It doesn't take a genius to know that it can be found in the sea, but where other games would at least give you a couple of pointers or make the animal in question more common during certain times/conditions, Octopia doesn't seem to do anything to facilitate yo, and as a result catching all fish ends up feeling more annoying than rewarding. Other things in the game have the same problem. In a game brimming with content like Stardew Valley it's ok to have the occasional mystery to figure out, but this game is relatively light in content, so the small arbitrary setbacks feel more annoying. Which leads me to... - As I just said the game doesn't have a whole lot of content in it, but it arbitrarily gates certain unlocks in a way that towards the end it required me to skip day after day, not having anything significant to do but wait for the NPC that would give me the last seeds I was missing to craft the last recipes. This could have been easily sidestepped by having something particularly expensive to aim towards, that would require me to keep farming/foraging. The game features mysterious "boxes" that open only when you have completed certain tasks (all recipes cooked, all crops harvested, all fish caught) but several of them end up feeling a bit anticlimactic due to this problem. I would say this DLC is worth the money and it's still brimming with charm, but there's something about the design philosophy of this studio that doesn't quite hit the mark.
As far as I'm concerned this game's presentation is an easy 10/10: the graphics are detailed and varied and the soundtrack is really solid. The gameplay is mostly solid and responsive. The reason for my "low" score is that unfortunately this game is incredibly incoherent. The progression of the story is a mess, indulging in displaying its quirky characters and zany situations at the detriment of the pacing, and the gameplay is interrupted too often and for too long. There are plenty of points of no return, which cast a constant shadow of doubt over everything you're doing: will I have the time or chance to explore this area again? Am I missing anything? Is it normal that I haven't found an upgrade station or a new weapon for so long? It's a game that brims with love and passion, and criticizing it feels like kicking a puppy, but playing it often feels like a chore. If this studio was tasked with remaking old SNES games it would be nothing short of a dream come true, but if they want to work on an original title they seriously need to find a way to correct their course.
Toem is a simple but delightful game. You talk to people and complete quests. Most quests involve taking specific photographs, some of them involve carrying certai items to their rightful destination. There's a bestiary for cataloguing all of the animals in the game, there are filters and a tripod to unlock, and there are items to wear for specific effects (run faster, resist cold, climb ropes etc.) or just aesthetics. The game looks great and runs well, it's well polished and excellently put together. The gameplay mostly consists in carefully looking around, and it's always a pleasure to do so. Each area is big enough to have a decent amount of content while staying sizable enough that making the rounds doesn't become a pain. The only flaw I could level at it is that some of the hints for certain quests are a bit vague and unclear. A couple of quests unlocked in the second area (the first "real" area) can't be completed until you get towards the end of the game, and it's not terribly clear that it should be the case. It's a considerable slip up when most of the game is about simple tasks contained within the areas they're found it, but in the grand scheme of things it's not a deal breaker.
I've been stalking this game ever since it got announced years ago and finally I've played it to completion. Amanita's trademark style is as endearing as ever, with a creepier slant but still full of charm. The only thing I can fault this game is that I was hoping it would be more of a point and click adventure game rather than the puzzle platformer that it is, but it would be unfair of me to dock points just for that.
I would definitely recommend this game to anybody who has any interest in retro-style action platformers, but during my time with the game there were three flaws that I couldn't really overlook. The first one is that this game is weirdly easy. While I don't mind playing games that don't pose too much of a challenge, this game constantly gives the feeling that it was designed with a much more restrictive control scheme. Many threatening-looking rooms can be breezed past, either because a very easy to acquire ability (such as slashing projectiles) will allow you to trivialize any challenge or because the game just provides you more safe ground or walls to grab onto than you would expect. By the end of the game the level of challenge approached what you would encounter in the earlier stages of Shovel Knight. The second one is that the writing is pretty bad. 95% of the game is fourth wall breaking about videogame tropes, and the story-dump at the end of the game reads like it was jotted down in 5 minutes. The last one can be considered a spoiler, so stop reading if you don't want to know too much about the game. Bear in mind that I still recommend it. When the game reveals its true nature, so to speak, it provides way too few warping points considering the kind of backtracking you need to do. Some of the "quest lines" are also incredibly convoluted and non-intuitive, you basically have to stumble upon the right track to get the thing that will ultimately allow you to proceed further. I was lucky in this regard, but had I not been the game would have probably been really frustrating. All in all I had a lot of fun with this game, but some of the design decisions were just baffling to me. I'll definitely keep an eye on the developer to see if their next project improves upon this promising foundation while removing the kinks.
The main problems I had with this game are: - Poor performance - Weak story - The structure of certain puzzles The first issue is quite obvious: this game shouldn't struggle to reach 60 fps on a GTX 970 after lowering the graphical quality, but it does. The second one is possibly the most serious. The story is, for the vast majority, as cookie cutter as it comes. The two opposing forces in the game are incredibly bland, and there's no flavor to anything. I get that part of the theme of the game is how this world slowly whittles away at you, but you never get the impression that anybody who got here wasn't already a wet bread sandwich to begin with, and by the time it's over you just wish they'd stop talking and let you solve puzzles in peace - and it's unfortunately where most of the exposition happens. The third issue is harder to explain. Most of the times I got stuck it wasn't because I couldn't solve a puzzle that was presented to me, but because I either didn't know where exactly to look for the next puzzle, or whether I had all of the pieces required. Overall I think the game required better signposting in some areas, and they should have just reduced the number of items to pick up and stuck closer to the Myst formula. Another, considerably smaller, nag is that the great feature to take notes with screenshots is ruined by the filter they decided to apply to the screenshots making them at times hard to read. Beyond these issues, the game is actually really good. Some of the puzzles, especially one with teleporting crystal towards the end, are especially well thought out and fun to figure out. I hope the developer gets to make a sequel that irons out all of these issues.
+ The graphics are really sweet, and they create a great atmosphere along with the music + The game mostly allows you to roam freely and decide in which order you want to solve the various puzzles, even the very first ones. No path gets blocked unless you already did everything you could. + Minimal handholding + The structure of the map is really well made, with all areas being organically connected - Autosaves only, and few checkpoints too - Too many, albeit small, dead ends. One of them is really aggravating. - Most puzzles are way too simple, with one truly great exception - The plot wavers and stumbles in certain points, and the ending is just immensely disappointing - Game mechanics could be tighter Notes: = The "action" label caused me to mistakenly postpone a puzzle, which caused some annoying backtracking towards the end. There is no action whatsoever. = All puzzles are 100% self-contained. The order you solve them is irrelevant, and you'll never carry items from one puzzle to another. = It's a short game. I would say the length is appropriate in the context of the story, but it is short. Conclusion: I'm happy that somebody else is taking adventure games seriously again. It's a pleasant game, but it definitely needs some polishing, especially in the plot department. I would have loved to give a heartfelt recommendation for this game, because I can see the team making something truly great with a bit more effort, but my honest reaction to this game was lukewarm. The "portal" puzzle in the abandoned house was really engaging, most of everything else was a bit too simple and required little deduction.
The game takes a bit to get going, despite having quite a gripping scene right at the beginning. After a long walk during which the protagonist will monologue about the event that drives the plot (the death of his daughter) the player is presented with several puzzles: this cycle will repeat itself throughout the game. The puzzles are adequate, the real problem is that since everything works according to "dream logic" you are sometimes left wondering whether you did something wrong (like not putting the right thing in the right place) or you're just supposed to do something unconventional (like walking through the same portal again to reach a different place). Most puzzles consist in finding and creating paths (like bridges, portals, walkways etc.) to specific places, which can get somewhat frustrating since most of the time the tiniest mistake (falling off the path, not carrying an item) will force you to go back to the beginning of the puzzle and do everything over. It feels more tedious than challenging. The environments of the game are definitely stunning and relaxing, my only issue in this regard would be presence of invisible walls. You'd think that in a surreal setting conjuring obstacles anywhere you want would be a given, but apparently not. My real problem with this game after all is the narrative: the protagonist already know where he is, why and where he's headed. It almost feels like this game is trying to subvert the tropes of this kind of story, but at the same time it embraces them. Overall MIND feels like an awkward compromise between pretentiousness and practicality. There are puzzles and a clear goal, but at the same time everything is still vague and metaphorical. There story doesn't provide any real insight, it's just a character you know nothing about finding closure about the death of another character you know nothing about. I would have preferred an actual, concrete situation with real characters, or at least something like Sanitarium.
