I love this game. Unlike many other puzzles games, Opus Magnum is free form. Every puzzle can be solved with enough time and effort. What makes this fun is the fact that your solution will look nothing like your friend's solution. There is room for much creativity. After solving a puzzle, you can revisit it any time to try your hand at improving it one of three categories: area (how spread out the machine is), cost (the quantity and quality of machine parts), and cycles (how many steps the machine takes to finish products). Even if you fail to improve those three areas, it's still fun simply building new machines. Those experiments expand your portfolio and give you ideas to use on future puzzles.
This game has always been amazing. Having it remade in HD is a dream come true. However, the magic was interrupted by glitches throughout the game. The new graphics feel... outsourced. There are multiple times when characters become misaligned from the 3D backgrounds. I first noticed it when Ben rides his bike from any side angle: you can see his hands out of sync from this handlebars. It happens all over the place, and it also happens in the final encounter, which involves characters in front of a 3D truck. Also, the addition of widescreen really ruins one puzzle. There were several times I couldn't get the inventory window to go away (without selecting an item). Still a worthwhile purchase, but I almost feel I was better off playing the original using ScummVM.
It's easy to get sucked into thinking this is just 2D Minecraft, but after spending *hundreds* of hours in this game, it's worth noting that this game competes much more with Diablo/Torchlight and Zelda than it does with Minecraft. You need to play this game on a private server with friends. There is no better way to experience it. Working together is super satisfactory. There are so many fun things to build. The bosses are amazing and give you real purpose in the game. There is little to no guidance, and that's a good thing. The game is all about exploration and discovery. Also, the price is criminally low. The game has been through multiple major content updates. The game was worth its price on day one, but now it's jam packed with stuff to do. Frankly, it's ridiculous how inexpensive this game is. Buy it now. Buy extra copies for your friends.
