This is an incredibly unique and well-made game with stellar production values including top notch graphics, phenomenal voice acting, and an engaging story. It has passable combat and fairly easy to solve perspective-based environmental puzzle mechanics, but it is very much primarily a story-driven game. I definitely would recommend this game, if nothing else, for its incredibly unique experience. Gameplay: The gameplay is story-driven and involves a mix of solving perspective-based environmental puzzles interspersed with light combat sequences. I personally found the environmental puzzles pretty easy since all they really require is looking at the environment and thinking about how various pieces could be combined. However, I suspect that impatient gamers might not enjoy this particular aspect of the game since it does take a bit of patience. That said, given a huge part of the game is about seeing things from a different perspective, I feel it fits very well. The combat is decent in that you have a reasonable combination of moves-- light sword attack, heavy sword attack, kick, evade, sprint, block, focus -- along with a perfect counter and dodge system that help you build up focus where you can activate a sort of frenzy mode. It also handles multiple enemies quite well with the voices in your head providing guidance such as saying "Behind you!" and "Evade!" when this things really are happening in the game. I feel like the primary weakness with the combat that only makes it passable is there really isn't much variety in the types of enemies and you only have a sword the entire game, so it does get a bit repetitive by the end. Graphics: The graphics are definitely one of the strong points of this game and are absolutely gorgeous. They are incredibly detailed and range between photo realistic to intentionally surreal. The graphics showcased in the trailer videos do accurately depict the in-game graphics unlike so many trailers these days. Sound: The sound is another superbly well done area of the game. It has a ton of atmosphere and makes use of binaural audio that make headphones really important and truly provides a great 3D perspective to the sounds. You can tell which direction things are coming from and the game has various mechanics that evne take advantage of this fact. The voice acting is excellent and the way in which it is used is likely what makes this game so unique. The cacophony of voices in your head constantly give you conflicting information such as one of them mocking you while another encourages you makes it so you have to learn what to listen to and what not to listen to. A+! Replay Value: This is one of the few negatives of the game and a primary reason I only rated it 4 stars despite having so many other fantastic qualities. There is basically no replay value at all since once you have solved the puzzles and been through the story, nothing will change on future plays. Fun Factor: I really had a blast playing this game. It's the first game in a while that binge played from start to finish without stopping. The story really drew me right from the start and kept me engaged all the way to the end.
I had never heard of this game prior to seeing it here on GoG, but I'm glad that I decided to pick it up. If you enjoy 2D side-scrolling puzzle platformers, this game is definitely worth the full asking price. The art style is a fantastic illustrative style that is not taxing on the hardware, but nevertheless looks great. Speaking of hardware specs, the game runs at a solid buttery-smooth 60fps (it appears to be locked to 60fps) at 1680x1050 using max settings on Windows 7 and a 4 year old ATI Radeon HD7700 + AMD FX-6100 CPU. The game does not have an option to enable v-sync via in the in-game settings, so I did notice a bit of tearing during the fast moving sections until I manually enabled v-sync in the Radeon control panel. As other reviewers have mentioned, this is a port from the Wii, so I'm sure some of you might be wondering whether it can be played with a keyboard. The answer to that question is yes. The keybindings can be changed although I have had no problems playing it with the default keybindings. It does also have controller support for those that prefer a controller. The gameplay reminds me of other platformers like Mario Brothers and Sonic, albeit with more of a puzzle element to it and better graphics. It should be noted that the puzzles are not at all difficult, so if you're looking for a game with difficult puzzle solving, this game won't provide that, but it is still provides a great time. That brings me to the one negative thing I have to say about this game. There are large signs with pictures of the shape that represent the ability you are intended to use in order to pass certain obstacles. These signs are quite helpful the first time you have a new blob ability available to you since they act as sort of an in-game tutorial. However, there are various cases where a sign instructing you which ability to use is placed before an obstacle well after you have already used the ability and should already understand the mechanic well. I would have preferred to only see a single sign for each mechanic. That said, it doesn't take much away from the game as most of the time it would not have been very difficult to figure it out without the sign anyways. Pros: - Extremely fun and adorable. - Fantastic art style. - Plays great with a keyboard or controller - Somewhat reminiscent of platformers like Mario Brothers and Sonic Cons: - The game sometimes makes various puzzles a bit too easy by placing large signs with pictures of the shape of the ability you are intended to use in order to pass the obstacle.
