Stricktly from a design pov, there are many things Relicta could improve on: - The game design of the core mechanics is complete enough, but the rest needs serious improvement, as the visual grammar is working against the player. Surrounded by invisible walls, the world looks open, but we end up bumping against walls like in a crystal maze. Not only that, but some of the dressing out of bounds really invite you to explore, just to bump against an invisible wall. Really frustrating. - The world design is counter intuitive. Again, invisible wall prevent you to go onto the next puzzle, when a simple drop would allow you to (I understand it is designed for you to exit the level once it is solved, but it doesn't look great in the lore. - The level design could have been worked on more to ensure the rules are taught properly. - Most of the puzzles rely on physics, which, when not mastered, can provoke frustration (and it is the case here), but it also mean many of the puzzle can easily be broken. You can skip some sections, sometimes by mistake. Also, you can make yourself stuck (it does happen only very rarely, but reseting a puzzle doesnt leave me with the best taste in my mouth. - Convoluted puzzles that make them tricky by their size to grasp properly. You don't know where to start, where to go. It creates artificial difficulty that isn't much rewarding for the player to figure out... - Long sections of traversal out of the puzzle, to establish the lore and hide collectible, but the design of the base is rather counter intuitive, because the accent is put on the visuals more than the navigation. I just wished I could have skipped those gameplay-less sections. - While being subjective, the art is well too saturated, giving the impression of seeing everything painted with a highlighter, causing strain on the eyes and drowning the essential. - Missing materials on a few blueprints (nothing catastrophic)... For all those reasons, and probably more, I cannot recommend.
A good platformer with a dash of reflexion. The LD is very good, but unfortunately, each mechanics haven't been pushed has much as they could have, so we end up with game leaving us a strong taste of "how come there is so few levels for this new mechanic?". (-1 star) I also have the feeling this game could have benefitted the classical "challenge modes" for replayability, with levels to be completed using a little re/connection or little jump as possible, or also a time attack. Additionally, despite being difficult to implement, a level editor could have been bundled to extend this title to it's maximum lifespan. (-1 star) I also noticed it wasn't possible to jump back to a certain chapter of the game to find secrets. Apart from that, I believe a lot of efforts have been spent on the surroundings, to dress the different locations of the panels, which might explain why this game is fairly short. I found the soundtrack and the audio very well crafted. I cannot criticize this game on the form. To conclude, I do not regret bying this title, just be aware that a visible part of the budget will be invested in the settings/surroundings rather than the core game itself.
