The first chapter of this game was amazing with good combat, exploration and story. It also helped that it dared to have a huge world that you traversed by moving very fast. It all fell apart in chapter 2 where the combat system broke, quests and characters turned bad and the world were... less, somehow. Chapter 3 is barely in alpha. I still gave it 4 stars based on the fact that I got 30 hours out of chapter 1 and the prologue. And I have some small hope that the later parts can be fixe with time.
I understand what this game is trying to do. It want to tell a story about a down on his luck detective in a wacky wonderful space world full of humor. To some extent it works. But the good parts are too few and spread out to justify the time spent playing the game. Characters are fun but interactions with them are pretty sparse. Combat is awful and grindy. Its hard starting out and very easy after that. There is no in game justification for the combat other than that a game like this ought to have it. Level design is large and empty and have no fast travel. It can be quite interesting due tyo the interesting world it takes place in but only the first time you see it. The first area is a long line with a lot of elevators with mandatory cutsceenes playing and thats just a waste of my time. There are a lot of things that wastes your time, with unclear instructions and trial and error. I might finish this game at some point, but sender station is where I jump off for now.
This is the kind of game that is not made anymore. Not because its not popular but because the culture in the world have changed and people have much shorter attention span. The positive parts are that you are having an adventure folloing an interesting plot about having a journey to a magical and mysterious version of the Amazons. The story feel kind of wimsical and almost childish like they usually were in the -90s. Not cynical like they are today. I would say it was made for children if it was not for the fact that you murder people in this game. A lot of the logic only make sense to a child. The bad parts however is some of the worst parts of -90s adventure games. Like pixel hunting, moon logic and the fact that you can not quit out of any kind of cinematic or action. There are two intro movies that are unskippable. I would suggest using a guide for this one for when you get stuck on the more illogical parts. Too bad you cant alt-tab out! Fortunately the items in the game are very local compared to most adventure games. This means that as long as you have the item its easy to use it. It will be used soon, not much later. It was worth the 0.5 Euros I paid for it and the playthrough took 4 hours.
When it comes to games I thinkt it is better that the game is great at one thing than mediocre at several. Because that one great thing can then carry the game and become its focus while the less good things are ignored. If a game only have mediocre parts then it becomes forgettable. This is a game in the later category. It has all the parts that makes up a good metroidvania game. But none of them are made particularly well and I get the feel that many things were only added because the developers read that this kind of games are expected to have a lvl up system or a crafting system, without understanding why or what makes them good. Combat: is floaty and unresponsive. You feel that you have a limited array of options and just smashing attack works almost always. You can just heal all damage you take anyhow. Enemies respawn eveytime you enter a new area and you dont feel like lvl ups or enemy loot maters. Combat against normal enemies becomes a chore. Combat vs bosses: Bosses are different in that they can actually harm you and drops good stuff. You get better rewards the better you do against the boss, which is a terrible idea as it generates victory/loss cascades in the long run. Against bosses you have to use more complicated strategies and moves. Which reveals how bad those extra moves are implemented. Like why do i have to push down and then a direction to dash instead of just a single button like every other game ever? And why does that button combo only work sometimes? Same with spells to a lesser extent. It feels like its random if I take damage. Did I fail or did the game screw me over? Exploration: You have a big map to explore and you have to come back to places once you have unlocked more movement options just like other metroidvanias. You randomly walk around and find new powers. Then a popup will show up at some doors explaining that the powerup you found in a random chest can somehow open it. They know what parts the game needs but not why.
Many people remember the "Myst" games from the nineties with fondness and would if asked answer that they want more of those games. And so eventually Cyan studios answered their prayers with this game. A "Myst" game, but with a new story and world and in first person 3D rather than hyper cards. Cyan made it faithful to the original with new tech, but this as it turns out, is not necessarily a good thing. With full 3D, walking everywhere, the world while beautiful, comes off as artificial and fake. Moon logic puzzles were more acceptable in a world made up of cards, rather than one that looks real. I mean I could climb a lot of obstacles in this game in real life. A geriatric could climb a few of them and Gordon Freeman would clear this game in 30 min flat. But there are no jump or climb buttons in this game, so you are forced to follow the games arbitrary puzzle logic instead. The worst example of this comes in the second world you visit. You are blocked by a railcar that sits in your path. A normal person would just squeeze past the 40 cm gap in the blockade. Even a very fat person could do that. But instead you must run around the entire world twice and be teleported to other worlds a couple of times so that you can reach a switch to move the railcar... Not to mention that movement is much slower than in previous games due to the 3D. In Myst you could Super Run by klickin the next button really fast and as such no place were far from any other place. In this game you can only walk to places or "run" slowly. That means that transportation times are huge. Most of your time is not spent solving puzzles. It is spent transporting yourself. Also, why cant you speak to NPCs? In Myst it made sense because you only had one way communication, but in this game there is no such thing blocking you. And many NPCs are assholes. Why are you listening to them anyway?
