Anamorphine

[quote][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/9686972/]Follow "[b]First Person Exploration and Puzzle Games[/b]" for more games like this![/url][/quote] [i]NOTE: I did not play this game in VR[/i] Walking simulators are an inherently boring genre, meaning it's [i]really[/i] important that your game is engaging and immersive. That's doubly-true when the game (like this one) tells the story without using any words. Of the many walking simulators with no words I've played, this is the best one [i](Edit: I've now found a much better one: [url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/573130/Aporia_Beyond_The_Valley/]Aporia[/url])[/i]. The story was pretty good (and told well for not having words); I liked the interaction mechanic; and the music was very fitting. However, a few glaring issues still hold it back enough to prevent it from making the cut: • The reused scenery gets old fast. There's only about 5 scenes in the game that get reused ad nauseum. A few of them are cool the first time you visit them, but should not have been revisited. • Four or so times in the game, you have to bike through the level. The biking mechanics are extremely poor. Also, in every case, the scenery is really bland. Additionally, they all drone on for way too long. In every case, the biking feel like lazy time-padding. • A lack of contextual clues had me wandering around looking for where to go next sometimes. This was especially bad in the biking levels.. • The game likes to use the "teleport you to another room while your back is turned" mechanic (think "Antichamber"). Unfortunately it doesn't always work well, causing the scenery to suddenly shift, which is jarring. • The price is too high for a game that lasts 80 minutes. I was truly conflicted whether to give this game a thumbs up or down. If the above issues were fixed, I think I'd give the game a thumbs up, but then it'd only be 30 minutes. As it stands, I think you're better off trying one of the many better walking sims.

Tyler se encuentra en una fase de negación post-traumática después de que Elena, su esposa, sufriera una fuerte depresión tras un accidente del cual ella se sentía culpable, ya que además de las consecuencias físicas, hubo otras más dolorosas e irremediables. Y es precisamente en esa espiral depresiva donde el juego nos hace entrar en acción a través de una jugabilidad simple pero efectiva, pues estamos ante un walking simulator con una profunda carga emocional donde predominan la culpabilidad y la ansiedad de Tyler ante la autodestrucción de Elena, emociones representadas a través de objetos, símbolos, colores y sonidos, pues la jugabilidad está ausente de voces y textos. A lo largo de sus ocho capítulos, de estética y atmósfera surrealistas, además de una banda sonora melancólica y cruda, descubriremos los pormenores de una vida en común así como las diferentes etapas de la depresión y sus consecuencias en la cotidianidad. Anamorphine está entre juegos como Indygo, Downfall y Virginia. Desarrollado por un estudio independiente con apenas tres personas, logra un vínculo emocional entre el jugador y Tyler y Elena, a pesar de su cierta simpleza gráfica y su duración que oscila entre las tres horas, pero que también invita a la rejugabilidad con sus dos finales alternativos.

May be mild spoilers ahead: As someone who generally loves slow, artsy walking simulators, I am astonished at how incredibly bad this game is. It is so bad that I am literally suspicious of all of the positive reviews on this. The game is cumbersome, buggy, controls awkwardly, reuses the same handful of ugly environments ad nauseum... the level design is bland, confusing, and has no sense of direction... the visual aesthetic is almost aggressively bland, and the sole animated character is lifeless and unexpressive (even when surrounded by literal statues)... the story is almost comically melodramatic, and did not earn its shocking, morbid ending... the camera occasionally turns into a bouncing, juddering mess... There is a scene early on where you ride a bicycle. It controls awkwardly, and while you are basically forced to follow a bland, linear path for several minutes, the level geometry will fail miserably if you veer even slightly off path. I remember hoping that this was an unfortunate road bump, and that the rest of the game won't be this bad. The game then goes on to use the bicycle mechanic around five times, through increasingly bland and repetitive landscapes, which eventually lose any sense of flow and leave you wondering where to go, but will still punish you with janky camera and failing geometry if you veer off path. There was a moment where a character was in a bath, and the water didn't load properly, instead displaying the wrong image file where the water should be. There were several unbearable minutes where I was forced to walk around a spiral staircase while my movement speed (even my look speed!) were reduced to maybe one tenth of normal speed, for no discernible reason. I got stuck behind invisible walls that suddenly became passable seconds later. The game also repeats scenes a lot. I think without repetition or unnecessary slow downs and padding, the game would be over in 20 mins. Sorry if this sounds harsh, and if this is in any way based on someone's person experience, I can understand that maybe they were using development to work through some things. I've actually lived through some very similar experiences to what is shown in this game, and I can understand struggling to express some of the very complicated emotions that go with this territory. That said, this is a piece of art released to the public, and demanding of criticism. This is a commercial product, not a private diary. As a game, this does very few things, and none of them well. The best thing I can say about the game is that the scene transitions are occasionally interesting when they work properly.

All in all, I liked Anamorphine despite the issues. It tries to escape the common trope of telling the story via notes and audiologs and is almost dialogueless, like Virginia. [VERY MINOR SPOILERS] Also like Virginia, the game uses text at at least one point, and from my point of view, here it is executed in far more interesting way. Even "looping hallway" from P.T. executed better than in many games. [VERY MINOR SPOILERS END] Some visual/gameplay metaphors, scene transitions and images are great, the story itself, while not being the most new and original, is quite good and presented with respect to its themes. It has no puzzles, only "object hunting" (mostly okay, but had problems with finding needed objects one or two times) and disorienting situations meant to represent the mental state of the main character. But it's not exactly a bad thing - after playing several experiences with frustrating puzzles it felt really nice. However, there are some problems. Game slowed down and crashed several times, but maybe it's due to my PC. I was more disappointed by several bike stages with strange collision detection that drag for too long. Some of the transitions and areas can feel repetitive, although areas naturally evolve with the plot, and you get used to transitions. It is also short. For some people it may be a problem especially since many areas are reused, but it's totally fine with me. In general, I would recommend the game if you are okay with story experiences with very light gameplay and don't mind some technical problems and repetition. I found several interesting decisions and scenes in the game and alsmost wasn't frustrated (bike rides aside, yes), so I am satisfied. I recieved this game for my Steam Curator page dedicated to weird and obscure games: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/33038331-WEIRD-LOOP

игра ...ОВНО!. сюжета нет. выбора нет. можно пройти за 50 минут. при этом дико забагованная! порой если у вас уже есть СЭЙФ после релога БЕСКОНЕЧНАЯ ЗГРУЗКА. чтобы игра наконец загрузилась, нужно удалить все сэйвы. всё через ..ОПУ! неинтерестное дно! стрим https://youtu.be/ioZk0QQ8X0w

Great original game with a creative and emotional way of story telling. Also as a person who plays violin, I really loved the music. Keep up the good work.

The production of this game is really rough, especially the bike parts. The movement and the camera field of view make me sick. I love usually love "walking simulator" games but I can't manage to finish this one.

Игра о том, что в любой непонятной ситуации нужно идти кататься на велосипеде

This game is a game that is not meant for most people, and generally I'd say only for people that like psychological stories that focus on what can happen to someone after a life-changing moment. I'd like ot go further, but it'd ruin the expirence if I did and I think that seeing the trailers takes away from the kick and emotional tug of the events that happen, especially for how long the game is which for me was barely over a hour. To start off, I actaully liked the game with it having a beautiful soundtrack, unique story that is done in a way that only games can do unlike most walking simulators which in my opinion would work well by just being a movie, where compared to this it can't be. They use transitions and interactable items that are done in a way that only games can do, with an asthetic that matches it. The artstyle especially is beautiful, using lighting and different colors to their advantage in situations that fit them being there. Unfortunately, currently the game has a lot of problems that I hope they work on fixing so that the game is worth buying and not waiting to buy like it is currently. These in my opinion ruin some of the games transitions and make it feel really disjointed at points, because the game has unique beautiful transitions that make the chapters in the game fun to go through and tease you for the upcoming moments. Unfortunately, they are janky at times and will lag when you enter them or leave, and when a chapter ends, it stutters so your confused that the chapter even ended at moments. There are also so many loading screens that it ruins a lot of the cohesive feelings that it could be having, especially for a game that is barely over a hour long that you encounter so often that it becomes annoying at points. The options are also bare-bones, with no FOV slider to mention, and the sensitivity doesn't feel adjustable as much as you'd want, so your stuck with either insanely fast or just fast, no middle ground. If these get ironed out, I would say that its worth full price if you like walking sims and don't mind spending 20 dollars for an expirence like none other that doesn't get the same effect if you watch it in my opinion. But currently, wait until it's been patched and fixed so that you'll have a better expirence you would if you bought it now.

surprisingly affecting with some Great Moments in Level Design and Music and Narrative Synergy.