Blackwood Crossing

[b]One of those cases when I'd give a neutral review if I had the option, but unfortunately it falls shorts in way too many aspects for the experience to be more on the "recommended" side.[/b] Pros: - There's something really unique, mysterious and intriguing about the story in this game that makes you wanna keep going and figure out what is going on. - Very mesmerizing bizarre, surreal, and oneiric atmosphere. Neutrals: - Puzzles vary a little bit. Some are ok, some are too easy, others are a bit too unintuitive (ie 'moon logic'). Sometimes they feel rewarding, sometimes they feel boring, and sometimes they make you go 'ugh...'. Cons: - The game is way too short. My playtime (3.6 h) includes 2 playthroughs (I played the 2nd time to help me understand a few parts after going through it all, and also to hunt the the achievements I had missed while playing freely). I'll return to this point during the other cons, because it has a few implications. - The main characters walks WAY TOO SLOWLY, even for a walking simulator standard. It's so sluggish that [u]it feels like you're a geisha doing the oiran walk underwater while carrying a 200-pound boulder[/u]. This feels like it was a deliberate choice in order to make this short game seem longer than it actually is more than anything else. And note that you don't have too much stuff to contemplate like in most walking simulators, so it's not a relaxing experience. - Looking around, interacting with stuff and dialogues also feel VERY slow. Also you have to wait for the dialogue to completely end (plus what it feels like 5 idle seconds) before you can interact with objects again. This too feels like it was deliberate in order to make the game feel longer than it actually is. But the main problem is that the controlling experience is just awful. - The narrative approach is so surreal that it ends up being too nonsensical and you don't get too many straight answers. On my second playthrough, a few things made more sense, but at the same time a lot of them just felt like they were randomly put in order to trigger the player's curiosity, but it kinda feels like cheating into reaching that goal. - The game is so short that you have little time to connect and relate to the characters, which are obviously underdeveloped for the length of the game. The story has a lot of potential to be impactful and evoke emotions, but that job becomes nearly impossible if you have no time to fall in love with the characters. [h1]Verdict[/h1] While this is not a total miss and could provide fun in some level, I'd say there are better titles out there that do a lot better in areas where his game fails to shine. To name a few from the top of my head: What Remais of Edith Finch, Papo y Yo, Rakuen, Call of the Sea, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter...