Blue Prince

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note: this review comes from my bro who finished this game, he has a good couple hours on me but couldn't post a review due to playing through Steam Family Sharing. My opinion more or less mirrors his despite having roughly a third of his play time. The game needs less RNG. It's like playing Myst where the island just sometimes doesn't have the rooms you need to go to. His review: I want to like this game. But I can't keep playing it, because it just disrespects the player's time. The basic gameplay mechanic of drawing cards (blueprints) to build a pathway to the final room is genuinely fun. There's also a ton of fun exploration and puzzle elements to this game, mostly built around riddles. Some of these do give a genuine sense of satisfaction when you figure them out. However. It takes a *shockingly long time* to pick up on (and solve) many of these riddles for a few main reasons: [list] [*] You're basically partially exposed to many separate riddles all at once, which can be both distracting and overwhelming [*] Getting the next piece you need to figure out a riddle (or even execute the sequence to solve the related puzzle) is largely left up to chance [*] You may often find yourself running out of resources before being able to execute on a riddle you've just figured out, and getting the right sequence of rooms/items again may take a very long (and indeterminate amount of) time. [/list] You could go an entire in-game week (read: multiple hours) trying to solve a puzzle [i]you already know the solution to[/i] just because the game won't give you the pieces you need in the right order. It took me multiple in-game weeks to solve the [spoiler] laboratory and pump room [/spoiler] puzzles just because the game would not give them to me next to the [spoiler] boiler room, or any other power-conduit enabled rooms [/spoiler]. I new the solution the entire time, but couldn't execute because the game refused to give me what I needed. Footsteps being a limited resource is also a problem. I understand how important it is to the core game mechanic, and I think it's okay [i]for the most part[/i] inside the mansion itself. But when you have puzzles that require interacting with a room [i]inside[/i] the mansion to affect an area [i]outside[/i] the mansion, and you run out of footsteps before you can get to that affected area, it can be very frustrating. Even more-so if you happen to also have a required item at the time, and no way to easily carry that item over to the next day. A few changes I feel would significantly reduce these pain-points (not necessarily all at once): [list] [*] A safe pocket for items. Even just one slot. Yes, I know that the [spoiler]coat-check[/spoiler] room exists, but you're still at the game's mercy for drawing that room early enough to put the item to use. [*] Permanent access to the [spoiler]trading post[/spoiler] and/or the [spoiler]workshop[/spoiler] [*] A safe pocket for blueprints. Or really just [i]any[/i] way to guarantee you draw [i]at least one[/i] specific room you might need for a puzzle. [*] Removal of the [spoiler]power conduit[/spoiler] mechanic. Make it so that the mere presence of the [spoiler]boiler room or electric eel aquarium[/spoiler] is enough to activate the associated rooms. [*] No movement cost outside the mansion. Or maybe some way to gain the [spoiler]sneakers[/spoiler] effect temporarily for a few days in a row. I suppose the item safe pocket idea could also solve this problem, but often times when you need an item, you also need a lot of movement to put it to use where it's needed. [*] [i]Maybe[/i] some item or mechanic that lets you teleport between the lobby and a given room with little or no movement cost. The idea here is to reduce the incidence or running out of footsteps when you figure out how to solve a puzzle (e.g. [spoiler]the red door puzzle where you have to power it from the boiler room, and then make your way to the basement to actually open the door[/spoiler]). But I also understand how this could be way overpowered. [*] Give the player permanent access to progression-related keys such as [spoiler]the basement key[/spoiler]. I honestly do not know why that isn't persistent across days. [/list] I may just be completely mistaken about some of these issues. For example [spoiler]I got to room 46 on the same day I first got to the antechamber, so maybe it's a bug that the basement key didn't persist for me even after I picked it up[/spoiler]. But it really feels to me like many of these are systemic. Yes, as you progress you do get access to tools and abilities which reduce the impact of random chance or resource limitations on your progression. But it's not enough, and it's often not even in the right ways. And even worse, the very issues I'm complaining about also make it hard to even access these tools and abilities in the first place. At one point I found myself cheating with the wikipedia just so I didn't have to waste more time re-obtaining an item or room necessary for a puzzle. The game should not be so frustrating that I would feel the need to do such a thing. But maybe I am just impatient. Either way, I sincerely hope the developer addresses these issues because I would very much like to come back and finish this game. I did enjoy it before my patience ultimately wore out.

I've just started the game and so far it seems pretty tedious. I will update this review as I go and if I change my mind. Edit: I've refunded the game after reading the reviews. I'd love to play a version of this game without the grind and randomness

Doesn't respect your time. Launching and menu navigation take forever due to asinine fade delays. Can't save and quit without ending the day, so you either start a new run next time or have to keep the game running. The puzzles are mostly fine, but the RNG element is a gimmick that adds no value beyond just delaying your progress.

Это очень атмосферно, сюжет полный загадок, играл примерно неделю чтобы таки пройти и даже после прохождения тайны еще остались, так что вообще не линейная дается несколько способов пройти, в общем очень атмосферно играть можно долго, загадочно и сюжет присутствует. Но надо английский понимать чтобы пройти, есть каламбуры и игры слов которые в загадках используются. Если что и не понравилось так это ачивки, они тут прям совсем для задротов. В целом игра одноразовая и после прохождения можно поставить точку, что хорошо.

This game is a huge waste of time, I dont know why its so popular.

解密，甚至有肉鸽元素？

Pro's: - Visually pleasing, music is good, sounds are fitting - Easy puzzles, hard puzzles - A good story to string it all together - All of the early and midgame puzzles come with enough hints to not have you open the wiki for help. If you think it's not true, you should look around more and write more down. - Length, there is a lot in this game, hence my 80h to find the [spoiler]blue testament.[/spoiler] - [spoiler]Cheat engine, I won't tell you how, works to alter ingame values.[/spoiler] Cons: - RNG, everything you do is designed against you. Only after you almost finished the entire post game, you'll get the tools that would make the game more bearable to play. Yet, now there is no more reason to play. - The never coming, but expected update. I WANT MY CUTSCENE, I WANT MY DESERVED SATISFACTION OF FINISHING THE LAST PUZZLE. GIVE ME CREDITS OR ANYTHING. - Huge timesink. If the RNG is against you, you'll have to start over and over. For every hour you play, there is little reward. Sidenote: you can keep the final cutscene and shove it in a puzzlebox. I'm uninstalling and never playing this dissatisfying puzzle game anymore.

This turned out to be such an amazing, incredible, and mind-blowing take on the puzzle and rogue-like journey. RNG is a beast all its own, and any plans you make for a run can quickly change to other objectives. The goal is to get room 46, but you are guaranteed to find other things to solve along the way, and there is no way to know what will help you open that door or will lead you to other secrets. It required me to get a notebook to solve things and keep track of stuff I thought would be important, and it took me back to having to do that as a kid playing Myst. Beating the game is just the beginning (if you want it to be). This is technically my second time playthrough it, though this time I'm in it to find out every single thing I can, and I've found it just as riveting as the first time I played it on console. Plus the addition of some accessibility features like not having to hold to run has been wonderful for my hands.