Chasing the Unseen

This game is really promising, but feels more early access than anything. Unintuitive progression and a guidance feature that's basically useless. I got this game after a Curious Archive video mentioned it and it sounded perfect...but it misses the mark but too much to keep my playing

I played the beta about a year ago, and even then, I knew right away that I loved this game. The core mechanic revolves around climbing and platforming on giant creatures, much like one of my favorite games, Shadow of the Colossus. So right off the bat, I'll say I really like this game just because it even remotely resembles Shadow of the Colossus. So yes, my opinion is biased. The game looks fantastic and impresses with its scale and atmosphere. It's just a shame it didn't have a more experienced composer, who could've given the music more grandeur. Personally, I feel that adding more vocal tracks could have enriched the levels, but vocal compositions are limited to the tutorial, which is essentially part of the first level. Riding a massive creature across the level is particularly enjoyable. The monster designs, though restrained, work well thanks to their size and consistency in tone. However, it doesn't help that in two out of the game's six levels (excluding the secret one and the tutorial), you don't have any creature to interact with. In my opinion, this contradicts the game's core concept a little. Of course, there is octopus in the tutorial level and it is fun to ride - if I remember correctly, during the beta, I managed to climb onto it and take a ride, and it was enjoyable. But it’s just reusing the same creature in two consecutive levels. Unfortunately, that's all the game can be praised for - good concept, beautiful visuals, a solid atmosphere, and varied mechanics on each level. Now, let's move on to the downsides I found. That being said, even after completing the game, I still like it, and these flaws dampened the experience rather than turning it negative. I need wall climbing. In the game, you can climb objects, but not walls, and sometimes this leads to silly situations where you're standing in front of a platform half your character’s height, but you can't jump onto it or climb it. In a game entirely built around platforming on uneven surfaces, it's criminal to make the character so slippery on those surfaces. It's just ridiculous. There's no real plot in the game. It's more abstract and philosophical, something akin to Antichamber. Based on the level names, the protagonist's appearance, and the final chapter, it's easy to see that the game draws inspiration from Buddhist teachings, meditation, enlightenment, and similar themes. Given the protagonist's design, one could speculate that he has entered his own inner space and is trying to deal with his inner demons that hinder his path to enlightenment. Of course, this is just speculation, but it's not hard to come to this conclusion on your own. The most frustrating thing about the game is the lack of clear direction. You never know where you're supposed to go, and the waypoint system is useless. The blue line guiding you constantly jerks around in different directions, and you can’t figure out how to follow it. It also disappears too quickly. Worst of all, it passes through walls and doesn't clearly indicate the path. Sure, you could argue that the mystery and confusion are part of the game’s atmosphere, but you're left completely lost most of the time. Especially on the first level with the octopus. If the game hadn't told me to jump on it at moments, I wouldn't have done it. The creature seems to float around in random patterns, and only when you land on it, octopus does start moving confidently in the direction you need to go. (Here, I'll briefly discuss each level.) The second level is both my favorite and most hated. The objective is to collect 10 flowers to activate the snake below and progress. Philosophically, you're trapped in a maze, slithering through tunnels like a snake - quite clever. The flowers are scattered around the level, giving you freedom to explore. There are no softlocks, and from each respawn point, you can reach both the bottom and top of the level. So, it offers more freedom than other, more linear levels. But both navigation systems fail. The blue beam guide only leads you to the bottom, where the snake is. The beams of light from the flowers give you only a vague idea of their location, since you don’t have an overhead view. Even when you do, the flowers are often hidden inside mountains. In short, I really liked this level, but I spent 3 hours trying to find the last flower, which turned out to be at the very beginning of the level. And to top it all off, there's no final, you just land on the snake’s head, and the level ends. The third level is confusing right from the start. When you reach the monster, it's completely unclear how it works. The mechanic requires you to press points on the boss to make it move, but there's no indication of which points control what or how to operate them. Imagine holding a brand new, terribly designed game controller with 20 buttons, none labeled, and the controller itself trying to break free from your hands - that's how it feels. To make things worse, the buttons you first encounter make you think they’re dangerous surfaces to avoid. It's the opposite of intuitive game design. Once you figure out how the new monster works, the level becomes fun - you alternate between the game's uncomfortable platforming and trying to stay on the spider while pressing its buttons. The wind gusts that knock you off are too strong and push you much farther than you can recover from by gliding. Towards the end, the character slows down, an obvious artificial limitation to prevent you from flying to the center of the map (the end of the level). I appreciate that the levels have unique mechanics, but this one comes out of nowhere and isn't explained. The fourth level is immediately frustrating: you find yourself in a very enclosed, dark space where it's hard to navigate. But it's probably the easiest and shortest level. It starts with annoying enclosed spaces, no glider, and ends abruptly. There isn’t even a monster. Towards the end, it seemed like the level would get interesting, transitioning from pitch darkness to blinding light, but no - it just ends. The potential was much greater. The fifth level is quite interesting, and it finally makes good use of the climbing mechanic. In the level, there are blobs of clay that change shape, and you can climb on them to progress through the stage. The level is fairly easy to navigate and enjoyable to complete. Sometimes the direction of movement isn't entirely clear, but if you proceed step by step, the level is fairly straightforward to get through. The final level is all about patience, and I really liked it. Essentially, it’s a long marathon ride on a giant jellyfish. It’s not too hard to stay on, but not so easy that you don’t have to try. The key is patience and balance, as the creature will eventually take you to one of the five checkpoints, but you mustn’t jump off too soon, or you’ll have to start from the last point again. After completing the game, you gain the ability to see all collectible locations. Initially, I was daunted by how much work it would take to collect them all, but in the end, I decided to give it a try. Btw I just checked the stats on how many players bought and rated the game, as well as how many are playing it at the same time, and I was horrified. I understand this is a niche indie project, but it's still disappointing. In the end, I can’t recommend this game. It has too many flaws, not even technical ones, but fundamental game design issues. I see a wonderful, beautiful, and artistic concept. I see that the developer had the creativity, talent, and determination to bring their vision to life, but the execution fell flat. I mean, it wouldn’t have taken much to fix this game and turn it into a masterpiece. Not on the level of Shadow of the Colossus, of course, but still. Personally, I really enjoyed the game and spent a lot of time chasing those capybara-rabbits, but I can’t recommend it to you.

Nah

Having played the demo, I went in with pretty fair expectations. The full game exceeded said expectations. The music/ambiance in the game was almost haunting at times without actually being a horror game. The story is very limited in terms of actual lore, but sums up nicely in the end (with an interesting message, may I add). Controls were pretty good even on keyboard/mouse (it is recommended to play with a controller but is not required). Price was fair as well since it took me ~4 hours to beat the game. There is an incentive to go back and collect all the little rodents that run around to unlock a bonus dimension apparently, so make sure to look for them!

What a beautifully peaceful game. I saw this game on reddit a few times while it was still being developed. Not that it is terribly long, as you can see by my playtime. The game itself is rather simple, but follows a true path of Buddhist meditation. Like when meditating, the point is the process not the final outcome. However achievement hunting becomes much much easier after you have completed the journey. Definitely a game for platform lovers; It is all about how you manipulate the environment to your whims.

Well, I can't say that I like it Yeah I know, only two hours of game but I'm like stuck on the first level and I just retried today and I'm still stuck with no idea of where I have to go (the guidance system is on the better point of view existing) I know that it's to give the sensation of being lost but the first hours are the most important for me Maybe I will finish it but with a YouTube walkthrough on the side to be honest I don't think I will finish it either way, unfortunately, the visuals and the atmosphere just can't get me enough to continue Truly a deception

Salut :) Si le jeu t'intéresse, hésite pas à regarder ce 2min https://youtu.be/SnL2PniACZo Bon jeu à toi :)

Immediately the sounds make you feel uneasy. As if you are dreaming or as if something is not right. The game starts by telling you that you need to get to the other side, to head back or some version of that. Your mission is to climb and navigate a vast level through an unclear path of twists and turns. You can’t climb all surfaces. If you come across something that is climbable, your stamina bar will appear. While climbing, if you don’t move, your stamina bar will still tick down until depleted. Just before it is all the way gone, you hear your heart start beating, then pounding before the screen shakes and your character lets go to possibly fall to their demise. I can’t get over how unnerving the sounds of the music and random background noises can be. Falling from a tall enough height will not cause fall damage, as there is no health bar or anything but you will ragdoll for a bit. If you fall to far you will be reset back to your most recent platform. As soon as you climb one of the first trees it is game on. There is a MASSIVE octopus flying through the air. This game has a way of making you feel so small and the world so large. At some point I was not sure where to go and I saw a little brown thing. I started to chase after it and it turns out to be a brown rabbit. As I chase it, the rabbit seems to be leading me the in direction I am supposed to be going. Eventually one gets trapped and the game makes you wonder what would happen if you captured all of them… I wonder if you could FLY! That would be awesome in a game like this. Apparently there are 50 of these little things, on the first level. The game was fun but on the short side. I finished it without collecting all of the brown rabbits in about 6 hours. It was an experience of great scale that you don’t feel in almost any other video game. It was something special and I’m glad I played it. The sounds and the landscapes were awesome. It almost felt like a proof of concept for something bigger to come in the future for Strange Shift Studio. I am looking forward to seeing what they come out with next. I played on a steam deck and the game ran fine for the most part. There was one level in a cave where I had to drop the resolution as I was getting a warning on the screen for frame rate. Other than that one spot, everything ran great.

Who doesn't want to run around a massive dreamy landscape while traversing around with the help of colossal creatures? The artistic style of the game is perfect for that dreamy feel, and the music pairs well with the gameplay. The impending rise of a colossal octopus as it crests over the side of the landscape in front of you while his 'boss' music starts trumpeting just sent shivers down my spine, it was aweing. I found myself searching for a chance to see the massive creatures as I played early in the game, and was happy with the amount of time I engaged with them. The small 'minigame' of chasing the critters always had me excited and trying to find clever ways to catch them as they were so fast to just chase over the wide open grasses. Overall I really did love the game and it fits right into the styles that I really love. I've always been a huge fan of platformers, and this game does throw me back to those old platforming games, but I can see where someone could easily get frustrated with the accuracy of the controls. The trailer also makes the game feel more fast paced than I perceived it in game, while there were some fast parts (like riding the snake) most of the parts were open terrain traversing the massive levels. Pros: -Visually appealing (love the style) -Unique gameplay -Just really cool Cons: -Controls were sometimes clunky -Repetitive music -Slower paced than conveyed in the trailer Overall, I really enjoyed what I played of it so far and can't wait to explore the levels I haven't gotten to yet.

Needs first person mode