Contrast

Я якось побачив шматочек цієї гри й атмосфера мене покорила - вирішив треба пограти. Й однозначно треба, гра сподобалась саме атмосферою - Нуар, 1920-30 роки, візуальний стиль, джазова музика, детальки (їх не багато, але цікаво розглядати). Сюжет, вцілому, не щось нове, але має свої родзинки. Гра коротка - 3 години з головою, якщо не залипати на музику й не падати 100500 разів з тих зірочок...зірочки було страшне. :)

Contrast is such a wonderful game, it’s filled with passion, beauty and amazing set pieces. This game is a love letter and a beautiful artistic expression to the vaudevillian and noir aesthetic of the 1920s and with a beautiful song and soundtrack accompanying it, it really brings that noir-burlesque aesthetic to life, it really is stunning visually and I adore it for that. I happened to accidentally stumble on the steam page and I fell in love from the screenshots and visual presentation of the game and after playing it delivered more or less. In Contrast you play as Dawn, the imaginary friend of an 8-year-old girl named Didi, and you go around town with her helping her get her parents back together as a family. There is something deeply feminine in the writing of the characters and the story and seeing the story unfold from the perspective of Didi helps that part of its thematic narration, and I can’t help but say that the game feels like it’s a woman’s game. But artstyle and narrative aside, the meat of the game is the gameplay and in all honestly it is a little lackluster. The foundational concept of platformer puzzle where you have to move into shadows into a 2D environment to platform and solve puzzles sounds so cool and it works really well for most of the game but since the game is so short it leaves me wanting for more. This was Compulsion’s first game and I guess they can get a pass on it. If the studio was able to flesh the game out more and worked on a proper fully sized game, I have no doubts it would’ve been fantastic, but I love it for what it is also. Playing this game really made me wish that this artstyle was and hopefully will be more prevalent in videogames, because we have basically nothing that nails it other than Contrast I guess 😭 😭

WOW!!! I absolutely loved this game so much! Between the art-style, the voice acting, the southern vibes, I couldn't have asked for a better short indie. This game reminded me so much of South of Midnight, minus the combat. It's all shadow play, platformer, noir, puzzle and it's definitely an unforgettable one. The soundtrack?? oof! Wish it was 5 hours longer, maybe a sequel...I can't get enough of this style! Adored it, 10/10 from me! Highly recommend!

Contrast is a 13 year old Xbox 360 ported puzzle platformer designed for the X-box and ported to PC as an afterthought. It's an interesting hybrid playformer that uses a gimmick where you can transfer your 3D self into your shadow, which creates a short 2D platformer experience baked into the larger 3D platformer. It's a narrative driven story where you're the imaginary friend of a young girl with an estranged father and a cabaret singing mother in middle Europe. The narrative follows the young girls experience of sneaking out of home in the evening to listen to her mother and discovering unusual truths about her father and his money making schemes... well, I won't spoil it. It's a serviceable plot but not winning any awards. From a technical perspective, the game doesn't meet basic minimum requirements that most PC gamers expect as standard. The platforming is clunky and imprecise due to the Xbox 360 heritage for the game. While you have mouselook for the most part, camera angles are often unpleasant, a console hangover. Because this is designed for consoles, it carries a number of deliberate design deficiencies. Compromises were made to cater to the inferior console gaming appliances that the game was designed for. These are unfortunate compromises and limitations that PC gamers shouldn't be forced to accept, but it's evident that PC was a second thought for the console-centric developers. The game is deficient as a result of these choices, and would have been so much better without the handicaps that designing games for consoles forces upon a game. Once more, console peasants have made gaming worse for everyone. The graphics in this game are passable, to the point I'd say that they've dated remarkable well considering this is 13 years old (I've seen hundreds of games in the last 12 months on Steam Direct with far worse graphics). And while it's vital for any game to have impressive visuals (gaming is a visual medium, after all), there's more to a game than just the graphics. To be worth a gamers time and money, the game must match top tier visuals with top tier gameplay, and that's not happening here. The controls can't be customised, which will be an annoyance for many, but it can also render the game unplayable for differently-abled gamers, left handed gamers or gamers using AZERTY or other international keyboard layouts. These technical defects push this game below acceptable standards for any modern PC game. Let's talk about pricing and the actual value this has for gamers. Is this game one of the best of the 140,000+ games on Steam? Contrast has the greedy, cash grab price of around $9 USD, it's not worth it given the defects and shortcomings with the product, especially considering the sheer number of completely free, much higher quality games on Steam. $9 for a 13 year old Xbox game is, well, overly ambitious to say the least. For comparison, the $9 asking price for this game could get you games like "Rise of the Tomb Raider", "Pillars of Eternity II" or "Cities: Skylines". Quality, professionally made games like those are frequently on sale cheaper than this. Unfortunately Steam reviewers aren't presented with a "Maybe" option... if they did, that's what I'd choose. This isn't a completely bad game, but it's also not one of the best. As always, if you read my review and you can overlook the negatives I've called out, or they just aren't important to you, then by all means go ahead and buy this. Remember what I often say... if you don't agree with what I've said about this game, by all means buy it and play it. My review is just here to inform your buying decision, and if you think I was wrong and you bought the game, then I've done what I really wanted to do... inform your buying decision.

After more that one person asking me to play this I finally did and they were right I absolutely loved it. Despite some short comings I geninuely love what Compulsion Games comes out with and this is no exception. Gameplay, design and story all are very interesting and full of whimsy. Reminds me of why I love games and seeing devs trying different things. If you haven't played any of their titles definately try this out first.

Easily one of my favorite games ever, Ive recommended it to everyone I can who even have a TOE in story games, Its 100% Janky, Has afew moments where the controls make me rage but other than that, Easily a 10/10 game. The story is gritty & real, Its not a fairy-tale & Its still fun to play, Collect the little memories & the puzzles make me feel alittle joy inside when I beat them..Finally. Unfortunately It's a very short game & I think its actually less of a game & was a proof of consept, Either way. PLEASE play this game! Its worth your time, Even with the jank. Its that much of a Unique player experience I think its worth it

PEAKKK, PLAY TSSS plslslslsösllsls!!!! This is the most UNDERRATED peak game and it reminds me of Alice Madness Returns ( except for the slashing parts yuh) sm!!!

É um jogo curtinho, focado em puzzle/sem combate e que tem umas sacadas legais na historia, além de uma apresentação legal (setting Noir anos 1920s). A mecânica principal envolve transitar entre o ambiente tridimensional e as sombras bidimensionais. O que começa como algo bem simples eventualmente tem momentos que te deixam com uma certa pulga atrás da orelha. Platina bem fácil, 22 conquistas que da para pegar já na primeira jogatina, podendo também acessar os capítulos para coletar algo que ficou para trás.

Tough one to review. There is a lot to like about this game but it's also a bit shallow. The core mechanic gets pretty repetitive. I can think of ways to make the mechanic fun and engaging, but in this game it's mainly "if you cannot jump over gap, become shadow and jump over smaller shadow gap". There, solved the game. Now repeat for however many hours. I love the art style and the atmosphere of the game, but the actual gameplay is way too repetitive.