Existensis

After having played Existensis repeatedly, I must say that it’s truly an amazing game: the colorful world, fantastically illustrated, wonderful music, backstory unveiling simple truths about the meaning of life that we all instinctively know, all this keeps drawing me back to the game and I can’t get enough of it. Game uses platformer concept, divided into branching levels representing diverse corners of the world of Eré, through which you guide the hero, an artist and designer seeking inspiration for his new tower construction, to unlock their secrets and progress further. Gameplay is smooth and of middle length; you need to replay some levels several times to gain access to all the following stages, but the levels are relatively short so it doesn’t get frustrating (I liked that every level had something unique in them, a mechanic or element not seen in others). Playing this was an artistic experience for me, and if you have similar inclination don’t hesitate to try it – and may it spark an inspiration in you as well.

Highly annoying music, awkward game play, idiotic interactions...I admit I held out for 13 minutes before requesting a refund.

Existensis is a delight and an absolute masterpiece. It's one of the most beautiful games I've played, and I found its unusual method of storytelling entirely captivating. The music is atmospheric and hypnotic, and the design-by-subtraction gameplay surprisingly satisfying. I have fallen in love with this world and will eagerly follow Ozzie Sneddon's work to learn more (I see he's already made one other game, The Mull Littoral https://www.librariumstudios.com ). A few minor concerns: I wish that the wonderfully animated journal indicated one additional piece of information, namely, the name of the current location. It can become easy to forget when there are (blissfully) so many. Also, the Thoughtform for Truth also wouldn't activate unless I pointed the Artist to the left, which was the only technical glitch I encountered. The version I downloaded had a blank icon for the file, which might want attention as well. These are small things. The game is a joy.

Great art, sound track and platforming. 9.5 outta 10. 0.5 off for the weird resolution. Definitely pick up this game if ya got the money.

Wow! I feel incredibly lucky to have found this game, and, in a way, indebted to the people who've built it. This game is immersive, allowing access to a world thoughtfully built through history, mythos, and art. Exploring this world provides an opportunity to introspect into our own thoughts -- its as if, just like our character, we're constructing something to model our own experience of life and death. So many different opinions are presented in this game, but how we synthesize them into a meaningfully whole is up to us. Does the Witch of Wrath present a view of life contradictory to the Thoughtform of Kindness? Haha, this game is so beautiful in the way it encourages us to ask questions like this -- and all while listening to a well-suited soundtrack, that varies with each province. A touch that I like is how often the characters call one another friends. It's heart-warming, just such a nice game. If you do pick it up, I'd recommend playing with a lit candle nearby and some tea :)

Perfect game if you're feeling stuck and need some inspiration or just want to relax and let your mind wander.

I would recommend this game if for no other reason than that it's the kind of game I want to see more of in the world: stylish, imaginative, and created with the kind of singular vision that only small, independent creators are really free to indulge in. Of course, a game can be all those things and still suck, so it helps a lot that Existensis is truly an engaging little gem. It tells the story of The Mayor, a wandering (and leaping!) artist seeking inspiration for his masterwork across a variety of gorgeous, hand-drawn environments. The fantasy setting is original, richly detailed without getting bogged down in lore, and full of curious and intriguing characters - I was reminded of Evan Dahm's "Rice Boy" in particular, and stylistic comparisons to Fantastic Planet or The Dark Crystal could also be made. Each area has its own unique character while clearly being tied to the same world as the others, and there are some really nice setpieces like a city made of ambulatory buildings that assembles itself around you as you explore, or a dreary, hallucinatory underworld realm designed to confuse and misdirect you at every turn. The writing overall is very good, even profound at times. It asks questions about life, creativity, what it is that makes good art, and what makes art, or life, worthwhile, and it provides multiple answers - many compelling, but none decisive. It's not only a well-told story, but one that meshes especially well with an idiosyncratic, one-person project like this one. On the mechanical level the game runs and plays well - movement is wonderfully fluid, and while the levels are relatively small, there are plenty of nooks and crannies to explore. I was worried that the hand-drawn style might make it difficult to figure out which platforms were reachable and which were just background, but this was seldom if ever a problem. There are one or two somewhat weird control/design choices. In particular, because the game rarely prompts for confirmation, sometimes I found myself inadvertently travelling to another region by accident or getting teleported back to the start of the game because I talked to the wrong person, or hit "S" at the wrong time. The ability to travel to already-visited regions at any time (instead of after completing the one you're currently on) would have done a lot to help there, but overall I'd consider this a minor annoyance at worst. Controller support would have been nice, too, maybe we'll get that in some future version? And I'm happy to report I experienced absolutely zero performance or stability issues. There is not a lot of challenge here, gameplay-wise, nor is there meant to be. This game is about exploring a world and the ideas it represents, and drinking in the sights and sounds you find there. Expect to take anywhere from 3-5 hours to play through the whole thing, assuming you're playing at a reasonably leisurely pace... I imagine a speedrunner could get through the whole thing in no more than half an hour, but that would, of course, be almost entirely missing the point. The game's currently $9 USD on sale, and if you've been curious about it, I would not hesitate to pick it up at that price. Even at full fare ($15 as of this writing), if this is the sort of game that interests you, do yourself and the rest of us a solid and pick up a copy. You'l be glad you did.

Beautiful and peaceful. The story is intriguing, the characters have interesting dialogues. Many of them are playful or even flirty. ONce you have been through an area you can always access that area again after the end of a play-through, which takes only 15-20 minutes. The only thing I found a bit cryptic was the level selection screen that appears after you complete a play-through. The labeling for how to navigate is very small near the bottom and if you press any button other than D you are immediately sent to the level your marker is on, with no confirmation screen. It took me a few times to realize what was actually going on and that I could go to any level, if I just pressed D to navigate without pressing anything else. This is pretty impressive for being made entirely by one person! Music art and level design are all excellent. The gameplay itself is fairly simple, with some minor platforming puzzles, no damage or game overs. The search for meaning and inspiration is rewarding, with each ending giving you a different work of architecture as the end result of your journey. No achievements at this time. Took me 4-5 hours to play through but the time was very enjoyable so definitely felt is was worth it. A nice chill game when you want some exploration and movement but no fighting or strife. Thanks Ozzie!

[quote]very thanks for dev giving me the chance to review the amazing game,I enjoy it very much. my steam curator: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/35933227/ [/quote] 第一眼看到這遊戲時 馬上被其畫面所吸引 並不是他的美術表現有多突出 當下第一時間甚至有種廢到笑的感覺 但看久了反而有股難以言喻的悸動 是洋蔥嗎 我想應該不太可能 是某種更貼近於遙遠情懷的鄉愁 端詳許久終於反應過來 原來 那用彩色筆上色 +簽字筆描黑邊的豪邁手法 竟然跟我小學時大家美術課畫出來的塗鴉 有87%以上的相似度 難怪有點眼熟啊 先上一段我的簡短gameplay: https://youtu.be/7Wrn2gfiLow Existensis是一款 用簡易平台跳跳樂 來呈現傳統文字冒險的平台遊戲 玩家扮演一位有建築天分的市長 為了蓋出一座 可以完美詮釋生命與死亡的巨塔 展開一場前往世界各個角落 探求靈感的巡禮 玩法上 沒有二段跳 跟空中衝刺 更不用說砍殺要素了 (遊戲不支援手把 但可以用第三方軟體 比如:joytokey得到良好的體驗) 只需透過簡單的跳躍 來到居民面前對話 蒐集前往下一個地點的情報 或是在當地跟偉大的意識形體 來一場關於生與死的哲學交流 https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2602166960 從中得到建塔的靈感 而結束這趟旅程 但與此同時又會產生時空回朔 使玩家可以不斷的選擇不一樣的道路 前往不同的地方 繼續挖掘未被找出的靈感 完成最終的巨塔 以及解開世界的秘密 遊戲說穿了 根本就是視覺小說 藉由獨特的手繪風格 勾勒出一個 由15處獨特場景所構成 有著眾多形形色色NPC 外加需靠皮特曼速記法(Pitman shorthand) 才可補足設定 的異想世界 https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2602166088 透過平臺遊戲的形式 讓整體體驗比起單純的文字描述 更加立體鮮明 雖然該類型的遊戲已存在著 天花板王者:GRIS 但截然不同的美術風格 所營造出來的奇特氛圍 猶如一本會動的童話繪本 相信可以帶給喜歡異色遊戲的玩家 一個相當深刻的體驗

I followed a whim buying this game, and I'm glad I did. The game play isn't long, but it doesn't have to be. You're sitting down for a feast you can't get anywhere else, and it doesn't overstay its welcome. It's a niche grab for sure, but it's my kinda niche. The only thing that should be improved is navigation. It's not clear which areas are which, and triggering the ending can be unclear. Despite the multiple endings, the way to get each of them is pretty much the same (you either collect more or less inspiration and trigger the ending at a certain location) and it might seem a little sloggish to get all 13 when the journey is the same. However, I enjoyed my one-time romp. It really lifted my spirits. Some games like this come across as try-hard or pretentious; I didn't get that vibe here. This is a labor of love.