[h1]Introduction[/h1]
While 2D platformer and puzzle games are not something I play often, [b]Henosis[/b] managed to catch my eye because of its visuals. And even though this game is not something I would remember for a long time, it still delivers a decent amount of entertainment.
[h3]Story[/h3]
You play as a cute, small, blue blob who collects water tokens so it could restore the vitality of its homeworld. And that is it, nothing more, nothing less. To be precise, the game does not have any form of storytelling, and this might be the only information about the story you can get. However, this game does not need any, and I did not miss it.
[h3]Gameplay[/h3]
As mentioned, you play as the blob, and the first important gameplay element to keep in mind is that everything kills you in one hit. You do not have any health points or any sorts of shields. So, anything hostile that gets in contact with you means restart of the whole level. That might sound a bit annoying, but the missions do not last very long, as you can finish them in five minutes, even in less. It, of course, depends on how many tries you need to do so. The game is not that long, and you can finish it in two hours. From my experience, I would not say the game is difficult, but I admittedly restarted a few of the later missions a bit more than I would want.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2217068133
Your objective is always the same. There are three water tokens in the level you need to collect to unlock a portal to another location. As a blob, you can simultaneously go from the ground to walls and ceilings. You also need to jump between the platforms, as they are not always connected. That will not be an easy task, as there are a lot of obstacles in the way, like spikes, lighting, lava, and much more. However, some enemies follow the same route both on the land and in the air. Other ones follow you if you get close to them. While I think the game combined obstacles and enemies quite well, I still had issues with the lighting, as it seemed to kill me even though the animations already finished.
The obstacles, enemies, and the whole level design change between the three chapters. These chapters have different visuals and mechanics. For example, the second chapter has worse visibility, while the third one has lava platforms where you need to wait until they cool down for a bit. There is also a boss fight at the end of each chapter, which requires you to shoot bombs at it to kill it. These are the only combat sections in the game, and while they are not bad, I preferred playing normal levels rather than these fights.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2217068064
To manage to get through the deadly environment, you can slow the time for a few seconds, which is incredibly helpful and required from you to use a lot. Sometimes, you need to pick up bombs and use them to destroy weak walls to continue through the level or destroy the shield that protects water tokens you desperately need. That is all. The whole gameplay is simple to understand, yet that is enough for this game, as it is quite fleshed out, and I enjoyed playing it.
[h3]Audiovisuals[/h3]
The game’s graphics are nice to look at, and there are a lot of various enemies that give pretty good alien-vibe. I enjoyed the style of all three chapters and the fact it changes its environment and enemies. As for the sounds, there is not much of them, and the soundtrack is not something worth remembering either.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2217068183
[h3]Performance[/h3]
The game was tested with an [b]i5 8300H, GTX 1060 6GB, and 16GB RAM[/b], running at the highest settings, at [b]60[/b] frames per second, at [b]1920x1080[/b] resolution. Unfortunately, my game was crashing while I tried to load the game. Luckily, developers managed to help me, and afterward, they even developed a hotfix for this specific issue. Setting the [b]Henosis.exe[/b] file into a compatibility mode with [b]Windows 8[/b] solved the issue for me. The problem apparently occurred because the latest [b]Windows 10[/b] updates did not work well with the game’s engine. However, hotfix should already fix that issue, as the game is working for me normally. If you experience the same issues, maybe my [url=https://steamcommunity.com/app/1355720/discussions/0/4198997399063733318/]conversation[/url] with the developers might help you
[h1]Conclusion[/h1]
[b]Henosis[/b] is one of those games that you decide to play one day, finish it, and are satisfied with it. Will I play this game ever again? Probably not. Did I have fun with it? Yeah, I did. Even though it is short, I think it should satisfy platformer lovers, and the game is definitely worth picking up during a sale.
[url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/41545671][quote]Remember that Blue Lips Never Lie! Thus, follow my curator, [b]Blue Lips and their Quips[/b], to find more honest yet humorous reviews!
