Lightmatter

Finally gave this one a shot on a whim after having the free-to-try version in my library for years. I was very pleasantly surprised with this game. It is short, and it can feel a little pricey for its length but that's my only real complaint. Everything was well made. It wears its inspirations on its sleeve - Talos Principle in terms of gameplay and Portal 1&2 in terms of setting and story - but it manages to have its own identity and style instead of just being in their shadows. The light & shadow mechanic was really unique and fun to play with. I really like the simple artstyle as well as the simple color palette, it all really works well with the design of the facility - its very reminiscent of Portal 2. And lastly the english voice actor for Virgil really knocked it out of the park. He was a highlight of the whole game. I recommend it. I would love another puzzle game from these devs.

Wow, this game has a Dvorak Keyboard input option in the settings? I am quite impressed. (It also has an AZERTY input option too.) So far it seems like a rather simple game, with a rather simple story. But it is fun and unique so far. I saw this game years ago and thought it was too expensive. But on sale I think it is well worth it.

[This review was written immediately after completing the game for the first time.] A love letter to the Portal games in the sweetest and most kind way while doing something completely unique in gameplay gimmick, making it the classiest type of tribute; wanting the player to feel similar to how they did while playing those games while perfectly carving out its own identity to stand on its own. Beautiful. I had added the demo for this game to my library because I saw the screenshots and thought the art style was beautiful - then proceeded to *completely forget about it for years* (forgive me, devs!) until I randomly finally had some time to kill. Absolutely adore how small the game file size is; fast to download and not a pain to make room for. It was great to pick up and play; invisible checkpoints are EXTREMELY well done and generous, never making me feel like I'm wasting time on failure. Due to the simplicity of the gameplay mechanics, if I took a break from the game it was fast and easy to re-examine the current puzzle and resume; I have short-term memory/attention issues, so I'm especially grateful for this. <3 Game appeared completely flawless in programming. Didn't run into any glitches or softlocks even when I was trying to find 'em while frustrated over a puzzle (lmao). The difficulty curve was perfect. Started easy and slowly got harder - took a brief break in difficulty to introduce a new mechanic, then combined all previous mechanics to up the difficulty again. Chef's kiss. Like Portal, the characters initially come off as simplistic cartoonish caricatures and end with incredibly charming, gutwrenching depth. The voice you will hear the most - Virgil - is up there with the narrator of The Stanley Parable for me; I could listen to him for hours, absolutely fantastic talent. But where there is blinding light, there is at least a little darkness; I found Ellen's voice really out of place - I think her VA would do better in an action or anime game, but it felt a bit strange for a character who seemingly was supposed to be more down-to-earth than Virgil. Overall her performance was just fine, but took me out of my immersion a bit. I found the fast movement controls a bit jarring for such a slow-paced puzzle game, but they were fantastic in one specific level. And overall... I wanted more! BUT Its length is perfect for a casual puzzle game and I would expect no more - simply, the devs did such a good job that I crave a sequel or endless DLC. I may never have enough. Absolutely one of my most favorite puzzle games, if not one of my most favorite games of all time. Absolutely baffled me when I discovered later that not only is the dev team incredibly small, they created such a quality game that barely anyone has played!? This is an injustice in the world - it is now my life mission to recommend this to every Portal fan for the rest of my life. Dev team, if you see this, I am rooting you on with all my heart!! AHHH

Probably the best Portal-like game I've played other than the Portal games.

Solid puzzels, movement feels good, the solves feel good, and the game has a nice asthetic, with the primary puzzle solutions being that you fight back the shadows, the solutions scratch a certain itch, like wiping away dirt to reveal a pristine white floor. I also appreciate that there's an actual question the game asks you, and it deosn't tell you the answer, just poses it to mull over once the games done.

Would game again, yes

Light matter where light matters Pros: Cool style (Minimalist style), cool mechanic's of the floor is lava but its shadows and light makes areas more safe to traverse Cons: Full game money block, Bad Voice Acting, Bad Jokes Over all if they left it for free i would have liked it but so far... kinda needs lower in the price.. donst deserve the Portal pricing level they belive it is

Short and fun puzzle game