4/10 Lucid Cycle is a walking simulator with platformer and puzzle elements. Play as a painter gaining inspiration from their dreams in this surreal and buggy experience. Unenjoyable and frustrating.
Lucid Cycle is a set of “unique experiences” through the lens of a dreaming painter. You start asleep, go through two to three dreams in which you may be required to walk, solve puzzles, find hidden objects, or play a platformer, wake up, talk to your AI lamp that’ll overanalyze the dream of your choice, and paint a portion of a singular painting before going back to bed. The concept is interesting and there’s some replayability in doing it over again and choosing the different dialogue option for your lamp. The lamp sometimes provides humor and snark to the player which can be seen as charming but can also feel unrewarding depending on the dialogue option the player chooses. The art and music adds to the surreal experience. The game runs smoothly, up until you start encountering bugs.
It took me ~2 hours to complete the game with the singular achievement. The achievement is completed as soon as you open the game and is unmissable. No cards.
I did encounter a few bugs, one of which was game breaking. In the level where there’s pipes going through apartment complexes and you have to turn on the TV, I turned on the TV and immediately left the room. The game doesn’t expect you to do this, despite having no guidance or tutorial, and closed the door behind me. I was unable to open the door to get through the portal to progress the game so I had to completely close out. Luckily, they have an automatic save system so I didn’t have to do a lot of backtracking. There’s also bugs concerning stairs and invisible walls which make completing any level with them in it very frustrating.
Several levels are very frustrating and make playing the game unenjoyable. For example, a wonky only-up level, a level where you must avoid people in hazmat suits that walk in no discernible direction, and a several levels where the ground beneath you causes you to fall through assets and start over again. The lack of guidance or hints can lead to wandering aimlessly.
[u]Pros[/u]
[list]
[*] Parts of the game are beautiful.
[*] The music is easy to listen to.
[*] The levels can be challenging.
[*] There’s value in replaying.
[*] AI lamp is a highlight.
[*] The plot and concept are interesting.
[*] Game runs smooth.
[*] Unmissable singular achievement.
[/list]
[u]Cons[/u]
[list]
[*] Does contain a game breaking bug.
[*] Contains many bugs.
[*] Interesting concept with little depth.
[*] No tutorial.
[*] Lack of guidance.
[*] A bit boring.
[/list]
[spoiler] This game gave me such a headache I needed to take a nap before returning to it, which is impressive when you take into account the short runtime. [/spoiler]
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