Lumnis

Interesting world can take the game far, but you’ll also have to deal with bad platforming and combat, game-breaking bugs, and corrupted saves. You’re placed in the shoes of a warrior who’s living a peaceful life. However, one evening he begins to see weird symbols in his visions. He locates it on an ancient map, takes out his two climbing picks, and sets off on his quest. But at some point in the trip, he falls into a pit. Sadly, he also loses all of his equipment. That's when you step in. Gameplay is a mix of platforming and occasional combat. Your hero can jump, run, and roll. Except for running, every other action takes some of your stamina. It recharges quick, but it’s still something you’ll need to keep an eye on. There’s no difficulty, but you can change how health and stamina decrease in the settings. Gripping is one skill that will lead to a lot of needless falls into pits. You need to press the jump button when you're close to an edge because the characters don't always automatically grab onto platform edges. The only certain way to be safe is to push the button because you can never be sure when it will be right. Eventually, you receive an armor that seems to allow you to push off flat walls, but it never functions as planned and is never explained. Because of fall damage, you will always die before completing the vast majority of platforming challenges. Pressing the jump button too frequently while grasping could cause you to pull yourself up and become stuck in a "hanging" position. Climbing a wall makes it return to normal, but it still looks really strange. Additionally, you can occasionally become trapped in an environment or a place you can't get out of. The game fixes this by allowing you to respawn at a nearest save point. Lastly, using picks to climb is a major method of accessing areas that are not easily reached. The gameplay seems simple enough—you just switch between your left and right hand to move and climb—but it's so terrible that it prevents you from actually playing the game. Once more, you must mash on two buttons in order to grab the wall. This is a mess when you have to do a running jump because you need to equip the climb picks first and then not press the wrong button that attacks with a sword. If you do that, you'll have to equip them again. Since climbing challenges are not made of a single rock, you have to jump between them and grab again. Climbing uses stamina and most don’t have a spot to rest. Your weak jump causes you to always fall to your death, therefore this never works. The final problem is that you will climb down and release your grip on the rock if you quickly push the same hand twice. Because climbing left or right uses only one hand, this happens every time. Climbing is the biggest reason for “not recommended” because it’s the only way to reach the majority of the game. Combat is sadly boring and uninteresting. You can use the sword you find within the first hour to block and deliver two attacks, but only one of those attacks is effective. Because you can't hold the button down, blocking is more akin to parrying, and the second worthless attack actually pushes an enemy without dealing any damage even though the blade passes through them. Because they are not smart, enemies can be exploited. You can move forward to start their attack, retreat and wait for them to complete, and then charge in for one or two blows. Enemies can also get stopped by obstacles or clip through environment, so you can stand on one side of the wall and still hit them. Most die after a few hits. The good news is that they don't respawn. You won't have to worry about them when traveling back and forth across the world. Boss fights exist, although they're not very good because of the poor attack speed and hardly useful dodge. Instead of taking cheap damage, it’s better to exploit them. For example, the first boss got stuck in the mountain and didn't care that I was hacking at him. After the training area, you come outside. The overall goal is to find several artifacts scattered around the world. You won't find intricate and detailed settings here, but the world's simplicity and graphics are nonetheless pretty nice. Even while the entire thing has the appearance of something from a few generations ago, it yet has a certain charm that fans of the games from your childhood may find endearing. The most alluring aspect is the exploration. The game takes place in a mountainous area. The fog below gives the impression that the terrain is made up of tiny sections that float like islands. The world is open, yet there are impassable roads and cliffs that prevent you from going anywhere. Additionally, some obstacles call for specialized tools or items that can be obtained elsewhere. Gloves for smashing rocks are the first item you receive. Despite its mystery, the numerous pathways and caverns leading to different locations make it difficult to keep track of everything. Frequently, you'll walk past a path or door that isn't yet accessible, but you'll probably forget it's there. There are maps with interesting locations, but you have to find them first. They only display a broad outline of the world, but the things you have already activated or located are grayed off. The entire presentation of the game is done through graphics; no words are used. This also includes simple puzzles that need you to match shapes. Since you typically have to find them somewhere before using them to open doors, they essentially take on the function of keys.. Every shape is noted in your book. It's available to you from your inventory, along with a few other items. Although there are no words in the game, inventory nonetheless uses them to describe what the objects actually are. It use simple terms like "scroll" and "flint," without providing any further context. Saving can be a bit problematic. There are save points, however they don't function without a flint. Flint is found in hidden spots, but if you don't look for it, it's easy to miss. Also, I'm not sure there will be enough for each checkpoint. Though they are restricted to major areas, a better saving option are campsites that offer to save your game for free. It's also important to remember that saving does not restore your health. This can only be accomplished by consuming apples or resting at campsites. However, in order to light it, you'll need a few pieces of flint and a branch. By the way, items are hard to spot so you might miss some without even knowing. And finally, campsites provide quick travel between lit camps and customization to change the appearance of your character. In the end, this is one of those games with a world that’s fun to explore. Sadly, every mechanic that would allow you to explore it is broken. First time I got stuck in a spot because "return to campsite" only brought me to a save point. I had to abuse the bug that allows you to have unlimited stamina. But the worst was after I spent 15 hours in the game: the endless loading screen, which means a corrupted save spot. This is a huge disappointment because there's a good and huge game hidden underneath. It might be one of the best broken games I've played. I actually had it as "Recommended", but it kept introducing one game-breaking bug after another.