[h1] In A Nutshell [/h1]
It's not easy to define what genre Mechanism belongs to, or exactly what it is. In this rather unique game, you will control a small robot, in a ruined world, infested with a mysterious substance known as "The Phlegm". Armed only with your wits and the will to find the truth, you leave your home in search for answers...
The main thing to do in mechanism is exploring a bleak, and devastated world, now lying in ruins, where apparently you are the sole survivor. The atmosphere and art direction are absolutely impressive, and contribute a lot in giving out a sense of mystery, alienation, and loneliness. Soon, you will figure out certain items you find will have each their specific use, mostly in repairing broken machinery, allowing the exploration of different areas of the map. In each new area, you will find new items, dangers, and maybe answers to what happened.
Even if this is a story-focused exploration game, there are elements from completely different genres into it, such as stealth, invaluable in some areas where you will have to be careful not to aggro monsters, that will make short work of you, and even roguelike elements, as certain actions can trigger a total reset of game progress, forcing you to restart from the beginning. Survival is another aspect of the game, you will have to be careful in avoiding the Phlegm sources and creatures, as too much exposure will kill you, but there are also advantages in being infected...
Game saving is performed automatically on area transitions, and also at fixed save points called Photometers, that will save the world state. There are also tools to reset all unused item positions, useful if you lose some important item and have to get it back.
The game also has its problems, mostly consisting of bugs of various degrees of severity, ranging from simple collision bugs, to game-breaking tier bugs that will reset world state randomly, or get you stuck in some places. Even with this kind of problems, the game still was enjoyable and kept me wanting to get to the bottom of it. Constant updates give good hope of such problems getting fixed.
Overall, I found Mechanism to be a truly unique, immersive, and philosophical game, with hidden meanings behind every corner, original gameplay formula, and amazing art and soundtrack. An experience that won't disappoint for all story-driven game lovers.
[quote]Liked this review, and want to see more of the same quality? Check out [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/39323490]Tamaster's Review Archive[/url] to see all my Reviews in a single, convenient location.[/quote]
[h1] Gameplay Analysis [/h1]
[b] General Gameplay [/b]
Gameplay of Mechanism focuses on exploration, puzzles, and survival from the phlegm. The many gameplay elements borrowed from completely different genres mix well and make the gameplay style very unique and original. our robot is able to pick up two objects at a time, but also risks of dropping them while infected by the Phlegm. Objects can vary from utility tools such as shields, flashlights, or batteries, to weapons like Anti Phlegm Bombs, to machinery parts and components.
Your sole objective is to repair the Mechanism, and try to communicate with the Phlegm Source to find out the truth. This will require extensive exploration, avoiding many dangers.
[b] Story [/b]
A minimalist story, where most of the past events are implied and left to the player for interpretation. Some information can be gained from certain "optional" NPCs, that will also give out tips on what to do next around the world. Excellent.
[b] Combat System [/b]
N/A
[b] Content & Pricing [/b]
For the price of 12€, i'd normally say this game is not worth it... but not this time. The duration depends on how many times you trigger the "reset" event and how long you take to figure out how to proceed, it took me 7-8 hours to finish the game. I'd say it's definitely worth it because of just how unique of an experience this is. No other game is like this.
[b] Balancing & Challenge [/b]
The only challenge consists in not getting captured by certain enemies, that will trigger the "reset" event and clear all progress. This is fairly easy. Puzzles are quite simple. Challenge rating is Low.
[h1] Technical Analysis [/h1]
[b] Graphics [/b]
Exceptional art direction and style make up for the not perfect quality of models and textures. The world may not be the top technically, but the way elements are arranged and the choices of design, make this game beautiful and really well done visually.
[b] Sound [/b]
Excellent soundtrack, good sound effects. Some of the track songs really impressed me and emphasized certain moments in spectacular ways.
[b] Performance & Stability [/b]
In some areas there are FPS drops even on high-end hardware, but not much. The game uses a considerable amount of GPU resources, (around 60% on a 1080 at 1080p), so optimization is a bit lacking. No crippling performance problems have been found.
[b] AI [/b]
N/A
[b] Quality of Life [/b]
Nothing bad to report.
[b] Bugs / Issues [/b]
There are severe issues here. Some bugs are minor and can be easily dealt with or just ignored, but some others are very major and can lead to being stuck permanently, or reset of partial progress without reason. This actually forced me to restart the game once. The developer is however active and focused on fixing, but for now the bugs remain.
[h1] Conclusion & Rating [/h1]
A very unique take over the exploration story-driven genre, Mechanism is a game that tells a story like no other, with a gameplay style like no others. If you like sci-fi settings, minimal and cryptic stories, and exotic worlds, look no further, because this is what you need.
[h1] RATING: 8.0 / 10 [/h1]
