[b]melordandek[/b] is essentially a draw a single line puzzler, the [i]don't step on the same tile twice[/i] variety, same general idea. [b]345(!) levels[/b], divided unevenly into 10 zones as the [b]visual novel-style story[/b] keeps unfolding, voiced in french (horrible quality from what little I heard), not voiced in english. cutscenes can be reviewed in the main menu, separate volume settings, brightness, lots of color manipulation, even a grayscale option, windowed mode and resolutions, plus the all-important [b]timer toggle[/b] in case you don't want to be bothered or stressed out by a time limit.
levels are selected from an overhead map of the city, [b]often multiple ones are available to try and you can move on to the next zone without solving everything[/b], just beeline towards the exit. level numbers appear with the mouse over the nodes, along with names and often a description, and completed nodes are marked differently. controls are keyboard or mouse, but only the mouse can be used to select a level, arrows only move between zones.
[b]I found keyboard works best, it's very responsive[/b], you can even hold a direction instead of tapping it. arrows, wasd and zqsd (handy for non-qwerty users) all work. tiles can be clicked, even one further away to traverse multiple at once, or move the hand over the keyboard at the bottom. not that practical but a neat idea. there's [b]unlimited undo[/b] (backspace or right mouse button, both can be held) and level reset ('r', quickly retraces your steps and can be stopped if necessary), move history on the right, move counter in the top left (doesn't do anything, not recorded anywhere). pressing esc brings up a settings menu.
it starts out easy, and [b]mandatory levels are generally less challenging[/b], but there is a [b]huge variety of mechanics[/b] at play. some levels are darker, only the immediate surroundings are visible, I found these annoying. tiles on the walls is another neat idea, since you're looking at a 3d thing, might as well utilize it, and of course some squares need to be stepped on multiple times. there are switches to open or close paths, traps deplete your 4 health points upon standing on them (undo doesn't give them back). red blocks with a 'step counter' are off limits, but you still have to pass them by a number of times to nullify the counter, which goes round and round, so an extra step nearby can mess things up, another thing I found really annoying.
other things to run into include teleporters, tiles that don't disappear but their counter has to be reduced to zero, like the red ones, but you can step on them, back and forth a lot, a bit tedious, to be honest. also, blocks that have about 5 states that change turn by turn if they're not red. they can only be stepped on and turned green if they're red, but have to be not-red when the level is finished. that's what I gathered anyway, they're not explained. and the point where I gave up was weird blocks with moving circles that add another layer to every remaining tile on the screen, simply couldn't figure out the last main level of the 6th sector. later there are towers that shoot at you, probably after every few turns, and I'm sure there are more surprises as well. [b]definitely can't call the game a one-trick pony.[/b]
another thing worth mentioning is [b]cracks, consumable power-ups of sorts[/b], collected from levels. typing '000' into the computer on the left while playing a level lists all 6 types and the amount you currently have of each: healing (back to full health), free tile (extra non-disappearing tiles to walk on), stay still (pass a turn without moving), random strike (changes a disappearing tile into a permanent one), add 10 minutes and weapon freeze (stops towers and traps from hurting you and gets rid of shadows).
cracks can be activated by their 3-digit code, regular number keys and numpad both work, as well as the robotic hand. [b]they're not farmable[/b] though, replaying a level won't let you grab more. in fact, if they're not picked up during the first attempt (can undo or restart, just don't go back to the map), they're gone, but [b]I assume levels can be completed without them, as they're quite cheaty[/b]. that's why they'd be quite useful on harder levels, but that's where they must be found, as I only got a few weapon freezes in the first 6 zones from the levels I unlocked.
[b]the presentation is fine for the most part, especially the music[/b], as repetitive as it got sometimes, but [b]the story is not great, didn't like the writing, nor the artwork[/b], and the generous amount of typos and grammatical mistakes didn't help. if you're into it though, there's a lot of it, but it's just the icing on the puzzle cake anyway and can be easily skipped or even turned off. I gave up on it relatively fast, but at least found out that the title of the game is the name of the big bad.
the content available is [b]gonna provide several hours' worth of gameplay even by ignoring much harder optional levels[/b], and the good variety of mechanics keeps things fresh and challenging, so I'd say the lowered full price, down to 10 usd or 8 eur, is a pretty good deal.
