My copy was provided by the developer (thank you <3)
Strange 45-minute psychological & psychedelic visual experience, I know it looks like a puzzle game, but there are only like 2 actual puzzles, for the most part you just click around and look at things. There are a few secrets, you might have to replay the game if you miss them, but I only managed to find the optional "chair" area after solving a.... very funky puzzle, lets put it that way. I thought the game had a lot of cool mind game moments, although I also felt it lacked consistency in terms of how much interactive content and effort there was to exploring individual locations.
I made a mistake in attempting to comprehend this game as I was playing, but I came to a realization that this game was definitely not made to be intellectually digested. The first few scenes didn't make a good impression, for some reason they just didn't look as good as the rest of the game, overall I found the visuals in the game a bit sporadic, I mean some areas look great don't get me wrong, but then some areas don't even have texture like the first cutscene, and I don't think the level select looked all that great. I understand that you going for that uncanny visual art style, slightly reminds me of Fragrance Point, but some locations looked somewhat unfinished, even if they are meant to look surreal.
The gameplay was a little odd, usually every area will have an electric outlet you have to find, and after that you can just bounce between the scenes and it will charge to battery to complete the stage, although sometimes the game will change the rules, and you might have to do something else. What kinda confused me is that, I kept thinking that I was constantly missing some objectives because I couldn't find much to interact with, but as far as I can tell, most scenes don't have any objectives aside from a few specific locations, it's mostly a visual ride.
[h1] Pros: [/h1]
(+) I didn't think the game looked all that great in the first 5 minutes or so, but I think the later locations and mind games were much better. There were several neat psychological moments, and the game also has some curious narrative/dark undertones that are fun to speculate on.
(+) Unusual vibes/objectives with a few unique ideas, kinda reminded me of Fragrance Point a little in terms of how obscure it is, although I don't think it's as good. The console companion was kinda neat too, I liked the sound design in the game.
(+) Has a few small secrets/optional locations
[h1] Feedback: [/h1]
[u]Interactive gameplay[/u] - just looking at the game I expected there to be more things to click on because it kinda looks like that kind of game. My issue is that, you would have like 3 interactive areas in one location, and sometimes zero in another, so I was confused if maybe I was overlooking something. But I mean, you expect as to charge the battery moving around, so as a player I assume there are things to find, but many of the scenes in the game didn't have anything to do. I guess my point is that, if you going to make the player stay in an area, make sure there are at least a few things to find, but it was very random in this game if there was anything of interest.
- That optional puzzle at the start of the game was pretty challenging to solve, it just seems a bit misleading to put something like that in front of the player right away. Also because the hitbox on those parts is so small, you can easily reset the puzzle by accident.
- Some specific scenes didn't look very good, either because there was no texture or very little detail relative to everything else. I didn't like how the first cutscene looked especially when there are so many cool visuals in the game, as well as the area select that looked relatively blend. I don't mind the art direction, it just didn't make a great first impression. Maybe add some texture to the first scene, if you can, perhaps a little more things to interact with in the first few areas.
[b] Overall Thoughts: 7/10 [/b]
Again, the game didn't make a good first impression, but by the end I thought it was a cool visual experience. There were some unique vibes and lots of silly mind games, with a few extras to discover if you paying attention. I thought the visual design was much better after the first few locations, so I do wish it was a bit more consistent, and the game could have used more interactive areas just because it feels weird when you charging the battery but there is nothing to click on.
[code]Niche, obscure and underrated games: http://store.steampowered.com/curator/31294838-Hidden-Gem-Discovery/ [/code]
