No Anglerfish

《No Anglerfish》是一款有趣的开放世界推箱解谜游戏。 比起常规的开放世界游戏，或者最近相对出名的开放世界推箱解谜《[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1233070/Isles_of_Sea_and_Sky/]海天岛传说[/url]》（Isles of Sea and Sky），本作其实更接近解谜界的一款不能忽视的作品：《[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/210970/The_Witness/]见证者[/url]》（The Witness）。 和《见证者》一样，而和《海天岛传说》不同的是，本作中谜题并不直接作为“关卡场景”存在，而是依附于类似“题板”一样的载体存在于场景当中，本作中的这个载体是类似于“街机”的机器。也就是说，外面的场景其实相当于一个巨大的“选关画面”。绝大多数情况下，解决一台街机中的谜题，会让其连接的电线充能，实现开门之类的操作，这真的很《见证者》；而也有少数情况下，谜题会和环境之间产生更加深刻的联系，这一点......其实也很《见证者》。 本作和《见证者》最大的区别，就在于本作的谜题是“推箱子”而不是“画线”了。而正如《见证者》中的画线不是简单的“一笔画”，本作中的推箱谜题也不只是纯粹的推箱子，而是增加了许多辅助机制的推箱子，比如按压开关和门、异形块箱子、“传送带”等等。 这些机制在同类游戏（类推箱解谜）中都不算少见，因此一开始很难看出本作的亮点在哪，我一开始也以为本作是想尝试以广度取胜，而不是新意或深度。最后，虽然“机制很多”仍然是本作给我留下的主要印象，但本作同样也依靠这些机制探索出了一定的新意和深度。比如，在整个游戏的过程中，机制之间有时会产生一些出人意料的互动（比如你肯定想不到本作中[spoiler]冰面+粘块[/spoiler]会怎么样），而有些机制的运作细节也不如一开始看起来那么简单（比如[spoiler]存在不连接但会一起移动的“异形块”[/spoiler]）。 本作的核心机制是“推箱子”而不是“画线”也带来了一个不算明显的后果。《见证者》除了开放世界解谜之外，还有一个身份是“猜规则”解谜的推广者，那么本作有没有继承这一点呢？答案是看你怎么定义“猜规则”。如果单论“不用文字解释机制”，那本作的确是继承到了，但仔细想想，这种“无言教程”其实在很多类推箱解谜游戏中都是存在的，但玩家们一般不认为这叫做“猜规则”。造成这种观感差异的原因之一可能在于[b]反馈[/b]，在“画线”这样的偏向纸笔解谜的核心规则下，《见证者》只会在玩家把一整条线画完之后才判定答案并给予反馈，而在“推箱子”中，玩家每走一步之后关卡状态的变化都是一个反馈，反馈的量远远大于前者，游戏所提供的“引导”感也就明显强于前者，因此玩家更不容易觉得是自己在“猜”规则。 如果只是想要通关主线（看到制作人员表），那本作的结构还是比较清晰的，有相对明确的任务地点指引。但本作中也存在隐藏要素和谜题，就我找到的部分来看，我感觉藏得多少有点“随便”，我是没有找到本作中有任何地方给出了有关这些地点的提示，感觉我自己很多时候并不是“找到”了隐藏，而只是“撞见”了隐藏。可是这些隐藏地点中又包含了我心目中本作最优秀且最难的一些推箱谜题，所以我对这些隐藏的感情很复杂。 我感觉本作可能存在类似《[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/224760/FEZ/]FEZ[/url]》的隐藏要素，因为本作存在[spoiler]某种加密文字[/spoiler]，而且根据后文提到的视频来看是可以破译的，但我不知道这种信息能提供多少帮助。而我还看见了可能和《见证者》后期的[spoiler]真·环境谜题[/spoiler]对标的一些场景中的印记，但个人没有找到任何交互的方法，也没有找到任何和其有关的输入位置，所以也有可能只是纯装饰。 由于本作非常非常冷门，因此不可能像当初《FEZ》，以及后来的《[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/553420/TUNIC/]TUNIC[/url]》或《[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/813230/ANIMAL_WELL/]动物井[/url]》一样，有一大群感兴趣的社区玩家去解谜，并分享自己的成果。这也就使得本作的某些秘密可能到目前为止，除了开发者和个别玩家之外真的没人知道，而这些人之中又没有人将自己的发现记录在网上（至少我没找到），开发者也不见得有自己分享的愿望，所以就我个人而言，有些谜团可能真的就是永远的谜团了。知名YouTube视频主[url=https://www.youtube.com/@adiener]Alex Diener[/url]为本作制作的[url=https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBk6-z6v3pDL9c3YZmQNpyJQp7bpcAK3G]系列实况视频[/url]是我能找到的唯一资料，我觉得他的完成度算很高了，而他也不敢说自己发现了本作中全部的秘密。 还有一个比较可惜的是，在参看了上面提到的视频之后，我发现本作还有一部分可选的真正“终局”内容（包括几个推箱谜题和“最终谜题”）被锁在“步数优化”之后。具体来说，玩家需要在推箱谜题中满足特定的步数要求，获得“代币”（Token）解锁一个特定的区域。这个设计在我看来就是败笔，我不喜欢“步数优化”的原因我在其它评测中提过多次，比如[url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/weinima233/recommended/1409180]这篇[/url]和[url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/weinima233/recommended/2851290?snr=1_5_9__402]这篇[/url]，而本作则更加过分，至少上面这两篇评测所评的游戏都没有将步数优化作为解锁内容的条件，而本作这么做了，说实话我真不知道为什么。最后我使用网友分享的第三方破解才得以亲自体验这些内容。 不得不说，作为开发者的第一款商业作品，无论是有意还是无意，选择制作像是《见证者》一样的游戏本身就是需要勇气的，尤其考虑到《见证者》自己都是一个颇具争议的作品（尽管其中不知有多少争议其实和Jonathan Blow更相关）。我也不知道本作到底是不是真的吸收了《见证者》的理念，但在我看来，它给我留下的遗憾还是和《见证者》很类似的，都是用我不擅长或不喜欢的设计杜绝了我自己100%完成游戏的可能。好在最后对于本作，我还是可以用破解来看到一些我本不能看到的内容。 不过最终，由于本作的推箱谜题设计水平一直在线，机制较普通但谜题紧凑，和《海天岛传说》机制有创意但中后期谜题松散不同，而且还有很多谜题有相似的布局，但解法完全不同，能够发现这样的布局也是水平的体现。再考虑到本作其实原本是免费作品，在itch.io（[url=https://gartekstudios.itch.io/no-anglerfish]点此前往[/url]）可以下载，我觉得也没有必要以那么苛刻的标准去要求了。所以我还是可以给出如下的结论： [b]强烈推荐[/b]。 Tip：本作中存在一个执行起来很麻烦的机制，我指的是[spoiler]南瓜[/spoiler]这个机制，你可以尝试按键盘上的“A”键，然后[spoiler]用左右方向键选择角色，用上下方向键切换一个角色的状态：“手动控制”或者“自动控制”，被自动控制的角色就会在不影响关卡状态的情况下自己移动，而不需要玩家再每次按键[/spoiler]，这样就能缓解操作上的困难。我看到有一个差评专门就是针对这个问题，而本作也没有对这一功能进行任何文字上的描述，所以我觉得还是值得一提。 [quote]普通玩家一枚，不玩主流网游，少玩3A大作，关注独立精品。不是为了特立独行，只是为了追求自我。 喜欢我的评测？欢迎关注我的[b]鉴赏家[/b]：[url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/44752532-%25E8%2580%2581%25E8%2588%25B9%25E9%2595%25BFOldCaptain/]老船长OldCaptain[/url]，推荐一些我个人觉得有特点的游戏。 若还想了解更多游戏相关信息分享，敬请关注我的[url=https://docs.qq.com/sheet/DQVNCbmRZZVN1R1JX]游戏推荐单[/url]和[url=https://steamcommunity.com/groups/OldCaptainWZJ]讨论组[/url]。[/quote]

I do not normally write reviews for games, but I just [b] HAD [/b] to make an exception for this one. I went into this game expecting a short but sweet 1-2 hour game, but it ended up being [b] SO [/b] much more. It starts off fairly linear, but soon (after a cool reveal) the world opens up allowing for true exploration. The exploration includes finding puzzle machines that open up progress or hidden secrets; finding various NPCs to befriend by doing them favours; finding items to complete these quests, unlock gates and have special interactions; and finding multiple hidden easter eggs with hilarious jokes. By the way, let me remark on the fact that the humor in this game, though a bit sporadic, is [b] top-notch. [/b] No peepee poopoo jokes here. The puzzles start off quite easy, as most sokoban games do, but can get quite hard if you take into account the tokens. Tokens are a very much optional reward you get for completing a puzzle having taken the least* amount of steps possible and without using a hint. *(The hardest puzzles are very lenient and don't require you having maximum efficiency, which is nice.) Apart from tokens, though, the game does ramp up its difficulty by introducing a few mechanics unique to each zone. The only thing I'd say felt missing was a zone that combined these different mechanics to explore how they interact. Other things this game includes are: a decipherable laguage to discover secrets, simple but catchy tunes that won't get out of your head even after hours of solving puzzles, loads of funny easter eggs and plenty of secrets. PROS: +Simple mandatory puzzles +Complex optional challenges +Loads of secrets +Hilarious jokes +Decipherable language +Catchy tunes +VERY affordable price CONS: -Simple artstyle -No achievements or completion tracker All in all, it was an [b] amazing [/b] experience that I 100% recommend and I hope it eventually gets the recognition it deserves. 9/10

It has puzzles like the ones you see in the screenshots, some with high difficulty, the graphic style is minimalist and nice, the negative point I find is that the "engine" used is a bit weird and uncomfortable, not widescreen, correct to play in windowed mode while watching a video. The price is very cheap.

No Anglerfish packs more punch than it seems at first. While the graphics style is minimalistic and it has downsides with buggy fullscreen and non-remappable controls (possible with Steam controller settings though), its puzzles are where it shines - and that's what a puzzle game should have, right? There are optional puzzles, main puzzles and puzzles of all difficulties. One of my favorite things is when the game throws the same puzzle at you twice but changes ONE tiny thing that COMPLETELY changes the solution. The initial puzzle took me 3 minutes. The "2.0 Version" took me 15. Really great difficulty curve, gotta say. Also the humor is top notch

[h2] Don't let the art style and graphics fool you - this game is [b] [I]very good[/I][/b] [/h2] The puzzles are solid, sometimes rendering you crazy, thinking they're impossible. Secret puzzles and bonus puzzles are available too and there is ([I]a fair bit[/I]) more to the game than levels dotted around a map... Where [b]No Anglerfish[/b] charms though, is through its exploration and almost-RPG like nature. The world is filled with a bunch of zany characters you meet along your quest and I have had a fair few belly laughs. It's comedy is really earnest, not try-hard in a way some indie games can come off sometimes. It amazes me how companies can pump millions into repetitive garbage, but it's the 30fps low resolution sub 100MB game that I'm going to be remembering fondly at the end of the year [b]NO ANGLERFISH IS CURRENTLY LESS THAN ONE POUND WHICH IS INSANE TO ME.[/b] Im guessing that sales might have dropped off for the game and the dev is just trying to make it more accessible. Please buy this if your even a small fan of any of the following: [list] [*]Good, tight, satisfying puzzles [*]Irreverence, cheekiness, non-Sequiturs. [*]Metroidbrania's [*]Retro sh*t [/list] Only gripe I have is that there isn't a reset button on the puzzles, and the music starts to do your f**king head in after 30 mins (you will probably spend 10-15 hours at least)

Really amazing little game! The puzzles on their own would already be great, but the overworld exploration also adds a lot. I love how many secrets and extra things to find there are. Highly reccomend

島のあちこちにポツンと設置されている倉庫番筐体。解くと配線が光り、その先には次のパズルがあり……これThe Witnessだ！ 各地の島々を巡り、様々な倉庫番亜種ルールを解き、そしてメインストーリーを解き進めていく王道パズルアドベンチャー。画面サイズが、最小が最大かの二択しかない点を何とかしてほしいです。 全編英語だし、多少面倒な要素も無くは無いのですが、いろいろな驚きがあるやりごたえのある良作でした。 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m109qFd8GQ

Somewhat of a hidden gem. For under £1, you get a full-fledged sokobongo video game. Its price is so inappropriately low that I'm tempted to click the "you received this product for free" box down there. Has everything the modern audience tends to like: meta puzzles, alphabet cyphers with a bit of a twist, optional puzzles, secrets, collectibles. Shines with personality and charm. But it also has some issues. The music is definitely an experience, but I wish there was a way to mute it in-game. And that the puzzle screens wouldn't flicker the way they do. Some unfortunate specific design decisions: at one point, the game gives you some information you need to solve a puzzle, then seemingly prevents you from seeing that information again [spoiler](you still can, but you have to close the game and reload)[/spoiler]. At another point, it locks you in an optional area and doesn't let you leave until you've solved its puzzles -- I barely managed to make it out and was pretty dissuaded from looking for any more secrets. (edit: apparently, there was a way out after all!) Difficulty-wise, the mandatory puzzles are very accessible, while the optional side puzzles can get very tough. One of them completely walled me! If you solve any puzzle under a certain number of moves, you're rewarded with a token -- these are also optional, and I don't recommend you worry about them much. They're not required to get to the credits, and, unsurprisingly, they lead to even more puzzles, one of which was the one that walled me. So I don't even know what they ultimately lead to. You can always come back and collect them later, if you decide to. Final score: Friends: 29/32 Mushrooms: 8 also this game was apparently made by a 14-15 year old kid, which is extremely impressive!! i would have never thought it

A 2D, low-res Witness-em-up featuring sokoban puzzles. It starts out pretty unassuming but opens up a bit mechanically in neat, unexpected ways. The graphics aren't real pleasant to look at but they are consistent enough. The game is pretty enjoyable... until the pumpkin island. The movement mechanics of the sokoban puzzles there are absolutely INSUFFERABLE. In all the other puzzle types, you control one moving character, and are free to move around quickly and easily, testing solutions freely. In the pumpkin puzzles, you control at least two movers, and you are forced to cycle between them for [i]every. single. move.[/i] This makes it take FOREVER to get anywhere in the puzzle, much less test out theories and enact any solution you find. These puzzles are unique in how they utilize the multiple movers, but tragically, many (not all) of them require the controls to work in exactly this fashion so as not to undermine the puzzle design, so there is no easy fix here. The pumpkin island is also the largest in the game, meaning there are a LOT of these puzzles. I finally gave up about halfway through the island, when the game presented me with a puzzle featuring no fewer than SEVEN movers packed into a single-square-wide corridor. I also realized at this point that if one of your movers is unable to move a square at its allotted turn in the cycle, you are effectively soft-locked and have to rewind until you can figure out how to give it room to move, even if you don't need it to do so, so you can actually cycle to the mover you actually want to utilize. If you can see yourself enjoying this type of frustration, the price is right, so have at it. For everyone else, there are many less irritating puzzlers available. P.S. Be forewarned- when talking to NPCs, pressing Z when the current dialog isn't finished loading doesn't auto-complete the text, it skips to the next dialog box. This is a pretty antiquated problem that should not be seen in modern games.

No Anglerfish is a quirky puzzle adventure. Much like the Witness, you are exploring a chain of islands with computer screens scattered around, and you need to solve the logic puzzles on the screens to progress in the overworld. Usually the puzzles are self contained, but there are cool moments where the environment affects the puzzles, and where the puzzles affect the environment (like the Witness). This game was made entirely in Python by a teenager. This means there is not much polish, and several UI and control-related frustrations. The doodle art style and offbeat dialogue gives the light story a very stream-of-consciousness feel. I found the whole exprerience to be delightful and refreshing. With so many games trying to create epic cinematic experiences and heart-wrenching tragic stories, its nice to play a light-hearted game with silly moments and no message. The puzzles are sokoban-style with some extra elements thrown in, like multi-push and conveyor belts. Trust me when I say this is a unique take on the sokoban genre, and that the puzzles do a good job of exploring the most interesting concepts in the possibility space. Each puzzle also has an optimization challenge, where you need to solve in a target number of moves, awarding a token when you do. I thought the optimization was fun, but in case that is not your thing, you can be assured that you do not need to do the optimization in order to progress the story (though there are some secrets which require tokens).