[b]paraido[/b] is partly your run-of-the-mill placement puzzler. no timer, move limit or penalties, but instead of tetris shapes you're dealing with hexagons, the ultimate puzzle shape. [b]maze levels[/b] are in the mix as well, where instead of covering every tile, you have to arrange pieces so they create the longest corridor between the entrance and the exit, so to speak. dark tiles mark the current path and the number at the start is a counter going down, so the goal is to take it to 0. I needed some time to grasp the placement aspect of the concept but I'm not very smart.
[b]79 levels[/b], more than one available at a time and after 10 you can choose to jump straight to the next level of the same type, skipping the rest for the time being. there's a [b]useless level skip button[/b] in the pause menu that only works for unlocked levels. if there are 3 unsolved maze levels, you can't skip to the next one, which would be the whole point of said button.
this is one of the reasons why I would've preferred two separate packs for the two modes, but it's not too much hassle if you (almost) only want to do the mazes, unless you keep getting stuck. they're colored differently on level select but [b]mid-level progress doesn't get saved[/b] if you quit. levels aren't too big but it would still be nice. as would [b]adding a level select button to the level complete screen[/b]. you can bring up the menu and go from there but it's too much unnecessary clicking.
controls are mouse-based, left click to pick up, another to place, wheel rotates while a piece is held. right click drops the current piece from anywhere, left only if it's not over the placement area. pieces in place can be picked up again and moved around but [b]right-clicking one should remove it and put it to the side to reduce the number of clicks[/b].
esc brings up and closes the pause menu, no on-screen reset button. there are [b]somewhat undocumented hotkeys[/b], like q/e to rotate a held piece, and the semi-hidden menu button in the corner highlights keys for (s)kip, (r)estart and (l)evel select. [b]no mention of the need to hold them and 'r' is also the alternate rotate hotkey.[/b] holding is good to avoid progress loss, an alternate rotation key is also good for non-qwerty people, and pressing 's' and 'l' immediately show a charging dial to indicate pressing won't do much, but [b]assigning 2 different functions to the same key on a keyboard with 100+ keys is dumb and it might confuse people who want to (r)eset with the industry-standard key but nothing happens[/b] because it only rotates held pieces and doesn't bring up the please-hold dial because of the rotary function.
graphics and audio are functional, multiple sound effects for trying to place something where it doesn't fit. I didn't like the [b]really messy piece placement[/b] though, covering each other, some half off-screen, whatever the random placement generator decides. some adjustments have been made but it's still not the best it could be, simply by removing the randomizer and making sure everything appears properly. can't even move them out of the way, as they snap back to their original position when dropped. [b]annoying particles when pieces are picked up and moved around aren't great either[/b], can't turn them off and while there are separate volumes, resolutions and windowed mode, they're only available in the main menu.
I don't have the patience for this stuff, so only did about half the levels and found mazes more interesting but also harder. and that's pretty much it. nothing special, could use a bit more polish, but if you like this sort of thing, it's one more title to grab with a bit of extra flavor. [b]wait for half price or even third, 9 bucks is way too much for this[/b], but at least you can [b]try the demo[/b] in the meantime. and if the game ever gets popular (highly doubtful), the post-release addition of a [b]level editor[/b] can provide additional content through the workshop.
