Phoenix Springs

A beautiful fever dream.

Great art and sound design, interesting story that remains appealing despite going just a tiny bit too hard on the disorientation and elusiveness for my taste. Also a lot of going back and forth which can try one's patience at times.

It's a fantastic game!

I liked everything about this nicely looking point and click until the Oasis that seemed a bit too far out considering how traditionally the game started. I finished it with a guide and I am glad I did because otherwise I would definitely drop out. I love the way it is narrated, the way it looks, didn't quite enjoy how the convoluted the [spoiler]oasis[/spoiler] part was. Also, the sound of the voice, even at max with lowered sounds and music, was a bit too quiet at parts that have background music. Overall I had a good time but given the presentation and the unguided surrealism of the later part, I am not sure what it tries to say overall. There are motives of rebirth, repetition, [spoiler] there is a loop in the loop, or is there? Is it all a fever dream? Is it even a fever dream of the main character or just dying throws of Leo. Is everyone in the oasis living until their brains deteriorate to a state where it is just husks of themselves or did they reach some profound state of consciousness that their former selves/shells were not relevant anymore? Is the whole oasis just a projection of the physical while all the bodies and their brains really reside in the underground tanks? Who knows? Does anyone? And do we need to? [/spoiler] Games are the best media for this kind of exploration of thought. The conclusions are not pre-packaged.

Exceptionally well presented with a print block aesthetic, Phoenix Springs at times feels like a parody pastiche of the point and click genre. With a surreal story told through dreamlike snippets, it might not be entirely clear what's going on, but it remains endlessly interesting and enviably bold.

What a strange experience... Cryptic, beautiful game. Great visuals, great sound design, music and acting, great writing. It can be frustrating at times, but it is absolutely worth it. Take the time to play it, it's just something different, and in a sea of AI generic content, it really stands out as art. Great job

ポイント・アンド・クリックのジャンルが好きなので 他のゲームのオススメか どこかの記事で見かけてチェックしていたゲームだったと思います。 日本語レビューがないようなので一応メモ的に書いておきます。 ストアページの動画で雰囲気的にはばっちりツボな感じでした。 荒々しいタッチと大胆な構図、動き、とても魅力的に思っていました。 が、いざ始めてみると 単語を組み合わせるというシステムが最初こそ楽しめるのですが 割と序盤から難しいどころか理不尽で意味の分からない難解さになります。 答えを知っていてもなぜその組み合わせで話が進むのかよく分からず 総当りと無駄な移動ばかりを繰り返しがちになります。 早々に自力クリアは諦めて公式TIPSを見ながらのプレイにしましたが それでも所々詰まりました。 なんとかクリアまで進めたもののやはり内容はよく分からず、 一応AIに聞いてみましたが「英語でも非常に難解」で 「言語の壁を越えても内容を完全に理解するのは困難な作品」とのことです。 さすがにやり過ぎという感じなので もう少しテストプレイを幅広く行って難易度を調整してもらわないと 本質と関係ないところでストレスがたまりすぎになる気がします。 次の作品もアナウンスされているようですが、 世界観や演出は非常に好みなので もうちょっとエンタメ寄りのゲームになることを期待しています。