Renoir

The game looks better than it is. The controls are terrible. The player can control other ghosts without any explanation, light "kills" you without any explanation. The puzzes are "just there" without any rhyme or reason. It just feels like a collection of puzzles with a noir graphics style.

This game is going to be hit or miss for a lot of people, but if you're as enthusiastic about Film Noir as I am, you will almost certainly enjoy it. You play the ghost of Detective James Renoir, who spends a dark, rainy night retracing his last steps in the hopes of catching his killer. This is done by solving light based puzzles in each area with the help of other ghosts that Renoir is (somehow) able to manipulate. I admit, I'm more into this game for its aesthetics and story more than its gameplay, but I did appreciate and enjoy the puzzles that required actual forethought and synchronization. Negatives: -- Lack of puzzle variety -- Controls can be awkward sometimes -- All ghosts are male and look exactly the same -- It's never explained why light is harmful or how/why Renoir can control ghosts Positives: -- Classic Film Noir -- Stellar soundtrack and visuals -- A wonderful mystery story -- Interesting characters -- Creative gameplay mechanic My love of Film Noir wins out, and at $9.99 the game is definitely worth playing to appreciate its visuals and story. I'm glad I picked it up.

[h1]Introduction[/h1] Renoir is developed by Black Wing Foundation and published by 1C Company. Dev team has been active on Steam for the past two years and this can be seen even in the case of the reviewed game today. It’s both in a polished state and also features the noir subgenre along with some of its tropes. I’m still a fan. [h1]Gameplay[/h1] Biased or not, Noir films and literature weren’t always a favorite topic of mine. I guess they really are an acquired taste and it involves some degree of maturity, since the themes present in this subgenre are usually bleak and gritty. Definitely not light-hearted as the vast majority of platformers found on Steam. This is a crucial element of distinction and at the same time, the saving grace of a rather repetitive game otherwise. From the perspective of its story, the game emulates the narrative thread from Murdered: Soul Suspect. In Renoir we also have a ghost detective attempting to solve his own murder. The puzzle platforming genre is sadly more unidirectional than an open world environment. Progression is always to the right side of the screen. Still, between you and your escape door to the next level, is always one constant enemy: Light. Whether we talk of street lamps or windows, apparently your ghostly form can’t pass through light sources and from this obstacle, the puzzles themselves emerge. You can simultaneously control up to 5 ghosts, including yourself and maneuver them towards electrical switches which manipulate trap-doors, elevators and the such. It utilizes a gameplay mechanic of “recording and playing back” the movements of the ghost you can operate. Pacience and careful planning are both important since getting past some of the obstacles, requires synchronization between several characters at the same time. It gets old very fast and the lack of a more fleshed out tutorial, invites some early moments of frustration. You will keep going though since the story, original or not, still manages to captivate through the intricately detailed buildings (you can’t recreate a proper Noir atmosphere without Art Deco) and outdoor scenery. The cutscenes between levels are presented in the form of nicely drawn comic book-style images which further add personality to Renoir. A fully 3D platformer that uses grayscale with the occasional highlighted elements in yellow or red. Nothing new on the horizon in neither film nor gaming, but I will always appreciate the subtlety of this chromatic choice. Vivid colors can sometimes express far less than just Black & White would. The soundtrack contains some classy jazz songs which fit the game like a glove, so nothing to complain about that. If only the User Interface segement would be as flawless as the sound selection. The last time I looked in a calendar it was 2016. Why is Renoir’s top resolution option, only 1920x1080? The jagged edges I would notice on some of the assets, locations and characters were only remedied by my creative tweaking within the Nvidia Control Panel, since the game’s video options are barebones to say the least. Massive aliasing issues coupled with the fact that no one replied back to me even after three days of writing on Renoir’s Discussions’ thread about these problems, has left me with a sour taste. Silence is also an answer, gentlemen. [h1]Pros[/h1] + Beautiful art style and soundtrack + Steam Trading Cards & Achievements [h1]Cons[/h1] - Repetitive - Resolution and antialiasing issues [h1]Result / Final thoughts[/h1] Even with those graphical misshaps which may be a nuisance for you as well or not, I am going to judge this game fairly and appreciate the unique outlook it provides for its puzzle platformer brethren. It is a proverbial “splash of color” and ironically, the very lack of chromatic variation is what makes it stand out. Buy it after it (hopefully) receives some technical support and a price drop. [b]Rating 70/100[/b] [quote]This review was submitted for [url=http://steamcommunity.com/groups/ImperialReviews]Imperial Reviews[/url], through the generous contribution of [url=http://steamcommunity.com/id/redhillcro]RedHill[/url].[/quote]

While I like the setting and the style (Film noir? Yes please!), the game is ruined by a very unresponsive movement system, it just feels clunky and that is no fun at all considering this is a (puzzle) platformer.

Played for about an hour and so far so good. The controls are a little bit unresponsive, but this is not an action platformer, it's a puzzle adventure. It's basically about a ghost detective who can't touch light (for some reason). You need to control other ghosts using quite unique gameplay mechanic - you basically record a "replay" for every character on screen, one by one. Then you press the play button and all characters will start moving at the same time. So you need to think ahead and synchronize everything. I hope there will be more story in the game, but so far so good.

Türkçe yaması ve hoş bir hikayesi olan çerezlik bir platform, bulmaca oyunu. Farklı ama rutin ve sade bir bulmaca dinamiğine sahip. İndirimli fiyatını göz önünde bulundurursak iyi bir oyun olduğu söylenebilir. Ancak oynanış ve bulmacalar, aynı türdeki oyunlara kıyasla pek tatmin edici değil.

Ну а здесь у нас нуарная логическая головоломка про злоключения павшего детектива и его умении воздействовать на призраков Нью-Йорка 1920-ых годов. В этом городе уже давно нет мира. Влияние мафии разрослось настолько, что проникло даже в государственные структуры вроде полиции или мэрии. Улицы завалены трупами, а общество захлестнул поток контрабандного оружия и запрещенных веществ. Преступники превратили это место в огромный механизм, который служил на благо незаконной деятельности и многочисленным правонарушениям. Именно поэтому быть здесь выскочкой-законником было не самым лучшим решеним. Жаль что нашему герою по имени Ренуар это пришло в голову лишь после собственной смерти. Однако судьба была к нему благосклонна и после двух роковых выстрелов он снова вернулся к жизни. Теперь он может видеть других призраков, а благодаря его природной харизме влиять на их поведение. Вооружившись новыми способностями, наш герой объявляет войну вооруженной преступности, попутно пытаясь отчаянно вспомнить детали из своей прошлой жизни. В наших руках мрачная логическая головомка, где мы проявим свои навыки грамотного планирования. Наш герой может управлять другими призраками для достижения своих целей и именно этим мы и будем заниматься. Наша задача избавляться от различных источников света, которые смертельны для нашего героя, и продвигаться по уровням. В промежутках между геймплеем мы сможем узнать некоторые детали из жизни Ренуара и попробовать разобраться в причинах его гибели. В целом вся игра заключается именно в подборе последовательности действий, которые позволят нашему герою безболезненно добраться из пункта А в пункт Б, попутно разглядывая стильные нуарные комиксы-вкладыши. Управление здесь немного пьяное и к нему нужно привыкать, но в целом это неплохая головоломка на один вечер. Мне понравилась мрачная палитра цветов и окружение, но вот с русской озвучкой у главного героя конечно немного промахнулись. Он звучит совсем не как умудреный жизнью детектив, а как птенец из полицейской академии.

1940's style puzzle game in a platform setting. Quite a surprise! [i]This is a first impression review. I let a friend play this in my presence, because I can't play this due to a handicap. We completed 2/4 chapters. [/i] [h2]Noir is the theme [/h2] James Renoir recently died, and is now a ghost. I'm not sure exactly why, maybe it is going to be unveiled in a later chapter. It appears something mob related. Fitting with the noir aesthetics of course. Renoir the Ghost can't stand the light. It resets him to the latest waypoints. So he has to crawl in the shadows, but more commonly hold lightswitches. How can one hold a light switch and move? Renoir has copies of himself placed strategically around the puzzles. Yes, this is a puzzler molded in a style and story. Renoir speaks to the player as if there is no fourth wall, which suits the game. After all both the player and Renoir are in this new situation. So there are copies, which you can program. You do this by recording their movement, and then execute the program. The copies also can't stand the light, however they pause their program until it's save to continue. This way you can puzzle your way to the solution with multiple Renoirs. [h2]Conclusion [/h2] I chose this game out of a list in my library for my friend to play, and I like to pick the ones with the worst Steam ratings because they generally don't take very long. I must say, this was a surprise, and doesn't deserve a mixed rating and less than one hundred reviews. After writing this review I will read other reviews to see what their problems were. Yeah the puzzles aren't very complicated, and it's a one trick pony. The style is a bit forced, but same could be said for every 'noir' game or movie. In Renoir it's solidly done. Not beautifully, but solidly. Same goes for the music and voice acting. Yes, a solid game, and underappreciated. 70/100 [table] [tr] [td] [i]More reviews at [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/39546715/]Omnivore Gamer[/url], games that are easy to control (for handicapped gamers). [/i][/td] [/tr] [/table]

Renoir is an afterlife noir themed puzzle platformer that could be considered the lovechild of The Swapper and The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom. The puzzle mechanic relies on recording actions for a level specific set of ghosts which in turn have to help navigate the protagonist through deadly sources of light and around obstacles. While sounding basic at first, the game requires both planning, timing as well as some thinking around the corner. The art design and soundtrack are amazing, the puzzles themselves ore both intuitive as well as creative. Only the story is mildly on the light side, but considering all the other outstanding features, Renoir is a bonafide puzzle game and ranges among the better half of them. With about 7 hours of playtime for one playthrough it also has more than enough depth to justify its asking price.

It started out real cool, I simply loved the whole noir 1950s atmosphere, the smooth jazz that played along the way. But it took me just a few levels to figure out how absolutely tedious and boring Renoir was, not to mention the clumsy controls. I often got stuck on ladders, unable to get off them, I also found myself gyrating about levers trying to find sweet spots so I could pull them. And when you're not stuck on a ladder, the puzzle element grows old very quickly. It all consists of commanding a few ghosts so they can pull levers to turn lights on and off so that you can pass safely to the exit. And this is supposedly the most entertaining part, but it's not fun at all. Until you figure out which lever in a 3-story building turns off which light, you basically have to use the trial-and-error method. It takes quite a while and honestly, all levels are the same. You finish one and think "yeah, finally!", but then the next level is exactly the same, only rearranged differently. Trial-and-error again. I managed to keep this up an hour a day tops, but today I once again got stuck on a ladder and decided to draw the line. If you like climbing ladders, there are far better games.