Semblance

[h1] Play as gelatinous creature and bend terrain to your will. Puzzles are interesting enough and makes you put your grey cells in motion. To complete some challenges you have to think outside the box. Not every terrain can be morphed and you can revert any changes you made. Story tells about organic and crystal like lifeforms and how they coexisted however something changed. Soundtrack is deep. Visuals are simple but looks organic and somewhat alive. Overall great puzzle platformer and you have to play it before you die that's all. [/h1]

I really, really tried to give it a fair chance, but Semblance never rises from the status of "cool-idea-on-paper-but-not-enough-to-justify-a-full-priced-game". The premise of shaping the world to complete your platforming goals sounds great, until you start to notice the controls are not finely tuned to challenges/mechanics, and you're suddenly trying to beat the controls, not the levels. This reminds me a lot of Hue, a cool gimmick that become a chore when it's forced into a full game. The main issues with Semblance are that you can't finely control how you deform the ground, and that later on it requires precise timing without giving you precise controls to achieve that. It's one of those games where you're presented with a puzzle screen (puzzles hardly are bigger than one screen), look at it for a while, and probably is able to figure out what to do in a few seconds, but take minutes to actually achieve it with the given controls. In the worst case, you look at the screen and has no idea what to do, and decide to just try everything to see what sticks. This is a puzzle design philosophy that is the opposite of great games such as Baba Is You, Snakebird, or Stephen's Sausage Roll. Those games are evergreen puzzle games for a reason, and it is because they take out all the mechanical difficulty of a puzzle (be it precision control or timing), relying solely on BRAINZ. Which is not what could be said of Semblance. Arguably, the visuals are pretty good with great use of color and minimalistic, geometric environment and props, and the music is quite atmospheric and relaxing, fitting the game's world really well. Some say the best stories are told wordlessly, but Semblance's plot fall to the ground if you try to inspect it too closely. If the gameplay was good, I would be willing to overlook all of that but in the current state, it's not a puzzle game I'd recommend

Want to recommend the game cause the first world was a blast. Even the second world was mostly pretty awesome, but after getting to the first puzzle of the last zone in the second world I am stuck because I don't have the reflexes necessary to complete a timing puzzle. I know exactly what I have to do, watched a tutorial and everything, but the controls and timing are too tight for me to complete it.

looks cute, but controls are really awkward, and straight from the getgo I seemed to have locked myself out of the early levels by just running ahead passing some point you cant travel back from... feels very proto-type like. One of those impulse buys I'll not be getting back to

忽闻游戏四块几，垂死病中惊坐起。 四舍五入喜加一，钱包夸我聪明逼。

It really pains me to leave a negative review to such an original idea for a game. But in the end, this is all that remains. An original idea and nothing more. The execution of it leaves much to be desired. The whole premise of the game is really cool and interesting. A [b][i]deformable platformer[/i][/b]. Platforms that can be reshaped in order to gain an advantage, solve puzzles which seem impossible at first glance and even move through the world by exploiting this feature. Reminds me a little of The Floor is Jelly. But when it comes to the implementation of this concept, there are a number of problems. [b] Puzzle design[/b]. The puzzles themselves have little to do with actual puzzles and requiring your brain to solve them and more with to do with precise timing, coordination and repetition. This is fun only in the first hour (at most 1.5 hours) of gameplay. From there on it becomes repetitive and frustrating. The game quickly turns into "press these keys quickly and hope the platform deforms as you need it to. If not, restart the puzzle". I have played a decent number of very good puzzle games in my life. This ain't it. [b] Lack of diversity[/b]. The game world itself is very repetitive. Although I admit I have only played the first two worlds, it was more than enough to notice a pattern. The second world is literally a reskin of the first world of the game, but with a different color: [list] [*] The platform style remains the same but with a different color. [*] The [spoiler] flying bugs that can be smashed [/spoiler] are the same but with a different color and skin. [*] The dangerous obstacles remain the same but with a different color. [*] The [spoiler] collectible light orbs [/spoiler] stay the same but with a different color. [*] The same pattern of [spoiler] jumping into portal trees, collecting a some light orbs after a few exhausting puzzles and after collecting all the orbs from all the portal trees, you complete the world [/spoiler], then moving on to the next world. [/list] This kind of monotony makes you feel as if you replay the first world/level over and over again, without making any meaningful progress and, if you do this enough times (as many times as there are levels) you win the game, all while someone keeps playing with the settings, changing colors and skins. Very frustrating. The overall concept presents a lot of opportunity and it could have been exploited in plenty of meaningful and fun ways. Unfortunately, the way this game currently presents, it feels more like an extended demo than an actual complete game, ready to be shipped and sold on Steam. Disappointing. That said, the overall graphic design and soundtrack are decent and I genuinely hope that the developer of this game reads the negative reviews as well and takes them into consideration for the next game. I see a lot of untapped potential here that simply wasn't fully realized.

A charming little puzzle platformer. I though the mechanics were different and interesting. It's fairly short, but it doesn't overstay its welcome or pad for playtime. There were a few frustrating parts that were kind of skill intensive, but nothing insurmountable. Some fun collectibles. The plot was, uh, there? As far as I could tell. Overall, a solid puzzle platformer with clever mechanics and fun puzzles. I got it on sale, but I think it's worth the price for the quality of the experience.

Semblance is a refreshing take for a puzzle platformer. Shaping environments for platforming works and it feels great. The game adds new twists in each of the 3 worlds, they’re just enough without overwhelming the player. There are between 5 and 6 levels in each world and there is a special final area after all of them are cleared. In terms of collectibles, there are 4 types. Mosquitos which usually require some tricky platforming, art on walls to explain the story, essences that are mandatory to complete the game and shrines, the latter are few in quantity and they’re extra hidden. The style is appealing in terms of visuals but they’re brought to life thanks to the excellent sound effects and music. The music is usually minimalistic but when it’s at the forefront, it’s so good. There are two flaws I’ve noticed. One is not understanding the story at all. As mentioned, the art you can find is supposed to clear things up but it did not work for me. They were very vague, I was also confused about the ending. Granted, it’s not too important for this kind of game but I would at least like to know the basics. And finally, one puzzle maybe two at most felt bullsh*t imo. The solution for the one I’m thinking about (in the third world) is very precise and narrow. It’s the only one I couldn’t figure out. When I looked up the solution online, I couldn’t believe what was required to solve it. Btw, I’ve read some reviews complaining about the controls but I don’t understand where it’s coming from. I played with a DualShock 4 controller, maybe others tried to play the game with a mouse and keyboard. Honestly, I enjoyed the game immensely. It might be on a small budget, something that can be noticed if you care too much about these things. But it’s a well designed game that offers something different. I absolutely recommend the game if you’re looking for an original puzzle platformer that is small in scope and knows when to stop. The normal price of €10 feels fitting but it’s on sale often too. It took me less than 5 hours to complete the game and get all the achievements. They amount to finding all the collectibles and playing every level.

Я бы сказал, что это интересная игра с интересной механикой, но именно мне она не так что бы понравилась. Я быстро устал от визуального стиля, периодических багов в виде зависания персонажа на одном месте и общей однообразности-монотонности без какого-либо повествования. Ну и это не баг, но немного раздражало все время не очень приятное управление этой слизью(то скользит где не надо, то прилипает когда нужно быстрей уйти от опасности). Даже если у игры нет какой-то интересной истории, это можно компенсировать интересным гейм-плеем, но он меня не увлек так, что бы игра понравилась, разве что сами головоломки с изменением физики окружения частично развлекли. В общем, Я поставил ей 6 из 10 на Метакритике. И раз тут нет средней оценки то будет палец вниз, потому что на рекомендацию не тянет. Тем более за эту цену. Если словить по скидке - ну может разве что если ты любитель потрогать любую необычную игру, или твой список игр на головоломки уже исчерпан.

Its quite short but the puzzles are well made even if the game feels unpolished you can look past that at a fun platforming puzzle game unlike most.