Sephonie

[b] P. S. Если сложно пройти игру, используй мое руководство: [/b] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3561496240 [h1] СОЯ СПАСАЕТ ПЛАНЕТУ [/h1] Игра крайне странная, и если бы не её убогая рисовка, можно было бы подумать, что это такой нарочитый закос под ретро-эстетику. Но нет, это просто дешёвый 3D-платформер с крошечными локациями. Нам дают на выбор трёх персонажей, которые по необъяснимым причинам оказались на каком-то сюрреалистичном острове или не пойми где. Их задача — бродить по этим странным местам, изучая отголоски прошлого с помощью паркура. И вот тут начинается самое интересное. Сам платформинг выполнен максимально примитивно. Есть подтягивания за определённые точки, рывки, но основные сегменты — это бег по стенам, который срабатывает через раз. Даже если врубить бесконечный прыжок и дэш (да, разработчики легально встроили чит, видимо, понимая, что иначе это пройдут единицы), семь часов страданий гарантированы. С паркуром всё плохо, но с камерой и управлением — ещё хуже. Создатели (их двое, судя по титрам) даже не удосужились нормально настроить управление под ПК, оставив дефолтные Z и X. Камера ведёт себя отвратно: поворачивается за спину персонажа только во время спринта. Хочешь, чтобы камера просто плавно следовала за героем? Забудь. Порт с консолей получился крайне корявым, да и сами паркурные секции выполнены максимально неаккуратно. Локации вроде бы и не огромные, но всё равно ощущается, что разработчики специально всё запутали, чтобы ты не понимал, куда прыгать и куда бежать. Спасают ситуацию лишь периодически встречающиеся точки сохранения. Отдельно про сюжет, ибо без русского перевода и с таким уровнем повествования разобраться в нём — задача не из лёгких. В игре, где половина геймплея — это тетрис (да, именно тетрис, где надо соединять блоки для комбо чтобы побеждать второстепенных и 5 осн. боссов, которых тебе еще надо ВРУЧНУЮ найти на фоне однообразного окружения), а вторая половина — корявый платформер, ждать чего-то осмысленного глупо. Причем разрабы распихали по уровням игры какие-то капсулы с информацией, которые без читов достать невозможно. И как вы догадались - смысл для сюжета у этих капсул = 0. В ОТДЕЛЬНОМ эпилоге [spoiler] открывается доп. игра за гея, а у двух осн. персонажей из трёх есть однополые партнёры. Такая вот «повесточка», которая ещё больше убивает интерес к исследованию мира и пониманию происходящего. Причем я не шучу: в игре натурально после некоторых "битв" с осн. боссами начинаются axuительные истории о том как кому-то удаляли апендецит, как кто-то фейланулся в детстве в школе, и снова вопрос - почему мне не должно быть на это НЕ поxuy? [/spoiler] По сравнению с Evans Remains, где и так было много болтовни и мало экшена, Sephonie превосходит её в умении заставлять скипать диалоги. Герои трещат без умолку через каждые два шага, но их истории полная чушь и бред. Просраны все возможные из возможных темы для раскрытия. И если Forspoken после прохождения не оставляет никаких эмоций, то Sephonie за свои 5200 тенге (слава богу, я не идиот и не купил её за полную цену) — это вообще ничто. Она не даёт удовольствия, не бросает вызов, а её паркурная составляющая (которая практически не работает), повесточка, кринжовые шутки про рыбу и рваное повествование только усиливают желание поскорее закончить и забыть. Эта игра — чистый фейспалм, который хочется поскорее закрыть и никогда не вспоминать. Знакомиться с ней точно не советую. [h3] Вывод: [/h3] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3690826702 [i] P. S. 2x. Понравился отзыв или мой профиль? Скинь награду Steam на отзыв. Благодаря вашей поддержке я продолжаю получать удовольствие от игр и написания обзоров! [/i]

The kindest way to understand [i]Sephonie[/i] is as a contemplation of life, relationships, and cultural heritage through observations about biology, ecology, and the work of doing science. You find and collect various alien life forms in order to learn about them, their interdependencies, and ultimately about what it means to exist in a modern world that is socially overwhelming and geographically disjointed. The problem is that your entry into the subject matter is exceptionally narrow: that of highly neurotic, upper middle-class young people with Taiwanese roots who are studying science in the USA. As if that's not specific enough, it's also further personalized to the point of irrelevant minutiae. The storytelling mode, if you can even call it that, is awkward, scattered, and frankly baffling. It reads like found fragments of a teenager's diary. Half of it is non sequiturs while the other half veers into exhausting and poorly edited exposition. There are even distracting errors, such as "Hawaii is very far from the United States". My brain is sad just looking at it. That said, the more pertinent way of understanding this game is: It's an atrociously bad 3D platformer. Many indie games lack polish, and that's expected, but the extraordinarily frustrating motion controls seem to be intentional here, as if trying to introduce a cool and unique challenge. The controls hate you and the challenge is not cool. There is some interesting level design here and there, which could have been compelling with decent controls. Instead, even the most basic traversal is painful. You'll also be playing quite a bit of an uninspired and trivially easy blocks mini-game. Not only is it forgettable, it's a completely pointless and unnecessary gameplay element. When you're not fighting the controls or rotating blocks you'll be spending roughly 50% of your time watching the meandering and poorly paced cutscenes. There is some exploration gameplay but not for enjoyable reasons. Very often I had no idea how to proceed and had to backtrack through the levels (with those awful controls) to look for the "exit". Again, this [i]seems[/i] to be an intentional design choice, but then there's also a pattern of missing affordances. I appreciate games that avoid handholding, but there's no satisfaction in trying to make sense of bad design. Meanwhile "tutorial" popups are repeated ad nauseam. The whole package feels like an experiment in game design. That's great! Please experiment more! Alas, sometimes experiments fail. [i]Sephonie[/i] does not work well as a game and trips on its own shoelaces in delivering its heavy-handed message.

I really enjoyed this game. It's a lot more straight-forward than Analgesic's other games, but it's still got a psychedelic, dreamy vibe that I loved. The environments were fun to explore, the traversal challenges were fair and compelling, the puzzles were a bit easy maybe, and the theme is right up my alley. Connecting with nature, dissolving your boundaries, changing your perspective and maybe your future. The ending felt a little bad though, almost like a meta-fictional type of rug pull. While there were a lot of really cool concepts and themes within the story around boundaries and connections and I liked those aspects, it felt like it fell flat philosophically compared to the rest of their line-up. Maybe part of that is because the ending doesn't feel like it delivers on the themes the game itself touches upon and kind of just pivots into a territory which feels somewhat antithetical to philosophical train you're riding up until the end. And its like they knew they couldn't end the game there and put on a bandaid solution to the problem their narrative made. It makes it feel all the more jarring, and it took me a while to really put my finger on why it bothered me. Besides the ending though, I think this game is worthwhile, and I still had a good time with it. I'd recommend this, just be ready to read a lot.

So the game is about learning about creatures on an island and doing tetris style puzzles. The platforming relies on you running and wallrunning and feels really bad to control because you have limited turning ability when moving with momentum. I'm not sure who this game is for, these devs create some really weird stuff. Anodyne 2 by this dev stands as the strangest game I've ever played. Anyway, yeah I didn't care for this, despite a somewhat interesting premise.

Sephonie is a thoughtfully crafted 3D platformer developed by Melos Han-Tani and Marina Kittaka, and published by Analgesic Productions. It stands out by offering a deeply reflective and immersive experience that explores themes of connection, identity, and transformation. From the very beginning, the game draws players into the mysterious world of Sephonie Island, where three biologists—Amy, Riyou, and Ing-wen—venture into vast, sprawling cave systems. The narrative is subtle yet profound, focusing not just on exploration, but on the evolving relationships between the characters and their surroundings, emphasizing the intricate ties between humans and nature. The gameplay in Sephonie is centered around fluid, parkour-inspired movement, giving players the ability to sprint, wall-run, and grapple with impressive agility. This dynamic traversal system brings an exhilarating sense of freedom as you navigate through diverse environments, from shadowy caverns to glowing subterranean oceans. Alongside this, Sephonie introduces a unique puzzle mechanic where players “link” with various creatures through a grid-based interface. These puzzles, though not overly complex, serve to deepen the player’s engagement with the fauna and flora of the island, reinforcing the game’s thematic focus on connection and interdependence. This integration of movement and puzzle-solving offers a refreshing approach to exploration that rewards curiosity and thoughtful interaction. Visually, Sephonie is a striking blend of realism and stylized abstraction. Its environments are richly textured and often surreal, featuring detailed caves, underwater landscapes, and urban ruins that create an otherworldly atmosphere. The art direction masterfully balances beauty with mystery, crafting a world that invites prolonged exploration and reflection. Complementing the visual experience is a carefully composed soundtrack that subtly shifts between ambient and melodic tones, enhancing the emotional resonance and pacing of the journey. This sensory combination helps immerse players fully in Sephonie’s enigmatic setting. While the game has been widely praised for its innovative ideas and emotional storytelling, some aspects of its execution have drawn mixed reactions. Certain players and critics have found the platforming mechanics occasionally clunky, which can interrupt the otherwise smooth flow of exploration. Additionally, the puzzle elements, though conceptually interesting, might feel somewhat simplistic or repetitive for those seeking more challenging gameplay. Nevertheless, these minor shortcomings do little to overshadow the game’s overall ambition and artistic vision. In summary, Sephonie offers a distinctive and evocative experience that blends exploration, platforming, and puzzles within a narrative rich with emotional and philosophical depth. Its focus on themes like identity, connection, and the delicate balance between humans and their environment creates a compelling and meaningful journey. For players interested in games that push beyond conventional gameplay to engage with thoughtful storytelling and immersive world-building, Sephonie stands as a memorable and worthwhile adventure. Rating: 9/10

What a letdown. Sephonie is a weird mix of 3D platformer and puzzle game, following a team of three international scientists on their mission to explore a mysterious uncharted island. While this game's style and premise are unique and the dreamlike atmosphere and bizarre level design nicely complement each other, the execution is so damn clunky it's just not fun to play. First problem: the gameplay. This game wants you to do some freaky parkour, but controls during the platforming sections feel frustratingly sluggish, imprecise and inconsistent. Every now and then, you'll link with the islands native species via a trivially easy tetromino puzzle. The combination of the two feels a bit like chessboxing: mostly done for the novelty and unlikely to deliver a top performance in either sport. Second problem: the story: It's disjointed, badly edited and there's just too much of it. In addition to the actual happenings of the game, there's a strange narrator's backdrop and a plethora of wordy and inconsequential flashbacks to the three protagonists respective childhoods. The ending also throws you for an unneeded (and ultimately pointless) loop. I can respect Sephonie as the ambitious brainchild of a tiny team trying to think outside the box. But as a game, it leaves a lot to be desired.

A platform adventure about three researchers who end up marooned on the island they were intending to research. With nothing to do while waiting for rescue, they decide to analyze the island's expansive cave system, unaware that it seems to be analyzing them right back... Its movement takes some serious getting used to. There's very little aerial wiggle room, more about lining up for your jump and timing it correctly. The game describes its sprint as being on a skateboard, a separate move from merely running which snaps the camera to your back with tank controls. But I thought it ended up working quite well for the most part. It forces you to take navigation more seriously, considering how you can use a wallrun to your advantage for extra distance or height. There are collectibles in places that make you go "how in the world do I get there?" and I love that. There's another aspect of the game when analyzing creatures on the island, in the form of a block-matching puzzle. There's quite a lot of variety there with all the different types of tiles to deal with. It's a great companion to the platforming and I went out of my way to find all the creatures! It's an Analgesic game so you're also getting a memorable and unique story. I thought the character writing was incredible, really digging deep at our main characters' vulnerabilities. I don't know if I wanted to give them a hug or if I was the one who needed one... And it all wraps up with a really strong ending written with obvious influence from being a game developed during the early Covid years. I really enjoyed this one.

[b]FUN: ✔ FEELS: ✔[/b] Art, music, and shockingly unique writing all come together to make this pleasant 8-hour-ish experience an impactful one. During multiple levels, I had to stop and just admire the surreal atmosphere of the game world. The game is not flawless. I had a personal, meditative experience with Sephonie that may not land for others. [h2]"All I can see are shards of light and incongruous blossoms of scent that fill my heart with sadness."[/h2] This line of in-game text showcases the quality of writing and encapsulates the uncanny feeling of this world. Right from the start, the menu put me in a mystical mood with its haunting music and wide desert landscape. Upon entering the game, I was immediately charmed by lovingly crafted low-res textures evocative of games from the early 2000s. Perhaps it helps contribute to the alien feel, as the game opens sitting on a train car across from an alien. I was surprised to find such a surreal start giving way to a real-world setting (U.S., Japanese, and Taiwanese researchers on a joint scientific expedition). This makes for an interesting juxtaposition, inviting the player to ponder the nature of the familiar versus the unknown. The world of Sephonie is one that is at the same time recognizable and wholly other. The art and music are truly captivating. Weirdly sloping hills frame watery golden skies, glimpsed through cliff walls of ochre caves supported by spires stretching into abyss. Warping synths slow down and speed up, creating a bizarre yet peaceful auditory landscape. The game features a unique moveset among 3D platformers that goes beyond simple jump/double jump/glide, with an emphasis on manipulating wall runs and dashes. The moveset makes exploration attractive as you experiment with your capabilities. It also contributes to some very interesting level design that’s neither completely linear nor totally open. Navigating later levels requires some fancy moves that I sometimes felt I was fighting the controls to pull off (wall running and jumping into another wall run in particular), but I never reached an untenable point of frustration, perhaps due to the game’s quite reasonable checkpoint system. The 3D platforming action is broken up by an interesting puzzle minigame that further reminds me of how early 2000s titles like Ratchet & Clank tended to mix in such. The puzzle mechanics may take a bit to click, but once they do, I find the game delights on multiple fronts. And speaking of puzzles, even navigating the levels themseves has a puzzle-like Metroidvania quality in lieu of any actual combat. I'm further struck by how accessible this game feels. You can tell the designers are experienced gamers from the simple, approachable tutorials and intuitive way everything just “works” the way I naturally wanted or expected. There are further accessibility options that let you streamline the puzzles and platforming, which lets the player engage at their comfort level. You can feel the effort put into the writing of this game, from the entertaining animal entries to narrative lines like "A lonely receiver-beyond-time drinks the deluge, indulging." Not only is the writing voice unique and interesting, the story delivery feels incredibly intimate and human. The game is full of detailed, intricate meditations on connection, tracing all the ways something as seemingly mundane as “fish” can hold deeply significant meaning to different people. This game was profoundly impactful for me. Exploring themes of connection in spaces that felt like they kissed up against the great dark beyond made me feel like a kid again. I was reminded of why I fell in love with gaming, and what I hope to experience in any game I play. I adored what I saw, what I read, what I heard, and most of all what I [i]felt[/i] while playing Sephonie.

Quite boring, lots of "plot" (which you cannot skip btw) describing main characters that i dont care about and super weird and awkward controls.

really fun platforming, really charming story, most evocative "final boss" puzzle award since 999