Viewfinder

#JUSTICEFORCAIT I love games that take advantage of their virtual medium to forego the otherwise immutable laws of reality that construct our physical world. We might have to abide by Euclidean Geometry, Special Relativity and thermodynamics through our normal drudgery through life, but such rules need not always apply in Viewfinder. I've had a handful of moments where I've felt a strange reverse-vertigo sensation, like finding a balance that I shouldn't have. It got me to think about images and their placement in a way I never have before. I was delighted to discover a mysteriously melancholic story unfolding around me, often coincidentally to the gameplay. It felt like drifting in and out of a living room catching snippets of conversations, too busy to join a conversation but not excluded from taking part if you want to. And then there was a cat! And he accompanies you through the majority of the game! And he chats to you and adds detail to the story! And you can pet him! And when you pet him he purrs! And when he purrs, the controller vibrates like a purr!!!! At a certain point in the game, he utters a soft plea not to abandon him and I became very emotional and had to take a break from playing in order not to fall apart worrying about how sad he sounded. Ironically, I suppose I actually did abandon the cat by quitting the game to sort myself out and I'm happy that did not occur to me at the time! But all of this goes to show how invested I've become in all the aspects of this game. In fact, I was under the impression that Viewfinder wasn't particularly story-based before I played it, I'm not sure why. I'm delighted to have stumbled across it, at any rate. The game seems to explore themes of perceiving and controlling reality, taking the time to appreciate one's environment, obsession, fear of failure, acceptance of impossibility, and cautionary tale about treating science like magic. It's also about adult friendships, support networks and communicating emotion artistically. You hear messages from characters who are manic with inspiration as they feverishly work away at new project after new project, yet there are an abundance of chairs, couches, stools, bean bags, etc on every level. The game prompts you to sit when you approach this furniture, which has no function to the gameplay and even prevents you using your items until you stand back up. Similarly, petting the cat serves no purpose in advancing the game, simply giving you a moment along with an affirmation of friendship. I suspect the whole thing may be a metaphor for living as an artist. Seen as a commodity to the industry, cajoled into perpetual content creating and reinventing yourself to remain relevant with an obssesive desperation to find that next big thing; refusing to fail... and ultimately regretting never allowing yourself to sit and just enjoy what you created, and feeling as though you failed because you were unable to see all that you had made was remarkable! So yeah, this is one of the best games I've ever played!

I'm very impressed with this game!!! I haven't enjoyed solving puzzles in a first-person POV puzzle game like this since the Portal games. I still need to play Superliminal as well. This game's concept of play is so cool, very out of the box thinking. However, I believe the story-writing is the weakest aspect, I couldn't get invested in it. The VA is good, but not amazing. The game's concept is wonderful. If there is ever a sequel here is plenty of room to make a masterpiece of a game like Portal 2 was 🔥, just needs a heartfelt engaging story, and imagine a co-op feature!! I think this game deserves more praise, I hope more people play it and that it helps with producing an incredible sequel if the developers want to :).

Fantastic game, expected a fun little puzzle game with a nice gimmick, but ended up rather invested in the story and wanting to see it through to the end. Most of the puzzles aren't especially difficult, but do require some thought, especially when they start to use one of the mechanics in a different way. If you do want to engage with the story, it's worth looking for and listening to every audio log and note throughout the game - that's where you'll find all the charm and personality. Skipping past them or rushing the levels would make for a fairly shallow experience, by comparison. All in all, a fun puzzle game that doesn't overstay its welcome, with a thoughtful, emotional story (if you take the time to really engage with it).

I loved every second of this game. The graphics are soothing, the story is wholesome and the puzzles are challenging. I would highly recommend this game even if its not on sale. I really hope they add a DLC with more content. 10/10

Прикольная головоломка, для некоторых уровней решения не очевидные, надо либо долго думкать, либо обращаться к гайдам. Ачивки только ради ачивок, по игре большая их часть нафиг не нужна. Сюжет наивный, про зелёную повестку и воспоминания типа изобретателей, которые пытались очистить воздух. Ничего конкретного, просто много болтовни. Короткая. Одноразовая.

thinking with port.... pictures

Fun 5 hour 'Portal like' puzzle game.