ZYKRUN

I was drawn in by the surreal silent film aesthetic of the Zykrun trailer, and the game delivers on this visual theme. The game starts with a series of linear puzzles that act as a tutorial for two mechanics, which is necessary and the only reason I got as far as I did, but this section still needed more sign posting of how to interact with the game to avoid immediate unpleasant confusion and frustration with the game mechanics. The game then opens up. You can go in so many directions to explore its surreal landscape, but I was enormously frustrated by an inability to figure out how to make any forward progress and having not even knowing vague where the story wanted me to head. I would have continued if the game had a hint system or even if there was a guide outside the game I could have used to just the an idea of what direction I should head in. I can imagine someone enjoying this adrift feeling set against the game's strong art style, but I did not find that good puzzle game frustration while I played Zykrun. TLDR: Puzzles and Story were too obtuse and abstract for me to make any progress after an hour and a half, so I gave up.