The Earthworms is independent, artistic, point & click game placed in surrealist world of science-fiction.
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This game is interesting to say the least. Let's start with the good:
The art direction is great, and some of the puzzles are pretty fun and creative. The story escalates halfway through in a weird way, which I would say has both good and bad to it. At least it is interesting.
The bad: not all of the puzzles are winners. Also, I assume the game was not made by an English speaker, and the English translation can at times be confusing or unintentionally funny. On the Switch the cursor can be a bit finnicky (I assume this isn't as much an issue on PC). And the way the story escalates might not be to everyone's taste, especially if you were looking for a little point-and-click mystery.
In my playthrough I achieved the neutral and bad endings. I am not sure how to get the good ending, I assume I missed something or interacted with something in the wrong order; I'm not sure if I will try to go back for the good ending. I think that with a bit of polish with the controls and the English translation, and maybe a bit more content in the middle that makes the transition between the two halves of the game less jarring while providing a bit more story explanation, this could be a phenomenal little experience. As is, it was fun but lacking.
Time to beat: 3-4 hrs
Endings: Neutral, Bad
The art direction is great, and some of the puzzles are pretty fun and creative. The story escalates halfway through in a weird way, which I would say has both good and bad to it. At least it is interesting.
The bad: not all of the puzzles are winners. Also, I assume the game was not made by an English speaker, and the English translation can at times be confusing or unintentionally funny. On the Switch the cursor can be a bit finnicky (I assume this isn't as much an issue on PC). And the way the story escalates might not be to everyone's taste, especially if you were looking for a little point-and-click mystery.
In my playthrough I achieved the neutral and bad endings. I am not sure how to get the good ending, I assume I missed something or interacted with something in the wrong order; I'm not sure if I will try to go back for the good ending. I think that with a bit of polish with the controls and the English translation, and maybe a bit more content in the middle that makes the transition between the two halves of the game less jarring while providing a bit more story explanation, this could be a phenomenal little experience. As is, it was fun but lacking.
Time to beat: 3-4 hrs
Endings: Neutral, Bad
Uma mistura interessante de história de detetive com o que parece ser ficção científica em ambientes surrealistas. Eu tava tão investido no jogo mas infelizmente ocorreu um bug que me travou no diálogo com um personagem e não conseguia sair da tela.
Infelizmente o jogo só tem save manual e não me apetece começar novamente do zero. Não tão cedo.
Infelizmente o jogo só tem save manual e não me apetece começar novamente do zero. Não tão cedo.
One of the most strange and esoteric games ive ever played. Starts off as a point and click mystery game that seems to be a very surface level "haha somethings weird in this town!" that quickly falls down a rabbit hole never to escape from. Its usually quite cheap and would recommend a play just because of how unlike anything ive ever seen before it is.
I can’t even tell you what I just played. The art style is cool and made me hungry.
There's a reason I try to replay this game once a year. Something about it just... has me. I'm not sure. Don't get me wrong, it definitely has its flaws, but... I don't know. I just really like this game. The point and click controls could use more fine tuning. And I remember being stuck at the beginning of the game for a long time, so a bit clearer on the objectives could be nice. The artstyle is great, but I feel like it makes it hard to tell what can and cannot be interacted with. But I just love this dreary, bizarre world, especially with the complete 180 it takes once you get through the portal. You thought this was a regular small town 50s detective story? THINK AGAIN!!!
Pretty fun lil' point and click detective game, but sometimes the dialog translations were a bit off and made for some unintentionally funny sentences.
The game play is mostly going back and forth between different locations to solve small puzzles and unlock dialog options from NPCs—a standard in this genre but felt a bit repetitive. I was a bit bothered that the types of interactions weren't a bit more dynamic. For instance I'd try to drag items in my inventory onto NPCs in what I felt was an intuitive way of advancing the story, but this didn't do anything. So in a certain way the conventions of this genre were executed very faithfully and in other ways it slightly misses the mark.
The main selling point is the inventive, unique, and compelling art direction. The combination of hand-drawn/painted visuals with trippy screen effects that give the scenery a soupy, alive, and constantly eerie feel is highly effective and suits the tone of the overall mystery incredibly well. I'd love to see what this studio/group is making next.
The game play is mostly going back and forth between different locations to solve small puzzles and unlock dialog options from NPCs—a standard in this genre but felt a bit repetitive. I was a bit bothered that the types of interactions weren't a bit more dynamic. For instance I'd try to drag items in my inventory onto NPCs in what I felt was an intuitive way of advancing the story, but this didn't do anything. So in a certain way the conventions of this genre were executed very faithfully and in other ways it slightly misses the mark.
The main selling point is the inventive, unique, and compelling art direction. The combination of hand-drawn/painted visuals with trippy screen effects that give the scenery a soupy, alive, and constantly eerie feel is highly effective and suits the tone of the overall mystery incredibly well. I'd love to see what this studio/group is making next.