"Listen, at last, to what has always existed and was never there, and seek until your last breath ━ the impossible pathway."

Delve into an atmospheric world of Etherborn, a puzzle platformer, that focuses on the aspects of ever changing gravity. You play as a voiceless being that was just recently born into this world, where a bodiless voice guides your journey forward. The game feels like a dream, the ever changing gravity with the structures is mesmerizing and disorienting at times, you scratch your head many times when trying to find these orbs that get you forward, but the puzzles are not too difficult that it would hinder the progress.

The low-poly graphical style of this game doesn't take away from the atmosphere of the game at all. It actually enhances it! The way the fog around the platforms and the god rays that shine through the bars add to the look of the game is absolutely fantastic!

I had a bunch of fun playing through the game for one time, but adding the new game plus was kind of annoying. Sure it was different since the orbs were harder to find, but the game doesn't have any choices or different endings, so adding a ng+ seems a little weird.

Even so, I think the game is very good indie game and well worth the playtime. I don't think it should be as expensive as it currently is, so if you plan on getting it, just wait for a sale. Otherwise, 100% recommended!

'A Puzzler With A Different "Perspective"'

Etherborn is a type of game that I would label a "perspective puzzler" due to the player's interaction with changing the layout of the environment in order to traverse or complete tasks. By running up a curved/ramp-like section of wall, the player shifts the gravity to be wherever the character's feet are placed. While a simple formula, I feel that this game achieved a lot with its short length.

The visuals are very soothing and meditative with a variety of colors. The environments are simple so that points of interest and pathways can be identified easily. The game is a mixture of a dream-state and spiritual experience, and the calming soundtrack really helps to tie it all together. My god, this soundtrack is fantastic. There are some subtle melodies that allow for ambiance as you traverse each level, and there are some powerful crescendos that culminate in some moving moments of artistic flair. This is impressive considering the incredibly vague story.

The "story" is little more than a strangely vague commentary of humans and spirituality in relation to a "higher plane / level of existence". It is told in a confusing way, which is strange because it is really just a simple thought-piece rather than a structured plot. I did not enjoy the story very much, though the tone was definitely set for the trippy, mellow visuals and warped perspectives found throughout the game's puzzle sequences.

Puzzles are at a great difficulty pace. There are some obvious tutorial sections meant to introduce the player to the mechanics, but there is a nice and steady difficulty increase throughout the game's half dozen or so levels. Paths became more complex, and it felt like I had to work to complete some puzzles. They never got too frustrating, which is very impressive considering I tend to become impatient with puzzle games in general, and I enjoyed the pace the game moved at.

Despite my enjoyment of this title, I do wish the story was more fleshed out, and I do wish there was a bit more variety with puzzles. This may be due to the length of the game, which was only a bit over an hour (maybe hour and a half). While it was good as a bite-sized title, it needed more content in order to expand on the ideas introduced.

Overall, I enjoyed Etherborn more than I expected. The art and music are a great combination that provides a meditation-inspired journey, and the puzzles are a good challenge. The length is too short though, and the story and variety of puzzles ends up being stagnated because of this. I would [/b] Recommend [/b] this one to fans of puzzle games that make you play with gravity and perspective, and for those who would enjoy a meditative experience with simple visuals and a great soundtrack.

Final Verdict: 7/10 (Good)

I wrote a really long and detailed review on this game, and then Steam blocked me from posting it for some reason. I still have it, actually. I'm gonna copy/paste it here.

I can't lie - I bought this because I like Gravity Rush.
But that detail aside, I also love puzzle games. And this sure is one. Etherborn is a very short game, it has only [spoiler] 4 levels [/spoiler], about 2 hours of gameplay (for the first playthrough) if you play through it at my leisurely pace; and a very... iffy story. If you asked me how I felt about the story, well... I'll tell you when I can make sense of it.
After every level, the narrator spits a few lines of exposition at you, most of which don't make much comprehensive sense. Something something humanity.. Something something fragility... I love a game about humanity and philosophy as much as, or probably more than, the next guy, but I couldn't comprehend this game's narrative for the life of me. Most of it is just surface level gibberish, it seems.

Thankfully I don't think this game is here to tell a life-changing story. The focus is much more on the puzzling. However this too, runs into problems. Multiple times in the puzzling I felt as though things were over complicated, and not in the way that puzzles are meant to be. This is particularly in the 3rd level, where you're liable to spend more time walking to the desired spots in the puzzle than figuring it out. Other annoyances include things like ledges being just too short to jump up to, forcing you to take a longer route to your desired location (Note that shortening the ledge would not damage the intended solution of the puzzle)

When they say 'New Game +', what they mean is 'we're turning the puzzle game into an easter egg hunt, shove your face into all the bushes, have fun!' This feels lazy. While I was originally thrilled at the concept of a puzzle game having an NG+ mode showcasing and making me find alternate solutions to old puzzles, the reality is that the only difference is the placement of the puzzle nodes, most of which feel either lazy or cheap.
Quick pros:
+Having a reticle indicating where the player will land is helpful, and a rare feature in platformers.
+New Game + in a puzzle game is a wonderful concept that I'd love to see more, even if I do think it underperformed here.
+Music is diverse by level, and even changes with the puzzle
+Some of the puzzle solutions in the base game are quite fun and inventive, makes you feel clever for finding the right path (or in some cases, FINALLY passing that barrier puzzle that took you what felt like ages)

Quick cons:
-Not having control over the camera can be very frustrating at times, since it could've saved me a lot of search time (NG+ actually capitalizes on your inability to control where you look at times)
-Cutscene skipping is inconsistent, and choosy with what you can and cannot skip.
-Having fall damage in a game like this seems like a very strange choice, especially since so many of the puzzles involve falling
-Dying on a ledge results in a soft lock that requires you to exit to the hub to fix.
-Gameplay oriented cutscenes (things like bridges being activated or level bits spawning/changing) get extremely repetitive, and frustrating on repeated attempts at puzzles. Having to sit frozen while watching these is no fun.

Overall, this is not a bad game at all, for as much as it annoyed me at times. I generally enjoyed my time with the puzzles, and learned to ignore the bizarre story beats whenever they came up. Despite its flaws, Etherborn does deliver on interesting game mechanics are visually appealing level design and aesthetics. I would give this game a C+, a good product. Check it out if the trailers look interesting.

Very fun little game. Striking visuals, great soundtrack, and fun puzzles. It never got too difficult but never felt too easy, which can be a very tricky thing to balance with puzzle games. One note though, is that it recommends playing on a controller and I'd strongly second that. Keyboard controls are serviceable but controller feels significantly better.

The New Game + playthrough is an interesting thing for a puzzle game to have but because most of the puzzle elements of the game are seeing an spot and trying to figure out how to get there, they're able to move the orbs around and make sort-of remixes of the puzzles without having to alter level geometry at all. I think some of the orbs have been moved to silly positions (like hiding them in a bush so you can't see it at all) but for the most part it's a fun addition if you want to play the game for another hour or so.