I'm going to start by simply saying this game is incredible and should be played.
uncritically: Figment is fun, inventive, charming, and enjoyable for its entire runtime. Clearly made with love and passion by some cool folks, and feels as though it specifically appeals to tryhard casuals like myself.
that said, I have some critical notes both positive and negative. If you're remotely interested in this game, please go play it and don't bother reading on. If you're a dev, the dev of this game, or a fellow asshat, please read onward.
The good:
-The games visuals and sound design are great, evoking a minimalist yet inspired take on the inner workings on a human mind. Not as all-out psychedelic as a psychonauts, but certainly on the right track.
-The musical numbers are charming.
-The writing is surprisingly deep and had me grinning to myself repeatedly for its interesting discourse on psychology and emotions. I suspect this game was written by folks who knew their stuff and/or did their research.
-The gameplay is satisfying if somewhat shallow, but frankly that works for it IMO. Not every game needs to be For Honor, the minimalist hack and slash combat works well and has enough depth to sustain the runtime.
-Puzzles are clever and engaging, I actually had to pay attention to solve them.
-The boss fights are satisfying and just challenging enough for the overall vibe of the game.
The mixed:
-Some of the writing is a little contentious. I would never fault a game for taking a political stance I disagree with, I only fault them for being intolerant about it (ie BioShock) This game walks the line a few times in good spirits, I wouldn't say they shouldn't have done, I'd instead question who the target audience is and weather the situations and ideas posed (and posed right in the open) are a strong choice.
The game poses some head-scratchers about politics that I'm not sure it absolutely needed. Again, only calling this mixed.
-the target audience: on the prior note and to be less cagey about it, some of the topics described, political and just in general, are kinda heavy. Like the game covers topics about morals, values, politics, and the validity of life choices. Most of the plot is about suppressing emotional responses. It's hard stuff for some people to understand and appreciate. I enjoyed 99.9% of the mature content but this game is a colorful musical, casual beat-em-up... was this, supposed to be for kids??? it's too hard and too heavy for young kids, too casual and twee for serious gamers. I guess the target audience is Nintendo adults. Just something the devs should really think about I guess.
-The Sound design could use some work, and sadly this is one of those costly realities. There's no real way to subvert the cost of quality virtual instruments (or real orchestras) and it's noticeable to my partially trained ear.
The bad:
-the voice acting, it's borderline intolerable. Some characters are better than others, and the actual mic quality sounds inconsistent. Another problem that's really hard to actually fix.
I wish I had more constructive things to say honestly. the reality is that this games biggest drawbacks were strictly budgetary in nature (a problem most devs have zero control over.)
Which is why I refuse to fault it. The game is excellent for what it is, and makes me want what it could be if this team were more successful.
Which is why I'll be keeping an eye on this team with great excitement for their future output.
uncritically: Figment is fun, inventive, charming, and enjoyable for its entire runtime. Clearly made with love and passion by some cool folks, and feels as though it specifically appeals to tryhard casuals like myself.
that said, I have some critical notes both positive and negative. If you're remotely interested in this game, please go play it and don't bother reading on. If you're a dev, the dev of this game, or a fellow asshat, please read onward.
The good:
-The games visuals and sound design are great, evoking a minimalist yet inspired take on the inner workings on a human mind. Not as all-out psychedelic as a psychonauts, but certainly on the right track.
-The musical numbers are charming.
-The writing is surprisingly deep and had me grinning to myself repeatedly for its interesting discourse on psychology and emotions. I suspect this game was written by folks who knew their stuff and/or did their research.
-The gameplay is satisfying if somewhat shallow, but frankly that works for it IMO. Not every game needs to be For Honor, the minimalist hack and slash combat works well and has enough depth to sustain the runtime.
-Puzzles are clever and engaging, I actually had to pay attention to solve them.
-The boss fights are satisfying and just challenging enough for the overall vibe of the game.
The mixed:
-Some of the writing is a little contentious. I would never fault a game for taking a political stance I disagree with, I only fault them for being intolerant about it (ie BioShock) This game walks the line a few times in good spirits, I wouldn't say they shouldn't have done, I'd instead question who the target audience is and weather the situations and ideas posed (and posed right in the open) are a strong choice.
The game poses some head-scratchers about politics that I'm not sure it absolutely needed. Again, only calling this mixed.
-the target audience: on the prior note and to be less cagey about it, some of the topics described, political and just in general, are kinda heavy. Like the game covers topics about morals, values, politics, and the validity of life choices. Most of the plot is about suppressing emotional responses. It's hard stuff for some people to understand and appreciate. I enjoyed 99.9% of the mature content but this game is a colorful musical, casual beat-em-up... was this, supposed to be for kids??? it's too hard and too heavy for young kids, too casual and twee for serious gamers. I guess the target audience is Nintendo adults. Just something the devs should really think about I guess.
-The Sound design could use some work, and sadly this is one of those costly realities. There's no real way to subvert the cost of quality virtual instruments (or real orchestras) and it's noticeable to my partially trained ear.
The bad:
-the voice acting, it's borderline intolerable. Some characters are better than others, and the actual mic quality sounds inconsistent. Another problem that's really hard to actually fix.
I wish I had more constructive things to say honestly. the reality is that this games biggest drawbacks were strictly budgetary in nature (a problem most devs have zero control over.)
Which is why I refuse to fault it. The game is excellent for what it is, and makes me want what it could be if this team were more successful.
Which is why I'll be keeping an eye on this team with great excitement for their future output.
Muito bom!
An improvement over the first but a half-step forward at best. Voice acting is better, still rough at times. Combat and gameplay has improved but is still not great. The game has flashes but ultimately, there are just so many better games in a similar vein that are worth your time over Figment.
+ It's hard to try to be a grouch when the game starts singing at you.
- The most dull interperatation of a game taking place in someone's mind I've seen.
- The most dull interperatation of a game taking place in someone's mind I've seen.
+ História
+ Trilha Sonora
___________________________________________
- Diálogos Inescapáveis
- Falta de Variedade de Inimigos
- Muitos Bugs
- Player 2 subaproveitado
+ Trilha Sonora
___________________________________________
- Diálogos Inescapáveis
- Falta de Variedade de Inimigos
- Muitos Bugs
- Player 2 subaproveitado
Cute story, light game that, as always, I would never have tried without the Game Pass
Eu nunca joguei o primeiro, mas a diversão que senti no segundo me deu até uma vontade de ficar de olho em uma promoção, é um jogo com bons puzzles, trilha sonora e combate sólido apesar de simples
é uma história bem bacana embora eu não goste muito da execução, o ponto central no entanto é algo que me alegra bastante, não mande embora, tampouco prenda a criança no seu interior, dance como o idiota que você é
é uma história bem bacana embora eu não goste muito da execução, o ponto central no entanto é algo que me alegra bastante, não mande embora, tampouco prenda a criança no seu interior, dance como o idiota que você é
I played this for maybe 10 minutes or so, so it wouldn't be fair to give it a rating, but it does not make a good first impression; the protagonist walks at an excruciatingly slow speed, and the voice acting for the protagonist and his sidekick is frankly insufferable (it'd be fine for a game aimed at preschoolers, but definitely not for an ostensibly all-ages game like this). Given that I didn't like the original Figment either, safe to say that this isn't for me.
I've killed two of the aliens, and that's it. The first two installments I loved, but I think this series has become stagnant in this installment and is no longer as innovative as before. Repetitive and clunky combat. The 'open world' itself didn't work in the first installment, and now they give it more importance… Poor design decisions everywhere. Still, the art remains very cool, tacky but stylish. And character design is great as always. It's a pity.
Buen juego donde los puzzles, combate y música se combinan y dan algo lo suficientemente sencillo como para que lo juegue un niño, pero que sea entretenido para un adulto. Además, tiene un mensaje poderoso y una boss final curiosa. Lo único malo para mi es lo simple de dicho combate y sobre todo lo exageradamente lento que se mueve el personaje.
Que jogo bonitinho meudeus
As músicas, as Opiniões, a mecânica do jogo, os conceitos, achei tudo genial!
Diferente de tudo que joguei antes.
Quero muito jogar o primeiro.
As músicas, as Opiniões, a mecânica do jogo, os conceitos, achei tudo genial!
Diferente de tudo que joguei antes.
Quero muito jogar o primeiro.
Divertido, musicas legais e tals.
jogo infantil com mensagem meio adulta, mitada
jogo infantil com mensagem meio adulta, mitada
I’ve played Figment 1 prior to this. The faults are still fresh on my mind. They were:
-Stiff controls & fight mechanics with no depth
-Problems with animation on high FPS
-Backtracking
Pretty much all those problems got taken care of. The controls are far more responsive and feel better. It’s still not deep and is mostly swinging your sword and dodging. The charge attack is gone but you get one small combo in return. You also don’t level up by collecting grey orbs anymore (the XP in Figment 1). This means your health won’t increase. Instead of making the battle system deeper, the dev went with making the fights more challenging and needing to figure out enemy patterns or how to deal with multiple enemies. You also have less health scattered around or you need them more at least. This makes the fights more engaging even though they’re still simple. So thumbs up! Piper had weird animation on high FPS and there were still some weird instances on 60fps. It’s pretty much a none issue with 2. Maybe there are some very minor rare instances but you have to look really hard to spot them. I was very happy playing on 165fps. As for backtracking, instead of having to go through multiple areas to reach your destination, there’s now a list you can select where you want to go. That’s just perfect.
So are there some flaws? Yes, one real flaw and the second one depends on whether you like this big change or not. Figment 2 is quite buggy. Nothing really game breaking but it does affect immersion when the game is so magical and you want to get lost in its world. I have 3 distinct ones. Sometimes the green health orb doesn’t heal your last health but it follows you around instead. This fixes itself after loading a new area. Second one is reaching one place where if you walk too soon while a dialogue is going, the camera doesn’t move where you’re supposed to go, blocking you from progressing. You can reload the last checkpoint (which is seconds away), be a bit more patient and done! Third one is weird. I loaded my save the next day and the characters were suddenly talking and you keep running until you can’t anymore. For this you need to delete the save of that level and start that level from the beginning. It’s not a long one, so it’s not as bad as it sounds. There are some other minor visual bugs and that’s about it. I hope they’ll get fixed to give an amazing first experience but you don’t need to wait for a fix to play the game. It’s just for extra polish and immersion. I’ll update this if a patch releases.
So the big change, I’m talking about the game’s focus. Figment 1 was far more about puzzles and less about fights. This has been reversed with 2. There are still some puzzles, but they’re easier and they don’t keep you long in one area. However, the ethics maze level is very focused on puzzles. So it’s an outlier for the fans of 1. Collecting the remembranes also required some creativity before, kind of like mini puzzles to get them. Now you just need a sharp eye to spot them.
There is also one big improvement. The cutscenes are better compared to 1. The remembranes now also have voice acting and you can view them whenever you feel like it from the menu instead of backtracking to one town.
In terms of length, it’s a bit complicated. The game is shorter but there is no backtracking that extended the play time like with 1. Figment 1 took me 8 hours to do everything except for a few silly achievements. Figment 2 took me less than 5 hours and I came back to 100% the rest in 6.5 hours. Well kind of, I missed some remembranes in one area even after my proper second run. I’m planning on doing this a third time but that’s on me. If you’re very skilled with spotting things, then you might get everything done the first time. The achievements are also easier to get and some are just plain cute. I’m only missing the last one which is collecting everything. I prefer spending less hours on a game instead of backtracking and given the illusion the game is longer. So I’m happy with this. I did get the game on sale though. At €15 or less, I’d say the game is definitely worth it. At €25, it might be a hard sell with the amount of hours you get. But if you’re rich and don’t care, then just get it.
Figment 2 is special. You can tell it’s made with care and love. The devs truly gave it their all. It’s evident that it looks dreamy and sounds fantastic. Whether it’s the songs or the distinct voice acting. The areas are also more varied in terms of assets compared to 1. While 1 might be ‘longer’, it also re-used its assets more often. There is also some unexpected variety with the gameplay. I’m not going to spoil too much on that. The game is definitely worth experiencing. If the bugs get patched, then I’ll definitely score it higher!
I really enjoyed my time with Figment 1. It made me love the world that it created but there were also some frustrating moments near the end. I’m not sure if those moments were frustrating for not being skilled enough or they could have been designed better. You don’t have that with 2. It just puts a smile on my face the entire time. It also continues on building more of that world. I absolutely love Jester, the new character. I hope we’ll get Figment 3 one day.
-Stiff controls & fight mechanics with no depth
-Problems with animation on high FPS
-Backtracking
Pretty much all those problems got taken care of. The controls are far more responsive and feel better. It’s still not deep and is mostly swinging your sword and dodging. The charge attack is gone but you get one small combo in return. You also don’t level up by collecting grey orbs anymore (the XP in Figment 1). This means your health won’t increase. Instead of making the battle system deeper, the dev went with making the fights more challenging and needing to figure out enemy patterns or how to deal with multiple enemies. You also have less health scattered around or you need them more at least. This makes the fights more engaging even though they’re still simple. So thumbs up! Piper had weird animation on high FPS and there were still some weird instances on 60fps. It’s pretty much a none issue with 2. Maybe there are some very minor rare instances but you have to look really hard to spot them. I was very happy playing on 165fps. As for backtracking, instead of having to go through multiple areas to reach your destination, there’s now a list you can select where you want to go. That’s just perfect.
So are there some flaws? Yes, one real flaw and the second one depends on whether you like this big change or not. Figment 2 is quite buggy. Nothing really game breaking but it does affect immersion when the game is so magical and you want to get lost in its world. I have 3 distinct ones. Sometimes the green health orb doesn’t heal your last health but it follows you around instead. This fixes itself after loading a new area. Second one is reaching one place where if you walk too soon while a dialogue is going, the camera doesn’t move where you’re supposed to go, blocking you from progressing. You can reload the last checkpoint (which is seconds away), be a bit more patient and done! Third one is weird. I loaded my save the next day and the characters were suddenly talking and you keep running until you can’t anymore. For this you need to delete the save of that level and start that level from the beginning. It’s not a long one, so it’s not as bad as it sounds. There are some other minor visual bugs and that’s about it. I hope they’ll get fixed to give an amazing first experience but you don’t need to wait for a fix to play the game. It’s just for extra polish and immersion. I’ll update this if a patch releases.
So the big change, I’m talking about the game’s focus. Figment 1 was far more about puzzles and less about fights. This has been reversed with 2. There are still some puzzles, but they’re easier and they don’t keep you long in one area. However, the ethics maze level is very focused on puzzles. So it’s an outlier for the fans of 1. Collecting the remembranes also required some creativity before, kind of like mini puzzles to get them. Now you just need a sharp eye to spot them.
There is also one big improvement. The cutscenes are better compared to 1. The remembranes now also have voice acting and you can view them whenever you feel like it from the menu instead of backtracking to one town.
In terms of length, it’s a bit complicated. The game is shorter but there is no backtracking that extended the play time like with 1. Figment 1 took me 8 hours to do everything except for a few silly achievements. Figment 2 took me less than 5 hours and I came back to 100% the rest in 6.5 hours. Well kind of, I missed some remembranes in one area even after my proper second run. I’m planning on doing this a third time but that’s on me. If you’re very skilled with spotting things, then you might get everything done the first time. The achievements are also easier to get and some are just plain cute. I’m only missing the last one which is collecting everything. I prefer spending less hours on a game instead of backtracking and given the illusion the game is longer. So I’m happy with this. I did get the game on sale though. At €15 or less, I’d say the game is definitely worth it. At €25, it might be a hard sell with the amount of hours you get. But if you’re rich and don’t care, then just get it.
Figment 2 is special. You can tell it’s made with care and love. The devs truly gave it their all. It’s evident that it looks dreamy and sounds fantastic. Whether it’s the songs or the distinct voice acting. The areas are also more varied in terms of assets compared to 1. While 1 might be ‘longer’, it also re-used its assets more often. There is also some unexpected variety with the gameplay. I’m not going to spoil too much on that. The game is definitely worth experiencing. If the bugs get patched, then I’ll definitely score it higher!
I really enjoyed my time with Figment 1. It made me love the world that it created but there were also some frustrating moments near the end. I’m not sure if those moments were frustrating for not being skilled enough or they could have been designed better. You don’t have that with 2. It just puts a smile on my face the entire time. It also continues on building more of that world. I absolutely love Jester, the new character. I hope we’ll get Figment 3 one day.
I must admit I never heard about the first game, but I saw this on Game Pass and gave it a shot and I ended up really liking it. The game takes place in the mind of a person. You play as Dusty, "the courage of the mind", and alongside the bird Piper (optimism of the mind), you run around solving puzzles and fighting enemies to clear up the mental hangups of a person in the real world.
It got some solid puzzles, even if they are a bit easy. The combat is simplistic but works fine. It comes up with good new ideas in every level, and I like the musical approach, as creatures and stuff in the environment will bust out in song once in a while. And it's surprisingly catchy. Reminded me of Parappa The Rapper.
It took me about 3 and a half hours to complete, I recommend it if you want a short and cool puzzle-adventure game. I'm actually a little surprised it's not getting more attention, as it's a well-made game that I think many would like.
It got some solid puzzles, even if they are a bit easy. The combat is simplistic but works fine. It comes up with good new ideas in every level, and I like the musical approach, as creatures and stuff in the environment will bust out in song once in a while. And it's surprisingly catchy. Reminded me of Parappa The Rapper.
It took me about 3 and a half hours to complete, I recommend it if you want a short and cool puzzle-adventure game. I'm actually a little surprised it's not getting more attention, as it's a well-made game that I think many would like.