Pros:
+ a tight, consciously designed experience
+ architecture feels eldritch and otherworldy
+ sceneries display incredible light/shadow design
+ environmental puzzles are varied and smartly designed
+ movement and animation systems are highly complex
+ sound design is one for the ages
+ ending sequence is a truely memorable WTF moment
Cons:
- how to progress is sometimes not obvious
- some cheap deaths cannot be avoided
- the story could have used a more definitive ending
- some of the plot elements do not seem to add up with the ending
Playtime: 2,5 hours with the standard ending and some hidden artifacts found.
Magic Moment: The final stretch and realizing how much work it must have taken to build that singular physics engine.
Verdict:
I have no idea what they put in the water at Playdate studios, but somehow, the managed to make lightning strike twice. After Limbo, which was a tightly constructed game in its own right, Inside doubles down on all the strengths of its predecessor: it combines the fluidity and simplicity of a 2D puzzle game with an assured audio-visual presentation of the highest order and offers it in the form of a tigh package that never overstays its welcome and surprises and vows at every new turn.
Even though one playthrough will be enough for most including me, one playthrough of Inside is mandatory for ever fan of the medium.
+ a tight, consciously designed experience
+ architecture feels eldritch and otherworldy
+ sceneries display incredible light/shadow design
+ environmental puzzles are varied and smartly designed
+ movement and animation systems are highly complex
+ sound design is one for the ages
+ ending sequence is a truely memorable WTF moment
Cons:
- how to progress is sometimes not obvious
- some cheap deaths cannot be avoided
- the story could have used a more definitive ending
- some of the plot elements do not seem to add up with the ending
Playtime: 2,5 hours with the standard ending and some hidden artifacts found.
Magic Moment: The final stretch and realizing how much work it must have taken to build that singular physics engine.
Verdict:
I have no idea what they put in the water at Playdate studios, but somehow, the managed to make lightning strike twice. After Limbo, which was a tightly constructed game in its own right, Inside doubles down on all the strengths of its predecessor: it combines the fluidity and simplicity of a 2D puzzle game with an assured audio-visual presentation of the highest order and offers it in the form of a tigh package that never overstays its welcome and surprises and vows at every new turn.
Even though one playthrough will be enough for most including me, one playthrough of Inside is mandatory for ever fan of the medium.