A fantastic visual experience, but it fails to reach the same level of Limbo and Inside. It seems that the split-up between Dino Patti and Arnt Jensen is, for now, detrimental for the final product. Or at least for the quality of Jumpship's work. Somerville has amazing visuals and sound design, but very simple and shallow puzzles, clunky controls, frequent bugs and glitches and it fails to bring a cohesive narration. Concepts like family, searching for your loved ones, surviving an apocalypse and protecting your family, are quickly discarded in the second half of the game. In their place we got a confusing turn of events for the sake of sci-fi spectacularity. And honestly, it fails in both conveying a meaningful and emotional message, and an epic sci-fi experience. Sometimes trying to do less it's better. Somerville is not a bad game by far, it's still a good experience that you can finish in under 4 hours in one continuous playthrough. But it's very noticeable that it just didn't manage to fill the shoes of Dino Patti's precedent works.

P.S. I don't know how, but my GPU melted playing this and my fans got almost at full speed, don't know if it's a optimization problem or not. Feels strange since it doesn't have outstanding graphics

A collaboration between UK film animator Chris Olsen and Playdead co-founder, Dino Patti, the sci-fi adventure title Somerville evokes the brooding, stripped back nature of the latter figure’s previous Limbo and Inside.

Comparison to Playdead’s titles out of the way, Somerville handles a more ambitious, but genre-classic, premise of an alien invasion from the perspective of an unsuspecting suburban family. Absent of dialogue or any clear exposition, the playable father character swiftly navigates through his crumbling hometown in the dusky hours, avoiding and tackling an advanced alien species responsive to light. This makes way for some interesting light-based puzzles, involving terrain you can manipulate between liquid and solid states, as well as some familiar spotlight stealth segments.

Whilst the movement of the character is realistic against the rough terrain, adhering to a steady, dramatic pacing, it can sometimes feel like a real slog compared to similar adventure titles. It feels less like a cinematic journey and more like driving a vehicle through the mud. There are a few rushes of tension scattered throughout here, but for the most part the broad sci-fi premise needed punchier gameplay.
Regardless of which one you get, the ending is mostly abrupt and unsatisfying, especially with a final puzzle that is confusing at best. It’s the sort of key-moment that aspires to the ecstatic heights of that scene from Close Encounters of the Third Kind but the success criteria of said puzzle is distractingly unclear.

Whilst it can be ultimately underwhelming, it’s a game that somewhat scratches the itch left by Playdead’s masterpieces, although far from one itself. As the moody, short sci-fi adventure one would expect, it’s perfectly enjoyable.

I was excited to play this game when I first saw the trailer cause the art style really caught my eye as well as the plot.

What I got was a game I can walk away from and say was good. Gameplay wise its nothing special, its extremely simple puzzle stuff, but its not bad by any means.

The game makes up for this with its story telling, style, and characters though. Everyone is pretty simple but I liked the interactions the Prince & Princess had with each other, was very cute and or funny.

That ending is pretty bittersweet though.

This game is worth it if you want something short, simple, and cozy. Though, I'd wait for a sale, $20 is a bit too much for it imho.