Let's talk about expectations.
This is Picross, or nonograms, or whatever you know them by. No new mechanics, a bit of tutorialization to ease in the new players who were drawn in by the wrapping over the package. The puzzles themselves are nothing too difficult, graduating to a fairly consistent 15x15 about halfway through and rarely deviating from the standard hook and loop patterns. You get your big 15x20 right at the end, but it's a cheap one and is really just a 15x15 in disguise. So, not too tough, very few advanced techniques called for (and rarely so), no speculative build outs and no need to ever touch the hint system. Which isn't to say it's poorly done. At the end of the day it's Picross, and it's a good time with a few puzzles that let veterans stretch their legs a bit and some solves that are just plain fun patterns to carve out.
Got that? Okay. The rest. If you're here for Ace Attorney, you can go ahead and turn right back around. The inspiration is on the sleeve, the music is on point, but you're just not going to get the same complexity. And the truth? That's a good thing. You're not just tapping/clicking away to find clues and then carting them along. You're stopping every few minutes or so to do 5-15 minutes worth of puzzle solving. Which is fine, the puzzles are the core mechanic, but that stop-and-go nature would thoroughly undermine any detailed deductions. The mysteries are less about being solved and more about enjoying the ride, while the characters are more straightforward than those of the inspiring source. Overall? Chill, easygoing. No incredible twists here, just colorful characters and a novel framing device to get you back to the puzzles.
So, do you want jazzed up Picross? Come get your jazzed up Picross. The minor issues - music tracks being per puzzle instead of on a playlist, the way the mark tool works, missable puzzles - are easy enough to brush off, and the game does a shockingly good job of touching on some of the rarer aspects of queer representation. Personal shout out to the quietly non-binary character whose gender identity is never explicitly addressed, who was shown to and loved by all the enbies in my circle.
This is Picross, or nonograms, or whatever you know them by. No new mechanics, a bit of tutorialization to ease in the new players who were drawn in by the wrapping over the package. The puzzles themselves are nothing too difficult, graduating to a fairly consistent 15x15 about halfway through and rarely deviating from the standard hook and loop patterns. You get your big 15x20 right at the end, but it's a cheap one and is really just a 15x15 in disguise. So, not too tough, very few advanced techniques called for (and rarely so), no speculative build outs and no need to ever touch the hint system. Which isn't to say it's poorly done. At the end of the day it's Picross, and it's a good time with a few puzzles that let veterans stretch their legs a bit and some solves that are just plain fun patterns to carve out.
Got that? Okay. The rest. If you're here for Ace Attorney, you can go ahead and turn right back around. The inspiration is on the sleeve, the music is on point, but you're just not going to get the same complexity. And the truth? That's a good thing. You're not just tapping/clicking away to find clues and then carting them along. You're stopping every few minutes or so to do 5-15 minutes worth of puzzle solving. Which is fine, the puzzles are the core mechanic, but that stop-and-go nature would thoroughly undermine any detailed deductions. The mysteries are less about being solved and more about enjoying the ride, while the characters are more straightforward than those of the inspiring source. Overall? Chill, easygoing. No incredible twists here, just colorful characters and a novel framing device to get you back to the puzzles.
So, do you want jazzed up Picross? Come get your jazzed up Picross. The minor issues - music tracks being per puzzle instead of on a playlist, the way the mark tool works, missable puzzles - are easy enough to brush off, and the game does a shockingly good job of touching on some of the rarer aspects of queer representation. Personal shout out to the quietly non-binary character whose gender identity is never explicitly addressed, who was shown to and loved by all the enbies in my circle.
electrode
8 months ago