"Would you agree that true art has the power to be terrorism?"

I was reluctant, going into this. My only prior experience with Simogo is with Sayonara Wild Hearts, which ultimately became quite honestly my favorite indie game ever made. But if a soundtrack-driven arcade title from the team could drive me to that love, could they do the same for a puzzle game?
Shockingly enough... Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is a video game unlike anything I've ever experienced before.

Do you remember the maze?

Many will throw in comparisons to Silent Hill or even Signalis, but this is quite different in a way that there exists a sense of terror without action itself. To cut it short, Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is one massive escape room; a colossal set of placed pieces that can take roughly 10-15 hours to solve, especially with a notebook by your side. (Shoutout to Simogo and Annapurna for offering a companion notebook on their official store, which I filled out thoroughly during my playthrough.)
The red-splattered monochrome art direction, with text exclusively printed atop a black screen in a silent film effect, is an incredible aesthetic, alongside the game's satisfying audio design and haptic feedback. One moment I'm in fear of suited men with neon maze heads chasing me, another moment I'm faced with a pointed gun testing my memory and threatening me with a "GAME OVER", and in another moment, my heart was filled with joy, hearing Linnea Olsen from Sayonara Wild Hearts returning for some more tracks. I often saved my game progress too, for the sole purpose of hearing the superb little noises replicated by the computer. And to not spoil much, the experience offers more than just the traditional third-person, fixed-camera adventure game design, most of even which fit understandably well narratively, once the full picture comes into focus.
But even alongside all of that, what I found absolutely phenomenal about this puzzle game is its attention-to-detail. I didn't run into a single puzzle that felt too tedious or too simple; most of the solutions facing me directly in front of my LASER eyes, mocking me with some of their hypnotic designs. You can tell everything from hand-crafted, with many puzzles involving full assets that are interactive to allow for many possibilities. Even smaller unnecessary details just felt right in the world here; not just a set of tampons taking up a slot in your inventory with no use other than just to be there, but an optional coffee cup that allows the player to temporarily move at a quicker pace. Nearly every object I encountered along my way, even the most minuscule memories collected, had purpose, and that's quite a spectacle for a small indie title of this scope.

DO YOU REMEMBER THE MAZE?

I was also quite grateful for the accessibility and quality-of-life features here, as well. Although a notebook will absolutely help you organize your thoughts easier, the game is totally playable without one; nearly every piece interacted with will be automatically be logged with your LASER eyes, allowing you to access anything with some simple keystrokes. Speaking of which though, and I know a handful aren't too fond of this, Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is playable with a single stick and single button. (I, myself, found it satisfying to play with just my right hand; my thumb on the stick and a finger on the trigger button.) The only thing being sacrificed with this choice is some swiftness in menu navigation, lacking any form of input to move backwards. While I was baffled by this choice as well, I immediately recalled Sayonara Wild Hearts utilizing a similar simplistic control scheme, and therefore it grew on me.

ĐØ ɎØɄ ⱤɆ₥Ɇ₥฿ɆⱤ ₮ⱧɆ ₥₳ⱫɆ?

I almost didn't give Lorelei and the Laser Eyes a perfect score, to be honest. Within its opening hours, I became overwhelmed by the hundreds of pieces thrown my way, often times losing my path and fearing that I may never truly see this mystery to its end. But as I progressed, unlocking the unsettling truths of the artistry presented to you and ultimately finding a domino effect of pieces falling in place, I couldn't help but feel a sense of euphoria from the rewards reaped within, lined and graced with hypnotic setpieces, great audio design, and a haunting aesthetic. Needless to say, Simogo is now 2-0 in my book.


D̵̢̥͙̰͚̻͉̥̘̠̬͇͕̠̂͗͂̾̔̽̇́͘̚͠͝O̶̳͐͊̊̈́ ̷̮͕͙̪̮̄̔̅̌̊͝Ỳ̸̱̺̒O̸̝̪̓͠U̵̧̗̩̜̥̬̖̝͊̊̇͝ ̸̫̮̲̰̯̌̄̅̊̔̃͗̂͘R̵͔͕̫̰̻̝̻͖͉͔̦͈̆͐̄͂̒̕͠͠E̴̡̛̖͚̥̦̯͌̀̔̓͋̇̅̀̄̃̍͘M̷̛͚͚͖͐̊͗̈́̔̆̅̍́͐É̶̘̹͗͗̅ͅM̴̢̗͔͕̕͝B̵̛̭̻̬̩͕̟̲̰̄̓̄̔͊̈́̌͠E̴̡͔̗̺͖͇̯͚̺̜̜͈̬̙̜̎͛̄̂̏̀̕̚R̷̢̢̡̝̲̬͉̭͚͖͖̙̅̂̕͝ ̶̢̛̬̯̣̠̲̅̌͊͆̊̑̇͊̊͂̄̿̆͝T̶̡͙͓̲̦̳̭̞͑̌̑̅̓͐͂̎H̷̭̫͔̯͉͔͖̝̗̫̖̖͉͔̤̒Ē̸̠̋̾̾̂̎͛ ̵̳͈͔͚̊̌̃͗M̴̳͎͆͌̉͛̍̏͘Á̸̧̧͔͓̹̞͙̟͍͓̿̇͜ͅẐ̷̡͎͖̤̲̥̹͇̜̥̳̟͖̭̈̅̓̃́̅͑͜͠Ē̸͇̜̭̗͉̝͚̜̠͜?̶̨̧͇̙̭͚̺̳̻̟̪͇̆͑̆̈̅̂͗̿̋͑̊́̓͛͠ͅ


Clearly with its scope, I can't recommend this experience to everyone. (In fact, I say this as someone who didn't use any guides for help at all, mainly because most journalists aren't covering the game and there are barely any solutions online anywhere.) But for those searching for the next masterfully-designed, notebook-recommended brain-fucker, please do yourself a favor and visit the Hotel Letztes Jahre today.

Truth recovery: 96.5%