An incredibly gorgeous and atmospheric title.
This game is essentially a walking simulator disguised as an exploration puzzle game and takes place over the course over several small short stories.
The stories themselves are ok at best, they’re simple and relatively straightforward without much thematic connection or complexity but what I really enjoy this game for is its phenomenal art direction and sound design.
It’s incredibly clear just looking at the game that it did not have the highest budget nor did many people work on it. The models are relatively low quality with stiff animations, and occasionally characters actually start clipping through their clothes and the objects near them in animations. What makes this game a visual treat is really the phenomenal lighting and color palettes utilized in the various chapters. The lighting mostly uses standard fuzzy glows but makes it look particularly beautiful is its contrast against the mostly darker colored environments and player character. Because of the darker areas the lighting glows and pops out more. Sunbeams and moonlight function mostly the same except when interacting with liquids, which start to shine in contact. When combining these aspects you have some visuals I really love; a spiral staircase being illuminated from light above as glowing rose petals fall to the ground; blood positively sparkling under the moonlight reflected by a twilight blue greenhouse; a spotless white sanitorium illuminated from windows to the courtyard, silent bar your footsteps and the chirps of birds outdoors; a forest enveloped in a dark fog illuminated only by the glow of cyan butterflies; the game is full of locations like this and these are only a few of my favorites.
The sound design is also great and adds a fair amount to the experience. The OST is mostly ambient tracks played by the piano and typically has a gentle, occasionally somber feel to it. The sound effects are more pronounced and add a fair amount; the drip-drop of blood falling off a table from an overturned teacup; the bustling of curtains in the wind; the pitter-patter of fish out of water; playing the game without sound would remove so much of it.
So yeah, it’s a pretty neat game. If you care at all about either dark or joyous atmospheres in games without much else substance present, then I think you’d enjoy it.
This game is essentially a walking simulator disguised as an exploration puzzle game and takes place over the course over several small short stories.
The stories themselves are ok at best, they’re simple and relatively straightforward without much thematic connection or complexity but what I really enjoy this game for is its phenomenal art direction and sound design.
It’s incredibly clear just looking at the game that it did not have the highest budget nor did many people work on it. The models are relatively low quality with stiff animations, and occasionally characters actually start clipping through their clothes and the objects near them in animations. What makes this game a visual treat is really the phenomenal lighting and color palettes utilized in the various chapters. The lighting mostly uses standard fuzzy glows but makes it look particularly beautiful is its contrast against the mostly darker colored environments and player character. Because of the darker areas the lighting glows and pops out more. Sunbeams and moonlight function mostly the same except when interacting with liquids, which start to shine in contact. When combining these aspects you have some visuals I really love; a spiral staircase being illuminated from light above as glowing rose petals fall to the ground; blood positively sparkling under the moonlight reflected by a twilight blue greenhouse; a spotless white sanitorium illuminated from windows to the courtyard, silent bar your footsteps and the chirps of birds outdoors; a forest enveloped in a dark fog illuminated only by the glow of cyan butterflies; the game is full of locations like this and these are only a few of my favorites.
The sound design is also great and adds a fair amount to the experience. The OST is mostly ambient tracks played by the piano and typically has a gentle, occasionally somber feel to it. The sound effects are more pronounced and add a fair amount; the drip-drop of blood falling off a table from an overturned teacup; the bustling of curtains in the wind; the pitter-patter of fish out of water; playing the game without sound would remove so much of it.
So yeah, it’s a pretty neat game. If you care at all about either dark or joyous atmospheres in games without much else substance present, then I think you’d enjoy it.