Sights & Sounds
- Hope you like cool gray tones
- The pixel art is pretty good. In spite of the spooky overtones, the characters look fairly cartoonish. It actually clashes in an interesting way with the incredibly grim subject matter
- Contrary to the simplistic presentation, the game manages to be impressively cinematic
- The music follows the color palette. Lots of somber piano music and ambient sounds back the majority of the game's action and cutscenes
Story & Vibes
- Because this is a narrative-driven game, it wouldn't be helpful to give away too much of the story. In vague terms, you alternate playing between as a young girl and a middle aged man and learn about their shared history
- There's a lot of dark themes in the game. Bullying, mental illness, and death all factor heavily into the story. It's a pretty good thriller, though
- There's a quasi-hopeful shift in the ending, but it doesn't land quite right. There's some wisdom in the game's final message; however, it's presented in a sort of platitudinous way
- The way the game exposition dumps in the final cutscenes is a little conflicting. On one hand, it's nice that it wraps up some loose ends. On the other, it re-explains some plot points that are already heavily hinted at. It's a little patronizing
Playability & Replayability
- At it's core, the game is a puzzle platformer. You'll avoid obstacles, trigger switches and elevators, move objects around, and flee from the occasional scary monster
- When you're playing as the man, the game largely focuses on jumping and door puzzles. There's also a collectathon element where you can gather crystals to hear more of the game's lore (I actually forgot about this until near the end of the game and never went back to do it)
- When you're playing as the young girl, your jump height is much lower. Her puzzles are centered more around searching and stacking boxes to access higher areas
Overall Impressions & Performance
- I went in blind and still felt just a little bit let down. The story and art are big plusses, but the puzzles were just okay. It doesn't overstay its welcome though, clocking in at a tight 2-4 hours
- Excellent game on to play on the Steam Deck. I just played it on my couch, but it would be a great title to play on a flight
Final Verdict
- 6.5/10. A spooky, bloody story worthy of being heard, but not the most interesting puzzle platformer in terms of gameplay
- Hope you like cool gray tones
- The pixel art is pretty good. In spite of the spooky overtones, the characters look fairly cartoonish. It actually clashes in an interesting way with the incredibly grim subject matter
- Contrary to the simplistic presentation, the game manages to be impressively cinematic
- The music follows the color palette. Lots of somber piano music and ambient sounds back the majority of the game's action and cutscenes
Story & Vibes
- Because this is a narrative-driven game, it wouldn't be helpful to give away too much of the story. In vague terms, you alternate playing between as a young girl and a middle aged man and learn about their shared history
- There's a lot of dark themes in the game. Bullying, mental illness, and death all factor heavily into the story. It's a pretty good thriller, though
- There's a quasi-hopeful shift in the ending, but it doesn't land quite right. There's some wisdom in the game's final message; however, it's presented in a sort of platitudinous way
- The way the game exposition dumps in the final cutscenes is a little conflicting. On one hand, it's nice that it wraps up some loose ends. On the other, it re-explains some plot points that are already heavily hinted at. It's a little patronizing
Playability & Replayability
- At it's core, the game is a puzzle platformer. You'll avoid obstacles, trigger switches and elevators, move objects around, and flee from the occasional scary monster
- When you're playing as the man, the game largely focuses on jumping and door puzzles. There's also a collectathon element where you can gather crystals to hear more of the game's lore (I actually forgot about this until near the end of the game and never went back to do it)
- When you're playing as the young girl, your jump height is much lower. Her puzzles are centered more around searching and stacking boxes to access higher areas
Overall Impressions & Performance
- I went in blind and still felt just a little bit let down. The story and art are big plusses, but the puzzles were just okay. It doesn't overstay its welcome though, clocking in at a tight 2-4 hours
- Excellent game on to play on the Steam Deck. I just played it on my couch, but it would be a great title to play on a flight
Final Verdict
- 6.5/10. A spooky, bloody story worthy of being heard, but not the most interesting puzzle platformer in terms of gameplay