Sights & Sounds
- The graphics are cartoonish and 3D. Not a visual powerhouse by any means, but still looks nice
- The music was fine, but I didn't find myself humming along
- The voice acting was serviceable
Story & Vibes
- Without spoiling anything important, you play as a little being named Ember who wants to help other little beings make their way to the end of a mysterious set of caves to find rest
- It's a sparse story with few plot points, but a definitive narrative isn't really the focus
- The game focuses much more on the philosophical tapestry you weave together yourself from your brief encounters with strangers and the journal scraps you find along the way
- The mood is pensive and mysterious, and rarely strays from that throughout its length
Playability & Replayability
- The game takes place around 3 main environments, each with a central hub with a campfire in it. Your goal is to help guide some requisite number of lost souls to go sit around it before you're able to progress
- Each so-called "forlorn" you encounter transports you to a puzzle you must solve to save them. Some are surprisingly easy, while others take a bit of trial and error. Some of the tough ones are pretty cool
- It's not horribly difficult to 100% this game (just rescue all the forlorn), so many players may find a lack of motivation to replay it
Overall Impressions & Performance
- The game ran flawlessly on the Steam Deck
- I ran into a bug where I actually squished and trapped myself with a column. Quitting out and loading back in fixed it
Final Verdict
- 7/10. If you like the idea of going from puzzle to puzzle while a bittersweet little story plays out in the interludes, this is a pretty worthwhile experience
- The graphics are cartoonish and 3D. Not a visual powerhouse by any means, but still looks nice
- The music was fine, but I didn't find myself humming along
- The voice acting was serviceable
Story & Vibes
- Without spoiling anything important, you play as a little being named Ember who wants to help other little beings make their way to the end of a mysterious set of caves to find rest
- It's a sparse story with few plot points, but a definitive narrative isn't really the focus
- The game focuses much more on the philosophical tapestry you weave together yourself from your brief encounters with strangers and the journal scraps you find along the way
- The mood is pensive and mysterious, and rarely strays from that throughout its length
Playability & Replayability
- The game takes place around 3 main environments, each with a central hub with a campfire in it. Your goal is to help guide some requisite number of lost souls to go sit around it before you're able to progress
- Each so-called "forlorn" you encounter transports you to a puzzle you must solve to save them. Some are surprisingly easy, while others take a bit of trial and error. Some of the tough ones are pretty cool
- It's not horribly difficult to 100% this game (just rescue all the forlorn), so many players may find a lack of motivation to replay it
Overall Impressions & Performance
- The game ran flawlessly on the Steam Deck
- I ran into a bug where I actually squished and trapped myself with a column. Quitting out and loading back in fixed it
Final Verdict
- 7/10. If you like the idea of going from puzzle to puzzle while a bittersweet little story plays out in the interludes, this is a pretty worthwhile experience