Once again, another puzzle game with a fascinating and original mechanic cripples itself with a naff story. Viewfinder is frequently surprising and has some pretty decent puzzling, but good lord the story is beyond mediocre. It wouldn't be so bad if it would just shut the hell up for a minute rather than constantly battering you with meaningless audio logs and incessant companions. Apparently, a pleasant English woman talking at you all the time isn't enough, you also need a pleasant Scottish cat to tell you how clever the puzzles are.
Even I feel that that was probably too harsh. But to be honest I'm so tired of playing these puzzle games that have such an interesting idea but instead waste time on nothing stories rather than building on the concept with more levels. Viewfinder is only about three hours long if you're experienced with this kind of game, so it doesn't have the room to cram in a saccharine and confusing yarn that could have been pulled from any other middling Portal-like. Just as Superliminal, Turing Test and Light Matter before it, Viewfinder ultimately fails its genius central mechanic.
There is plenty to be praised here though, don't get me wrong. The photo placing and manipulation is an idea that is as technically impressive and innovative as the Portals in Portal were back in 2007. The levels are fairly well paced too, but I found the levels I truly enjoyed were the optional puzzles, which were a lot trickier than the main content. Ideally more of these would have been fantastic. Portal can rest on its laurels in terms of optional content because Valve knows they have a willing fanbase who will churn out content an unimaginable rate, but indie puzzle games like Viewfinder don't have the luxury of mod tools, so need to come with more content. As it stands, I can't say that even half of the puzzling potential has been extracted out of Viewfinder's concept.
My opening tone is less an indication of anger and more frustration. I'm disappointed that such a great idea feels somewhat squandered, but perhaps I should be analysing what is here rather than what could be. And what is in Viewfinder is largely pretty good. Tune out the story and don't bother with the collectables and you'll find a fun, occasionally challenging puzzler that frustrates as often as it delights.
Even I feel that that was probably too harsh. But to be honest I'm so tired of playing these puzzle games that have such an interesting idea but instead waste time on nothing stories rather than building on the concept with more levels. Viewfinder is only about three hours long if you're experienced with this kind of game, so it doesn't have the room to cram in a saccharine and confusing yarn that could have been pulled from any other middling Portal-like. Just as Superliminal, Turing Test and Light Matter before it, Viewfinder ultimately fails its genius central mechanic.
There is plenty to be praised here though, don't get me wrong. The photo placing and manipulation is an idea that is as technically impressive and innovative as the Portals in Portal were back in 2007. The levels are fairly well paced too, but I found the levels I truly enjoyed were the optional puzzles, which were a lot trickier than the main content. Ideally more of these would have been fantastic. Portal can rest on its laurels in terms of optional content because Valve knows they have a willing fanbase who will churn out content an unimaginable rate, but indie puzzle games like Viewfinder don't have the luxury of mod tools, so need to come with more content. As it stands, I can't say that even half of the puzzling potential has been extracted out of Viewfinder's concept.
My opening tone is less an indication of anger and more frustration. I'm disappointed that such a great idea feels somewhat squandered, but perhaps I should be analysing what is here rather than what could be. And what is in Viewfinder is largely pretty good. Tune out the story and don't bother with the collectables and you'll find a fun, occasionally challenging puzzler that frustrates as often as it delights.