Incidentally got to the end of this game today at around 15 hours, so I figure I'd log it. That is I just beat 1.0, I already squeezed all the blood out of 0.7 when it came out a few years ago.
It's honestly somewhat difficult to traditionally "rate" this game (and personally I may try to avoid star ratings soon, the way I do with movies) just due to the fact it's a very nontraditional game. 1.0 did add some clearer modes of progression, but they are easily missed through the obscure gameplay.
All that said, I love this game to bits. It tickles so many specific parts of my brain, my lifelong love of Mario paired with my loves of creepypasta, architectural horror and non-euclydean spaces, dream logic and hypnogogic atmosphere. The game truly feels like a dream, like dreams I've had and still have of digital space.
The type of exploration in this game is probably only matched by the likes of two of its main influences, yume nikki and LSD.
Unfortunately though, due to these exact strengths, there comes a wealth of weaknesses in its design. As you play it becomes increasingly, wildly difficult to maintain your awareness and to hunt down and find new spaces in the world. More and more I find myself walking in circles, warping back to familiar hallways and lobbies and loading save states to undo one-way passages. This kind of cyclical madness fits the flavor of the game perfectly, but doesn't exactly make for the best gameplay-- though it certainly makes the moments you find new places all the more sweet.
I do wish that the levels were more entwined with the plexus itself, I have levels I do need to explore but the way they are so removed from the plexus will often kill my desire to explore many of them too in-depth. If more of them had alternate exits or end of level warps like a few key levels do, I'd definitely be more inclined to explore them. Additionally, the levels could really use more varied missions. Too much climbing, not enough fun stuff like the lighthouse levels surfing mini game.
Despite my gripes with the more technical game-y elements of this project, I will definitely keep coming back to this. There is nothing that scratches the itch exactly the way this does for me. I know there is a lot I still wanna seek out in this game, but it's probably time to crack into the wiki. I still need to find the game room from SM64DS!!!
It's honestly somewhat difficult to traditionally "rate" this game (and personally I may try to avoid star ratings soon, the way I do with movies) just due to the fact it's a very nontraditional game. 1.0 did add some clearer modes of progression, but they are easily missed through the obscure gameplay.
All that said, I love this game to bits. It tickles so many specific parts of my brain, my lifelong love of Mario paired with my loves of creepypasta, architectural horror and non-euclydean spaces, dream logic and hypnogogic atmosphere. The game truly feels like a dream, like dreams I've had and still have of digital space.
The type of exploration in this game is probably only matched by the likes of two of its main influences, yume nikki and LSD.
Unfortunately though, due to these exact strengths, there comes a wealth of weaknesses in its design. As you play it becomes increasingly, wildly difficult to maintain your awareness and to hunt down and find new spaces in the world. More and more I find myself walking in circles, warping back to familiar hallways and lobbies and loading save states to undo one-way passages. This kind of cyclical madness fits the flavor of the game perfectly, but doesn't exactly make for the best gameplay-- though it certainly makes the moments you find new places all the more sweet.
I do wish that the levels were more entwined with the plexus itself, I have levels I do need to explore but the way they are so removed from the plexus will often kill my desire to explore many of them too in-depth. If more of them had alternate exits or end of level warps like a few key levels do, I'd definitely be more inclined to explore them. Additionally, the levels could really use more varied missions. Too much climbing, not enough fun stuff like the lighthouse levels surfing mini game.
Despite my gripes with the more technical game-y elements of this project, I will definitely keep coming back to this. There is nothing that scratches the itch exactly the way this does for me. I know there is a lot I still wanna seek out in this game, but it's probably time to crack into the wiki. I still need to find the game room from SM64DS!!!