a lot to love here, the mysteries spun throughout are enough to keep one poking at the nooks and crannies of Nivalis until the game's end, but the lo-fi presentation may be too much for many. the blocky environments are fantastic, it looks really stylish and they really went hard on weather effects, particles etc. to great effect. however, the roblox action figure characters are difficult to appreciate. unfortunately, the narrative choices don't have weighty consequences and the main story thread comes to a fairly abrupt end without much of a build up, the side stories and characters are far more memorable. many systems introduced do nothing (i don't think the buff items did anything at all).

i think a dystopian story where moral choices have near-zero consequence could be an interesting artistic decision but here it feels like limitation somewhere. it's feels great to drive the HOVA around and enjoy the vibe but that won't be enough for most people.