A simple but satisfying puzzle platformer with light combat sections. It starts slow but builds the difficulty of its platforming puzzles over time. I think they did a great job with keeping the gameplay novel and introducing new puzzle mechanics over time. I really enjoyed the one-off segments such a riding a mechanical monster, working together with a different beast to solve puzzles, the enemy rush combat sections, etc. You play as 3 different characters and a secret late game 4th one briefly. There's an extremely brief 5th character, that most people will play as.

There are some pretty challenging moments platforming-wise, especially these boss chase sections. Does get a little annoying with the sparse checkpoint system before these difficult moments. But not too troublesome for me.

Really wonderful and novel art style. Reminds me of The Longing and the Rusty Lake series. There are some especially breathtaking backgrounds with these dormant and hulking wooden guardians. I loved all the boss and enemy designs. Not many repeat enemies and I can’t remember any bosses being repeats. Most of the boss fights were enjoyable and challenging.

Took me nearly 5 hours to complete it. I wanted to get all the collectibles, which requires a little bit of sleuthing, but the majority are in plain sight. If you find all 5 you get the second ending, which is better than the basic ending. Both aren’t that satisfying unfortunately and feel rushed. I wish things weren’t left so vague.

I think in general the story was too vague. There’s this meta narrative about stories, narrators, and protagonists, and how these different elements function in their world. Especially if the protagonists develop self-will or the ramifications if the narrators go off script. That was fine but underdeveloped. Similarly the world was not fleshed out enough. I wish there was more development around The Smiling Islands, saviors, radiant herons, the surrounding environs, etc.

For some reason a lot of the lackeys of the main baddie are given names and then immediately killed. I thought they would be more important to the story, but they never were.

There was this one brief animated cutscene that was incredible! Happens near the halfway point and was a bit letdown that it was the only one in the game.

Saviorless captivated me for his simplicity: i felt like i was playing some old game from 90's. Quite at the beginning the game seems to be dull, but the narrative unwind grows in an unique way, showing for what it was made for. The soundtrack is so comfortably cohesive and beautiful. And the strongest point is it narrative. It has a peculiar cadence, which moves you forward as the story progresses.

p.s: to die in this game makes you feel... HOW? It just doesn't make sense! And then you starting to get it all!

primeiro jogo indie feito inteiramente em Cuba! toda a solidariedade aos nossos irmãos latinos na resistência contra as aves de rapina.

esse jogo (assim como meio que qualquer plataforma de puzzle) possui coletáveis, mas a maneira que são abordados é bem interessante. tudo baseado no detalhe de que não podemos conhecer nosso desfecho se não soubermos a nossa própria história. isso é reiterado pelo personagem Cronista sempre que o encontramos. o único coletável são pedaços de papel que, juntos, viram um item para relembrar o protagonista de seu passado. uma maneira bem interessante de lidar com essa característica super comum nesse gênero e, que fica mais interessante ainda quando se tem uma ideia da história do povo cubano. espero que saiam mais jogos feitos lá. consumir arte de outros países é sempre muito revigorante.

pra terminar gostaria de adaptar uma das minhas frases históricas favoritas. frase essa de Porfírio Diaz:
"Pobre Cuba. Tão longe de Deus mas tão perto dos Estados Unidos."
(na original é pobre México)