esse foi o primeiro jogo da Amanita Design que joguei e não era um point-and-click. Apesar dessa mudança inicialmente interessante logo é perceptível que o jogo não conseguiu explorar o suficiente dessa nova forma de gameplay
o maior problema desse jogo pra mim é o pacing de introdução de novidades. Os puzzles todos possuem o mesmo formato, mas de vez em quando um novo elemento que altera a mecânica de puzzle é introduzida. O problema é que eu achei muito demorado de entrar essas novidades, você fica um bom tempo precisando fazer puzzles MUITO similares e isso fica maçante bem rápido
um dos grandes pontos positivos é sem dúvidas a música, muito bem encaixadas nos momentos certos e passando a emoçao condizente com o momento, ela ainda age dinamicamente, se intensificante à medida que tu vai resolvendo os puzzles e funcionam como um indicativo. Além disso o jogo é mt bonito, com um estilo de pintura hand-drawn e a história, apesar de nd muito incrível, é cativante o suficiente pra te fazer terminar o jogo
bem vibes.
o maior problema desse jogo pra mim é o pacing de introdução de novidades. Os puzzles todos possuem o mesmo formato, mas de vez em quando um novo elemento que altera a mecânica de puzzle é introduzida. O problema é que eu achei muito demorado de entrar essas novidades, você fica um bom tempo precisando fazer puzzles MUITO similares e isso fica maçante bem rápido
um dos grandes pontos positivos é sem dúvidas a música, muito bem encaixadas nos momentos certos e passando a emoçao condizente com o momento, ela ainda age dinamicamente, se intensificante à medida que tu vai resolvendo os puzzles e funcionam como um indicativo. Além disso o jogo é mt bonito, com um estilo de pintura hand-drawn e a história, apesar de nd muito incrível, é cativante o suficiente pra te fazer terminar o jogo
bem vibes.
Well, I definitely didn’t see the tremendous quality of this one coming. Creaks is Amanita Design at their finest, an absolute joy for puzzle-adventure game lovers.
In this game, Amanita finally steps forward from their usual point&click adventures into a game with full control over the character. It draws gameplay inspiration from classics like Flashback or the Oddworld series, and more recent titles like Candle, games in which you must lead the character through a rather dangerous world while solving puzzles along the way.
In Creaks, all the puzzles are environment-based, which means that every solution depends on the movement of the protagonist and how it affects the scenery and other characters/enemies. You will have to combine that with some classic button pushing, lever pulling, ladder climbing and simple items usage in order to progress. Also, in a very brave design choice, the entire world map is fully interconnected, and every room and corridor leads somewhere in a very organic way, in spite of the intricate first impression that it produces. All the puzzles have their fair share of difficulty, not overcomplicating them but providing a decent challenge and with a very well structured sense of learning and progression.
Aside from that, the story and visuals both have that signature Amanita charm. I usually love what they achieve in terms of visuals and to me, games like Machinarium or Botanicula are absolute indie classics in that regard, but I think Creaks really went that extra mile, and it clicked with me a lot. Maybe it’s because they kind of go back to the hand-drawn style of visuals from Machinarium, or perhaps due to its darker and grittier twist, but I was praying for the game to never end.
Linking the artstyle to the gameplay mechanics, there’s also the way in which Creaks treats secrets and achevements: during your quest, you will come across plenty of paintings with a distinct visual style (actual oil paintings!). All of them are quite beautiful and include some little funny animations, but some of them will also contain exclusive minigames for you to play (most of them won’t pose much of a challenge). Beating those will grant you an achievement, making for a nice, lovely pace break in your adventure.
The music is also very high quality, as usual in the productions of this studio, and has similar vibes to games like Machinarium, Samorost or Pilgrims. It is also adaptative and changes to let you know that you’re on the right track while solving a puzzle. Sound design is also quite on point, very elegant specially with the audio direction for the mechanical enemies, which perfectly combine an organic and artificial feel that represents their in-game duality.
As I said, I really enjoyed this experience and as soon as I finished the game I immediately wanted to play more. I hope that Amanita Design keeps exploring this gameplay and narrative road since to me this felt like their most ambitious game to date.
Do not turn off the lights!
In this game, Amanita finally steps forward from their usual point&click adventures into a game with full control over the character. It draws gameplay inspiration from classics like Flashback or the Oddworld series, and more recent titles like Candle, games in which you must lead the character through a rather dangerous world while solving puzzles along the way.
In Creaks, all the puzzles are environment-based, which means that every solution depends on the movement of the protagonist and how it affects the scenery and other characters/enemies. You will have to combine that with some classic button pushing, lever pulling, ladder climbing and simple items usage in order to progress. Also, in a very brave design choice, the entire world map is fully interconnected, and every room and corridor leads somewhere in a very organic way, in spite of the intricate first impression that it produces. All the puzzles have their fair share of difficulty, not overcomplicating them but providing a decent challenge and with a very well structured sense of learning and progression.
Aside from that, the story and visuals both have that signature Amanita charm. I usually love what they achieve in terms of visuals and to me, games like Machinarium or Botanicula are absolute indie classics in that regard, but I think Creaks really went that extra mile, and it clicked with me a lot. Maybe it’s because they kind of go back to the hand-drawn style of visuals from Machinarium, or perhaps due to its darker and grittier twist, but I was praying for the game to never end.
Linking the artstyle to the gameplay mechanics, there’s also the way in which Creaks treats secrets and achevements: during your quest, you will come across plenty of paintings with a distinct visual style (actual oil paintings!). All of them are quite beautiful and include some little funny animations, but some of them will also contain exclusive minigames for you to play (most of them won’t pose much of a challenge). Beating those will grant you an achievement, making for a nice, lovely pace break in your adventure.
The music is also very high quality, as usual in the productions of this studio, and has similar vibes to games like Machinarium, Samorost or Pilgrims. It is also adaptative and changes to let you know that you’re on the right track while solving a puzzle. Sound design is also quite on point, very elegant specially with the audio direction for the mechanical enemies, which perfectly combine an organic and artificial feel that represents their in-game duality.
As I said, I really enjoyed this experience and as soon as I finished the game I immediately wanted to play more. I hope that Amanita Design keeps exploring this gameplay and narrative road since to me this felt like their most ambitious game to date.
Do not turn off the lights!