Yet another абстрактная головоломка с приятным визуалом и атмосферой, заигрывающая с пространством. Если вам нравится такое - вам нравится такое, если нет - вряд ли эта игра что-то поменяет.
as a presentational piece taken on its own? it's really good, great visuals, great music, very cool.
the catch here is that you have to play the actual game, which is way, way too easy and trivial, and never really gets any more difficult than the first couple puzzles in portal and antichamber. you know, the ones where you're just being taught how to press a button or put a cube on a pressure plate. at least half of the time spent in this game is walking through hallways, pressing buttons, or grabbing cubes off of trees and putting them in their color-designated receptacle, all of which are more tasks of persistence than of being able to solve anything.
begins to approach some interesting puzzle concepts once or twice in that last stage, but it never really gets there. shame, since it looks and sounds so good
the catch here is that you have to play the actual game, which is way, way too easy and trivial, and never really gets any more difficult than the first couple puzzles in portal and antichamber. you know, the ones where you're just being taught how to press a button or put a cube on a pressure plate. at least half of the time spent in this game is walking through hallways, pressing buttons, or grabbing cubes off of trees and putting them in their color-designated receptacle, all of which are more tasks of persistence than of being able to solve anything.
begins to approach some interesting puzzle concepts once or twice in that last stage, but it never really gets there. shame, since it looks and sounds so good
The depiction of an endless world here is really beautiful, there is no end nor start to the huge megastructures you traverse through, in fact, falling into the void to get on a platform you couldn't reach is a main mechanic, as the world loops over itself. Time and space have no meaning, both don't have a defined start or ending, they are simply there while you walk through them until you finally reach your goal. Or perhaps it isn't really as much of a goal as it is an inevitability. Life tends to end one way or another, even if you could life forever in an equally never-ending world, sooner or later you'll want it to be over. The scale can make you feel insignificant, but you can still bring some life and beauty to a meaningless world and give it some meaning.
Illogical architecture mixed with constantly shifting gravity plus some really, really beautiful landscapes make for a really innovative and creative puzzle game. Unfortunately, you get used to the puzzle mechanics and everything described above stops working as great as it could have at the start. The endlessness cannot be understood, you can't - or more likely, you shouldn't - get used to it. For a world as illogical as this, everything seems to work under a defined set of rules. This could be subtext on how everything in nature is defined to work in a certain way. For example, zebras have black stripes over white skin to hide better from hunters, this is something that nobody who has ever been alive has decided, it is mostly accepted as something that simply is, the same way the world of Manifold Garden is supposed to not have been created by someone but is heavily based on clearly defined rules that seem to hold a greater purpose, that purpose being to get you to reach the end. There's always an intention to everything.
The purpose of the world is perfectly defined and understandable but it wants you to think it's incomprehensible, your small size in comparison to the eternal world pretends to represent how small you actually are in comparison to the grand scheme of things, but fails because conceiving infinity is rather impossible yet Manifold Garden reduces it to a bunch of gravity and colour block puzzles. Despite all great that I said in the last two paragraphs, that is mostly stuff I've thought of while writing this, not while playing the game. That is the problem of depicting the endless as a defined set of rules, that this ends up feeling more like a technical showoff rather than a tale on passing through an unintelligible and seemingly illogical world. The greatly executed mind-bending puzzles are the real meat here. The effort is commendable, but the intention of the world can be understood really fast, as it just is to get you to the next level and consequently the ending. This is a game about contemplating the vastness of the universe in which the universe itself looks huge and bigger than life but is actually all about getting from one chamber to another. Portal if it was about shifting gravity and bizarre architecture.
Maybe the real problem of depicting something as abstract as the endless isn't that we can't associate it with something, but rather the human part of the work in which everything has to serve a purpose as specific as getting the player to the next level. I had my solid time with the puzzles tho.
Illogical architecture mixed with constantly shifting gravity plus some really, really beautiful landscapes make for a really innovative and creative puzzle game. Unfortunately, you get used to the puzzle mechanics and everything described above stops working as great as it could have at the start. The endlessness cannot be understood, you can't - or more likely, you shouldn't - get used to it. For a world as illogical as this, everything seems to work under a defined set of rules. This could be subtext on how everything in nature is defined to work in a certain way. For example, zebras have black stripes over white skin to hide better from hunters, this is something that nobody who has ever been alive has decided, it is mostly accepted as something that simply is, the same way the world of Manifold Garden is supposed to not have been created by someone but is heavily based on clearly defined rules that seem to hold a greater purpose, that purpose being to get you to reach the end. There's always an intention to everything.
The purpose of the world is perfectly defined and understandable but it wants you to think it's incomprehensible, your small size in comparison to the eternal world pretends to represent how small you actually are in comparison to the grand scheme of things, but fails because conceiving infinity is rather impossible yet Manifold Garden reduces it to a bunch of gravity and colour block puzzles. Despite all great that I said in the last two paragraphs, that is mostly stuff I've thought of while writing this, not while playing the game. That is the problem of depicting the endless as a defined set of rules, that this ends up feeling more like a technical showoff rather than a tale on passing through an unintelligible and seemingly illogical world. The greatly executed mind-bending puzzles are the real meat here. The effort is commendable, but the intention of the world can be understood really fast, as it just is to get you to the next level and consequently the ending. This is a game about contemplating the vastness of the universe in which the universe itself looks huge and bigger than life but is actually all about getting from one chamber to another. Portal if it was about shifting gravity and bizarre architecture.
Maybe the real problem of depicting something as abstract as the endless isn't that we can't associate it with something, but rather the human part of the work in which everything has to serve a purpose as specific as getting the player to the next level. I had my solid time with the puzzles tho.
Really cool concept and visuals! Puzzles are alright, nothing too challenging and mostly there to serve the experience.
After playing Antichamber back in 2017, I remember looking for another game to fill the void that was my desire for another Escher-esque puzzle game. Someone on Reddit thought that this game, Manifold Garden, was similar. Though the art style of both games ultimately take inspiration from the same paintings, they are completely different in nature.
Yes, they are both wonderful puzzle games. Yes, they are both a bit mind-bending. But Manifold Garden isn't constantly tricking you in the ways that Antichamber does; it's paths are possible, just infinite. It's not nearly as confusing, difficult, nor lengthy, but it's got a lot of other things that make it great.
Manifold Garden is NOT Antichamber. In fact, I think it's outright unfair to compare the two. They're that different. In Manifold Garden, you'll find yourself immersed in beautiful infinitely reaching landscapes, falling between the world alongside a constant ambience.
The puzzles in this game simply consist of cubes, buttons, a gravity-switching mechanic, as well as water a little later on into the game. They're never too difficult; never once did I even consider using a walkthrough, apart from points in my playthrough where I simply didn't know where I was headed or what I was meant to do at all. I kinda wish that the puzzles were more difficult, but regardless, I had a blast with the game.
There is a second playthrough, completely different than the first, that can be done as well. There's tons of hidden paths I never would've discovered on my own that gain this game another level of respect due to how cleverly interwoven each and every level is. I recommend going through this as well; however, keep in mind that this would take a massive amount of time without any proper guidance.
This game is not that long. It took me about 4 hours to finish my first playthrough of the game. This feels like the perfect length; if it went on for any longer, it probably would've felt like too much of a slog. The only issue this may pose is complaints about the price, but remember that this is a beautiful, polished, labor of love that took many years to create. I'd recommend picking it up on sale if you get the chance.
Yes, they are both wonderful puzzle games. Yes, they are both a bit mind-bending. But Manifold Garden isn't constantly tricking you in the ways that Antichamber does; it's paths are possible, just infinite. It's not nearly as confusing, difficult, nor lengthy, but it's got a lot of other things that make it great.
Manifold Garden is NOT Antichamber. In fact, I think it's outright unfair to compare the two. They're that different. In Manifold Garden, you'll find yourself immersed in beautiful infinitely reaching landscapes, falling between the world alongside a constant ambience.
The puzzles in this game simply consist of cubes, buttons, a gravity-switching mechanic, as well as water a little later on into the game. They're never too difficult; never once did I even consider using a walkthrough, apart from points in my playthrough where I simply didn't know where I was headed or what I was meant to do at all. I kinda wish that the puzzles were more difficult, but regardless, I had a blast with the game.
There is a second playthrough, completely different than the first, that can be done as well. There's tons of hidden paths I never would've discovered on my own that gain this game another level of respect due to how cleverly interwoven each and every level is. I recommend going through this as well; however, keep in mind that this would take a massive amount of time without any proper guidance.
This game is not that long. It took me about 4 hours to finish my first playthrough of the game. This feels like the perfect length; if it went on for any longer, it probably would've felt like too much of a slog. The only issue this may pose is complaints about the price, but remember that this is a beautiful, polished, labor of love that took many years to create. I'd recommend picking it up on sale if you get the chance.