My brain hurt
Brain is hurt
Brain is
Hurt
I’m ok now

Easily at the top in terms of puzzle games, not much more can be said, incredibely clever and charming, I got to the basic credits on my own, though I know the game has a lot more to offer with even deeper and crazier puzzles.
My only huge gripe with this game is that even upon "solving" the puzzle, which is knowing what you have to do and how to arrange the words, the difficulty comes not from that but from planning out how to push the blocks around in the correct sequence so you don't get stuck or push something in a corner. It just introduced some tedium and dullness, where you have to plan out a long sequence of exactly perfect moves, to its merit there are usually a couple solutions to a puzzle so you're never stuck with a limited ruleset and can approach things creatively. Another minor issue is the game doesn't always explain its concepts properly so you can use them adequately in later puzzles. A lot of the times I had moments of "I don't know why that worked and I have no way of finding out why"

Despite all that, this is such a fantastic experience, its great to play with someone as you try and figure out the puzzles, a lot of the time the obstacle is yourself overthinking the puzzles, which makes stumbling into the simple solutions really satysfying.

Oh my god, my brain hurts.

It’s hard for me to talk about my experience with Baba is You, the same way it was hard as heck to complete the game. Playing Baba is You was a humbling experience as a creator because this is one of the most groundbreaking games I have ever experienced in terms of what even a ‘game’ is. Initially, it seems to be a nice puzzle title with a rather unique gimmick but after some hours it evolves into an absolute madness.

Arvi Teikari managed to come up with extremely clever uses of the game’s concept and the core mechanic gets expanded to an unexpected degree, and in the end you play not just by messing with words, but with characters, levels and even abstract concepts too (heck, even with the map itself!). I have never seen an approach like this to puzzle games before but I am so happy the creator decided to go all out with the gameplay concept since it gave birth to an exceptional videogame that has a lot to learn from.

Baba is You keeps breaking the classic concept of what a game is by allowing you to change its rules and hack the game’s behaviour in brilliant ways. It takes some time to get used to, but once you understand that you must be constantly thinking outside the box and forgetting how a game is traditionally played, you are in for plenty of surprises. Fortunately, the game is very forgiving and you can always undo unintended actions and keep trying instead of being forced to restart the puzzle from scratch.

I must admit that I had some tough times near the end, though, as the secret levels become insanely meta and obtuse, and had to look up some of the unlock steps, but they are just there for the most avid players that want to squeeze the gameplay possibilities and go through every level and Achievement by themselves so I didn’t feel too bad about it.

However solving all those demanding puzzles is a very pleasant experience thanks to its charming visuals and soothing music. The levels are just a joy to look at despite the simplicity of their graphics; the few recurring characters and items are both quirky and lovable and there are some brilliant visual jokes in some levels that put a smile on your face and are super fun to mess with. The soundtrack makes for a good company while your brain is melting trying to figure out what to do, it is never intrusive but helps keeping the boredom away.

If you like puzzle games, you’ll love Baba is You. Just don’t expect a simple and easy game and you’ll be delighted.


PUZZLE IS HARD
GAME IS BUY
BABA IS YOU

Baba Is Amazing

Selten ein Puzzlespiel erlebt, das seinen Content so dermaßen gut ausspielt und dabei noch so unfrustrierend bleibt. Bei anderen Genrevertretern besteht oftmals das Problem, dass sie ab einem gewissen Punkt anfangen, die Rätsel mit einem "Haha, das hättest du nicht gedacht, Trottel" zu designen, was zur Demotivation und auch zum Vertrauensbruch gegenüber des Titels führt - man kann sich ab dem Punkt nie sicher sein, ob nicht etwas derart abwegiges wiederholt wird.

"Baba Is You" vermeidet solche Zustände nicht nur durch Desing-Konzepte, wie dass man alle interagierbaren Objekte stets auf einem Screen hat oder man die Regeln des Level beeinflussen kann, sondern primär auch, da die Machenden ein gutes Verständnis dafür besitzen, wann eine Mechanik ausgereizt genug ist und wie die Spielendenschaft an die Aufgaben herangeht. Oftmals hätten Level unnötig komplexer sein oder ihre Gimmicks ad absurdum treiben können. Dies war aber nicht der Fall, was mich mehr als nur positiv stimmte.

Zu schade, dass dieses Lob gegen Ende des Contents etwas einstürzt. Nachdem der Titel eine Special-Special-Special-Welt auspackt, werden einige Rätsel in der Kombination mit der Oberwelt recht anstrengend und machen genau das, wofür ich andere Genrevertreter kritisert habe. Zum Glück trifft dies aber nur auf ein paar der 230 Level zu, sodass sie in der Masse aus Qualität untergehen.

Das Prestige von "Baba Is You" lässt sich am besten damit zusammenfassen, dass, wenn nach langer Zeit eine Stage gelöst wurde, ich mir nie dachte, wie undurchsichtig denn das Spiel sei, sondern stets erstaunt gewesen bin, was für ein intelligentes Design angewendet wurde.

This game has a very simple premise: Baba is you.

But what if...
Baba wasn't you?
VSauce music plays

(Reseña sacada de mi cuenta de Steam: APolChrome)

Tras jugar y completar los niveles de todos los mundos principales de Baba is You, puedo afirmar que es un juegazo. Lleva los puzzles a otro nivel distinto con una mecánica muy simple: hacer frases para que se cumplan en el juego. Voy a hablar mucho, así que por si acaso quieres llegar fresco al juego, no leas a partir de aquí. Ahora sí, empecemos.

Baba is You es un juego que nos propone puzzles en los que nosotros cambiamos la forma de jugarlos. Puede sonar raro, pero vamos a poner ejemplos. Hay 3 tipos de bloques: los de objetos (como Baba o Rock), los "intermediarios" (Is, And...) y la acción (Push, Win). Alineando estos de diferentes maneras, conseguiremos que los objetos interactúen de esa manera. No sé como será el código del juego, pero tiene una cantidad absurda de interacciones. Todo puede ser o hacer de todo. Al principio es simple, disponiendo de pocos bloques, pero al final, se vuelve en un quebradero de cabeza, pero lo hace tan bien que es difícil criticarlo. Pero esa abrumación es precisamente lo que más quita al juego. Al haber tantas interacciones, el juego solo te enseña unas pocas, por lo que la solución a muchos puzzles se siente extraña y frustrante por lo poco intuitiva que es.

Todo en los puzzles está pensado. La mayoría de niveles tienen bloques que no pueden ser intercambiados, por si acaso se nos ocurre cambiar las condiciones que hacen difícil al puzzle, por lo que la dificultad aumenta muchísimo, pero sin sentirse forzado. Esto sumado al diseño de nivel de cada puzzle, que se amolda perfectamente a todas las características anteriormente mencionadas.

Audiovisualmente, es simple pero funcional. El estilo artístico es uno muy simple y la OST no es nada destacable. No está mal, pero es bastante simple, por lo que no rinde homenaje a la jugabilidad que es más dura a veces que una roca hecha de Nokias.

Como la historia es como un coche volador (todos queremos, pero no existe), Baba is You es un juegazo que si te gustan los juegos de puzzles debes jugar. Para jugarlo necesitarás ser muy resolutivo con poco, pero no veas lo bien que sienta completar sus acertijos. Recomendadísimo.