This is probably the worst Annapurna published game I've played, but that's notable because Maquette still sets a pretty high bar.
The writing and voice acting is superb, if predictable. The visual metaphors are superb, and the story structure too sort of mimics the idea of a recursive environment.
Unfortunately, the gameplay aspect itself, the act of puzzling out the puzzles, often doesn't connect to the themes and metaphors of the rest of the game. The puzzles all have one simple step to solve, and although I sometimes found it tricky to figure out, I often found them either too easy or too hard. The walking speed is far too fast for a game about looking at environments, and worst of all, the central mechanic of moving and placing objects is far from as polished as a game's central mechanic ought to be
However, I can forgive it of all these flaws, because the simple act of walking through these spaces, reading the accompanying words, and experiencing the cutscenes is enough for the experience to be impactful, memorable, and beautiful.
The writing and voice acting is superb, if predictable. The visual metaphors are superb, and the story structure too sort of mimics the idea of a recursive environment.
Unfortunately, the gameplay aspect itself, the act of puzzling out the puzzles, often doesn't connect to the themes and metaphors of the rest of the game. The puzzles all have one simple step to solve, and although I sometimes found it tricky to figure out, I often found them either too easy or too hard. The walking speed is far too fast for a game about looking at environments, and worst of all, the central mechanic of moving and placing objects is far from as polished as a game's central mechanic ought to be
However, I can forgive it of all these flaws, because the simple act of walking through these spaces, reading the accompanying words, and experiencing the cutscenes is enough for the experience to be impactful, memorable, and beautiful.