Unsighted is a fun game.
But there's so much in this game that could have elevated the experience if it was just a bit better, for starters the game is really visually inconsistent. The enemy design, a lot of the environments, visual feedback for parry timings and attacks are all great, but every time a character appears close up it breaks down a bit, the designs are conceptually fine, but when they move the body parts seem to be not synced, hair, clothes and arms moving independently of each other. The cutscenes are also visually boring, and in reality they don't look great, often facial expressions are done poorly. Which means the emotional and frequently melodramatic scenes are all the more annoying to watch.
The game's writing in general doesn't do a good job of selling it's titular mechanic, the characters are all one note who seem to be doing nothing while the clock runs out, there's no sense of urgency in how they behave, they don't go through any notable story or character arcs or have any memorable interactions with the player character. Which means often I found just saving characters that were most useful without any regard for anything else.
The progression through the game also seems separate from the timer, its just another metroidvania but with just a timer attached to it, well the progression and combat are generally great however.
The combat is my favourite part of the game and the boss fights are highlights, all the boss fights are unique and creative, forcing you to move around and play evasively, mixing around long range and melee attacks, while they dominate the arena. Even then the Parry seems a bit too strong for this game, not only does it deliver often times a one hit kill attack, it also refills your stamina bar completely.
On the progression front, the game has some great tools, i wish the fairy robot with me wouldn't tell me how to use them all the time, but other than that just remembering the places where you could use the new tools you found is a fun experience, and the dungeons themselves are generally great, opening shortcuts, figuring out puzzles, getting through bosses in these areas is when the game is at it's peak. Though the fact that the game doesn't really have a moment of awe while discovering a new area where music and visuals come together perfectly puts a bit of a damper on things.
My final complaint is with the last dungeon of the game, the tedious back and forth this area requires is even more unfun due to the timer ticking down while doing it, it's frustrating and boring busywork and not clever puzzle solving.
Overall though I still think it's an alright game, deserving of a positive rating, it has a solid core with major issues plaguing it, will be very interested in seeing what the developers come up with next.
But there's so much in this game that could have elevated the experience if it was just a bit better, for starters the game is really visually inconsistent. The enemy design, a lot of the environments, visual feedback for parry timings and attacks are all great, but every time a character appears close up it breaks down a bit, the designs are conceptually fine, but when they move the body parts seem to be not synced, hair, clothes and arms moving independently of each other. The cutscenes are also visually boring, and in reality they don't look great, often facial expressions are done poorly. Which means the emotional and frequently melodramatic scenes are all the more annoying to watch.
The game's writing in general doesn't do a good job of selling it's titular mechanic, the characters are all one note who seem to be doing nothing while the clock runs out, there's no sense of urgency in how they behave, they don't go through any notable story or character arcs or have any memorable interactions with the player character. Which means often I found just saving characters that were most useful without any regard for anything else.
The progression through the game also seems separate from the timer, its just another metroidvania but with just a timer attached to it, well the progression and combat are generally great however.
The combat is my favourite part of the game and the boss fights are highlights, all the boss fights are unique and creative, forcing you to move around and play evasively, mixing around long range and melee attacks, while they dominate the arena. Even then the Parry seems a bit too strong for this game, not only does it deliver often times a one hit kill attack, it also refills your stamina bar completely.
On the progression front, the game has some great tools, i wish the fairy robot with me wouldn't tell me how to use them all the time, but other than that just remembering the places where you could use the new tools you found is a fun experience, and the dungeons themselves are generally great, opening shortcuts, figuring out puzzles, getting through bosses in these areas is when the game is at it's peak. Though the fact that the game doesn't really have a moment of awe while discovering a new area where music and visuals come together perfectly puts a bit of a damper on things.
My final complaint is with the last dungeon of the game, the tedious back and forth this area requires is even more unfun due to the timer ticking down while doing it, it's frustrating and boring busywork and not clever puzzle solving.
Overall though I still think it's an alright game, deserving of a positive rating, it has a solid core with major issues plaguing it, will be very interested in seeing what the developers come up with next.