Is there anything as embarrassing being recommended a game by someone.. someone who thought said game was the epitome of the genre - and then, once you finally get around to buying it, installing it, booting it up... being completely and entirely stumped by the mere concept?
I mean, maybe it's not as embarrassing for a game like Antichamber, where the genre itself might as well be "concept", but I'll be honest - it did kinda bum me out.
I really REALLY wanted to like this game, to be fulfilled and entirely encompassed by it, but holy shit I do not get it. Most of the opening puzzles are, as one might hope, pretty easy. Teaching you how to restructure your approach, de-gamifying your gamer instincts then re-gamifying them anew. But eventually I filled out enough of the map that I was lacking in an obvious "next direction". Every spot I started from seemed like it expected me to back track 3 or 4 levels, and every room I actually could complete took so long I started to question whether I was actually doing it right.
Eventually I turned to the wiki, hoping that I would see the obvious way forward I was clearly looking past... But every other walk-through had an upgrade I lacked, or required me starting 3 or 4 levels further back than I figured would be necessary. And this is where it lost me.
I suppose that's the defining hubris of a game that tries to entirely reimagine the concept of puzzles. If you can't think two steps ahead of yourself then you're just going to fall face first into a slightly grimy test chamber wall.
I mean, maybe it's not as embarrassing for a game like Antichamber, where the genre itself might as well be "concept", but I'll be honest - it did kinda bum me out.
I really REALLY wanted to like this game, to be fulfilled and entirely encompassed by it, but holy shit I do not get it. Most of the opening puzzles are, as one might hope, pretty easy. Teaching you how to restructure your approach, de-gamifying your gamer instincts then re-gamifying them anew. But eventually I filled out enough of the map that I was lacking in an obvious "next direction". Every spot I started from seemed like it expected me to back track 3 or 4 levels, and every room I actually could complete took so long I started to question whether I was actually doing it right.
Eventually I turned to the wiki, hoping that I would see the obvious way forward I was clearly looking past... But every other walk-through had an upgrade I lacked, or required me starting 3 or 4 levels further back than I figured would be necessary. And this is where it lost me.
I suppose that's the defining hubris of a game that tries to entirely reimagine the concept of puzzles. If you can't think two steps ahead of yourself then you're just going to fall face first into a slightly grimy test chamber wall.