Starring: Some weird dude who's probably David Lynch
I took a gamble on this game due to the glowing reviews and the likes of Sam Barlow highly recommending it. I won't lie that I was skeptical given Simogo's last game being Sayonara Wild Hearts which lacked interactivity despite its great style. Good thing I took a gamble because I hit the jackpot.
As with most other reviews for this game, I'll try to avoid giving much away because I believe going in with minimal expectations is wise. Needless to say, the game is a puzzle exploration game where you explore a hotel and try to unravel a bizarre mystery. I heard someone say describe this as "Resident Evil but with puzzles instead of zombies" and I think that's one of the most accurate descriptions. You come to be deeply familiar with the hotel as you explores its nooks and crannies and slowly open it up. The game is practically a rat's nest of information for various puzzles. Puzzles fall back on certain themes and ideas, but consistently force you to determine where the answer is hiding. It's a really cool method that feels incredibly intricate and encourages you to engross yourself in the game's setting.
I won't lie that I did look up a couple hints. The shortcut puzzles can be kinda hard to understand at times and I just felt as though staring at them for ages was not in the spirit of the experience. I did also look up an answer for the piano puzzle, as it felt a bit obtuse (all the information you need to solve it is in the room with you), and I did look up how to finally solve the supercomputer puzzle when I was about 98% of the way through it as I struggled to interpret some of the final pieces and wanted to wrap things up. You may view that as cowardly, I view it as "I gave it an honest try and didn't want to sit on the puzzle for ages".
I need to emphasize though that, for the majority of the runtime, I didn't look up any hints. I trusted that I could decipher things and would simply come back later if something didn't make sense. And that mostly worked! It was a constant stream of "Eureka!" moments that had me feeling clever as I slowly peeled away this game's layers.
Presentation is really cool with artful camera angles and a sharp use of reds in an otherwise monochromatic game. Controls are definitely a bit janky though. There are directional inputs, a start menu button, and an interaction button. That's it. So every single thing you do from accessing your recorded information to inputting numbers on a lock is done with basically one button. While I appreciate the attempt at minimalist design, it does result in some annoying navigation issues from time to time.
I do need to emphasize though that these control issues are a minor complaint when considering that this game is essentially the new gold standard for puzzle design. It's so deeply compelling with its narrative and puzzles interwoven and the ways in which it asks you to flip your thinking and re-assess what you know are so damn cool. Also, I just wish more games would utilize numerical puzzles like this.
Simogo have already developed an insanely large and well thought out title and I hope that we get another from them some time and also see this as the starting point for a new breed of puzzle design.
I took a gamble on this game due to the glowing reviews and the likes of Sam Barlow highly recommending it. I won't lie that I was skeptical given Simogo's last game being Sayonara Wild Hearts which lacked interactivity despite its great style. Good thing I took a gamble because I hit the jackpot.
As with most other reviews for this game, I'll try to avoid giving much away because I believe going in with minimal expectations is wise. Needless to say, the game is a puzzle exploration game where you explore a hotel and try to unravel a bizarre mystery. I heard someone say describe this as "Resident Evil but with puzzles instead of zombies" and I think that's one of the most accurate descriptions. You come to be deeply familiar with the hotel as you explores its nooks and crannies and slowly open it up. The game is practically a rat's nest of information for various puzzles. Puzzles fall back on certain themes and ideas, but consistently force you to determine where the answer is hiding. It's a really cool method that feels incredibly intricate and encourages you to engross yourself in the game's setting.
I won't lie that I did look up a couple hints. The shortcut puzzles can be kinda hard to understand at times and I just felt as though staring at them for ages was not in the spirit of the experience. I did also look up an answer for the piano puzzle, as it felt a bit obtuse (all the information you need to solve it is in the room with you), and I did look up how to finally solve the supercomputer puzzle when I was about 98% of the way through it as I struggled to interpret some of the final pieces and wanted to wrap things up. You may view that as cowardly, I view it as "I gave it an honest try and didn't want to sit on the puzzle for ages".
I need to emphasize though that, for the majority of the runtime, I didn't look up any hints. I trusted that I could decipher things and would simply come back later if something didn't make sense. And that mostly worked! It was a constant stream of "Eureka!" moments that had me feeling clever as I slowly peeled away this game's layers.
Presentation is really cool with artful camera angles and a sharp use of reds in an otherwise monochromatic game. Controls are definitely a bit janky though. There are directional inputs, a start menu button, and an interaction button. That's it. So every single thing you do from accessing your recorded information to inputting numbers on a lock is done with basically one button. While I appreciate the attempt at minimalist design, it does result in some annoying navigation issues from time to time.
I do need to emphasize though that these control issues are a minor complaint when considering that this game is essentially the new gold standard for puzzle design. It's so deeply compelling with its narrative and puzzles interwoven and the ways in which it asks you to flip your thinking and re-assess what you know are so damn cool. Also, I just wish more games would utilize numerical puzzles like this.
Simogo have already developed an insanely large and well thought out title and I hope that we get another from them some time and also see this as the starting point for a new breed of puzzle design.