[Reposting my old reviews from another site for archive, and updating them if needed]
This took me 1 month to finish, which might sound weird considering it's just 5-6 hours in length. This is one of those games that needs a specific kind of mood to enjoy for me, and honestly there's a part of me that wants this game to not end yet because it's just so goddamn lovely. I'm very, very impressed by how this good this game turned out to be.
The game's main mechanic is connecting a bunch of map tiles in certain ways to be able to progress. It could have very easily ran out of steam early on, but it just keeps adding interesting twists in each new level, which is enough to keep the game far away from being boring. It successfully makes you feel like you have this all-powerful ability in your hands, while also offering a sense of adventure from exploring new and strange places.
An aspect of the game that really surprised me is the story and world lore. The game sets up a cohesive and charismatic world filled with neat and memorable characters, and each time the game presents each new bits of the story as the adventure goes, it feels so exciting to me. There's a good variety of biomes to explore, and each new area has it's own community with it's own culture and stuff. By the end of the game, I actually got attached to many of the characters, despite most of them not having a significant amount of development, since y'know, it's such a short game. There's also some very touching moments in the story, and I almost cried at one point.
There's also a particularly cool aspect in the story that not only adds an interesting layer to the way the player views this world, but also supplements all the side story arcs in the game in a satisfying way. I don't want to mention it by name to avoid spoiling it.
Lastly, the chill and jolly vibes of this game is very palpable. From seeing various events that happen in the story, and the way they're presented, it's clear to me that the devs intended this game to feel uplifting. The way the many of the characters talk to each other, the art style, the music; everything in this game is just built to make me smile and it's very lovely.
This is an easy 4.5 stars for me, and the only reason I won't give it a higher score is because I know they can do so much more with this world and gameplay concept. I feel like they're holding back at times, but it still turned out to be wonderful.
This took me 1 month to finish, which might sound weird considering it's just 5-6 hours in length. This is one of those games that needs a specific kind of mood to enjoy for me, and honestly there's a part of me that wants this game to not end yet because it's just so goddamn lovely. I'm very, very impressed by how this good this game turned out to be.
The game's main mechanic is connecting a bunch of map tiles in certain ways to be able to progress. It could have very easily ran out of steam early on, but it just keeps adding interesting twists in each new level, which is enough to keep the game far away from being boring. It successfully makes you feel like you have this all-powerful ability in your hands, while also offering a sense of adventure from exploring new and strange places.
An aspect of the game that really surprised me is the story and world lore. The game sets up a cohesive and charismatic world filled with neat and memorable characters, and each time the game presents each new bits of the story as the adventure goes, it feels so exciting to me. There's a good variety of biomes to explore, and each new area has it's own community with it's own culture and stuff. By the end of the game, I actually got attached to many of the characters, despite most of them not having a significant amount of development, since y'know, it's such a short game. There's also some very touching moments in the story, and I almost cried at one point.
There's also a particularly cool aspect in the story that not only adds an interesting layer to the way the player views this world, but also supplements all the side story arcs in the game in a satisfying way. I don't want to mention it by name to avoid spoiling it.
Lastly, the chill and jolly vibes of this game is very palpable. From seeing various events that happen in the story, and the way they're presented, it's clear to me that the devs intended this game to feel uplifting. The way the many of the characters talk to each other, the art style, the music; everything in this game is just built to make me smile and it's very lovely.
This is an easy 4.5 stars for me, and the only reason I won't give it a higher score is because I know they can do so much more with this world and gameplay concept. I feel like they're holding back at times, but it still turned out to be wonderful.