a few thoughts about an hour after finishing it
-ctrl alt ego's success largely exists due to it's mechanical honesty. the developers know what the game excels at and lean into it heavy. it's ambition is evident but it's mastery and understanding of what it wants to do is palpable.
-level design is huge and constantly rewarding to explore, at it's peak in chapter 7 where it's almost segmented into five different micro levels, all with different ways of tackling each area.
-the first six chapters are all great, and i spent multiple hours in areas in the first two chapters and chapter six respectively, but the mission progress feels more linear and checklist like. the early levels feel like looking at your grocery list in a supermarket you've been going to for ten years, while the later levels feel like doing your groceries in a brand new supermarket.
-there's not a full commitment to the "disembodied ego" idea, with the game being spent controlling the Bug (the body the player is given) for 75% of it's runtime. some of the best moments in the game involve getting through entire rooms without using the Bug, or setting up the Bug for success before entering the room, but I'd love to go a whole chapter without controlling the main body.
-the story had potential for real comments on the human spirit/ego as a whole but honestly i LOVE that they chose not to do that and instead went for a smaller more contained story. the story is not that good in any real sense, yet it doesn't bring the game down due to it's smaller scope. think if they committed less to the identity of Dr Everyman it could have worked
-the first big boss of the game presents itself as a puzzle (the game tells you to think of it as a puzzle instead of a boss fight), but disappointingly, i managed to kill it by taking it into a loading zone the game wasn't expecting it to go. not the game's fault in a design sense, and i wouldn't mark it down for it, but still disappointing.
-often the player will be shown a music player, which will play a groovy tune, but the tune won't follow the player outside of when the player controls the music player itself. i wish it did! put a radio in bug or something! i want to jam out!
-did not like the "annoying bugs", they felt far too fast and hard to kill. wish there were more creative ways to deal with them
-sort of love the developers honesty throughout the game. at one point the narrator says that there's no real failstate, sort of brave to tell the player "Hey! You can't actually lose!"
game is real good, leaves a little to be desired but it does exactly what it wants to do and it's ambitions are worth the price of admission
-ctrl alt ego's success largely exists due to it's mechanical honesty. the developers know what the game excels at and lean into it heavy. it's ambition is evident but it's mastery and understanding of what it wants to do is palpable.
-level design is huge and constantly rewarding to explore, at it's peak in chapter 7 where it's almost segmented into five different micro levels, all with different ways of tackling each area.
-the first six chapters are all great, and i spent multiple hours in areas in the first two chapters and chapter six respectively, but the mission progress feels more linear and checklist like. the early levels feel like looking at your grocery list in a supermarket you've been going to for ten years, while the later levels feel like doing your groceries in a brand new supermarket.
-there's not a full commitment to the "disembodied ego" idea, with the game being spent controlling the Bug (the body the player is given) for 75% of it's runtime. some of the best moments in the game involve getting through entire rooms without using the Bug, or setting up the Bug for success before entering the room, but I'd love to go a whole chapter without controlling the main body.
-the story had potential for real comments on the human spirit/ego as a whole but honestly i LOVE that they chose not to do that and instead went for a smaller more contained story. the story is not that good in any real sense, yet it doesn't bring the game down due to it's smaller scope. think if they committed less to the identity of Dr Everyman it could have worked
-the first big boss of the game presents itself as a puzzle (the game tells you to think of it as a puzzle instead of a boss fight), but disappointingly, i managed to kill it by taking it into a loading zone the game wasn't expecting it to go. not the game's fault in a design sense, and i wouldn't mark it down for it, but still disappointing.
-often the player will be shown a music player, which will play a groovy tune, but the tune won't follow the player outside of when the player controls the music player itself. i wish it did! put a radio in bug or something! i want to jam out!
-did not like the "annoying bugs", they felt far too fast and hard to kill. wish there were more creative ways to deal with them
-sort of love the developers honesty throughout the game. at one point the narrator says that there's no real failstate, sort of brave to tell the player "Hey! You can't actually lose!"
game is real good, leaves a little to be desired but it does exactly what it wants to do and it's ambitions are worth the price of admission