This is an A+ puzzle game held back by a C- story.

Viewfinder’s first impression is that of a gorgeous, but unremarkable perspective puzzle game in the same genre as superliminal, manifold garden, antichamber, and arguably the unfinished swan. Two things immediately become clear.

Firstly, the game never stops talking to you. I adore voice-memo walking simulators (you can see my review of Tacoma for evidence), but not only is this game extremely flat and cliché in its dialogue writing, the voice acting performances seem designed to grate players looking for a thoughtful, quieter experience. I can see this game being explicitly designed for with an audience of children/non-gamers in mind — the powerful rewind ability and built-in hint system seem to point to that — which would explain the tone. If it is intentional, I wish that the team had chosen otherwise. Why does this game about a creative team of artists, engineers, scientists, and mathematicians have to be about a building a top secret super weapon to save the earth from climate change? It’s not that you’re not allowed to tell that story in a game, it just feels like this gameplay-focused first person puzzler where the only in-game NPC is a cartoon cat is a top 5 worst places to tell that story.

Second, this game’s puzzles are great. Beyond great, actually; every new chapter introduced clever gimmicks that harmonized with the core mechanics while leaving room for less flashy variations on the core mechanics. I ended up completing the entire game and all optional levels without really intending to. Despite only getting stuck on one level, I left feeling completely satisfied and hugely impressed.

I can’t wait to see what this studio makes next. Whatever it is, I’m just praying that they leave out dialogue.

* New enemies and vehicles that greatly expand the combat sandbox
* Exceptional set pieces (antlion hive, autogun approach, first encounter with the hunters)
* Valve finally made fighting striders tolerable

I get it now