I'm so happy I finally got around to giving Another World a try. I've heard a lot of people in game design circles talk it up a lot without ever really specifying why they thought it was brilliant.

After finally seeing it for myself, I definitely understand why it's talked about so much. Fundamentally, this game's strength is its simplicity. It only has 5 buttons total, which is what allows for puzzles and trial and error design to work. I usually get stuck when I play games. I get lost behind infinite complexity and I find it hard to forge my own path without looking stuff up constantly. I just finished Fallout 1 before this, and there is was definitely the case. Another World (aside from two puzzles: the grenade wall and grenade breaking floor puzzle) parsed down everything to a point that I was able to figure it out myself. It created a nice flow that allowed me to stay in the game rather than deferring elsewhere.

I think the star of the show is the checkpointing. Throughout the game, you are given exceptionally generous checkpoints that allow you to perform trial and error puzzles, similar to point and click adventure games of this time. This really let me just sit back and enjoy thinking about what I'm supposed to be doing without worrying about bugs or softlocks. That being said, I feel some of the checkpointing was a little inconsistent, with you sometimes being put behind annoying little combat gauntlets that you have to clear before trying an idea. It puts a damper on the pace for me in a way that was a little disappointing.

The combat generally worked well for me, but I was having an issue where my holds of the action button weren't being counted all the time and it led me to dying way more than I think I should have. It's annoying, especially for a game that can get pretty tough.

The rest of the controls, however were excellent. There's something about the movement and design of this game that makes it feel modern to me, despite it being over 30 years old as this point. The movement of the pixel art is SO smooth and does a great job of making you feel in charge of where you wanted the character to go.

The other art was simple yet great as well. The entire game had this really cute charm that kept me going and having a really great time. Seeing the main character pull up at the beginning in a Lamborghini was unexpected and pulled me right in. Also, the choice of having no UI whatsoever created a really engaging experience where you really had to pay attention to what was on screen. That being said, however, there were a couple moments that lacked visual clarity, and made it more difficult than it should have been to parse what I should be doing. I can think of at least 4 examples over my three hours.

[Escape vent at the end of the chase, floor to be destroyed by grenade, chandelier that you're supposed to shoot, stairs leading behind the hut where your friend is captured]

I think the standout of the game however, is the tank section. When I first played it, it made me smile and laugh so much, and got me excited to see where it was going to go next. It's burned into my mind so deeply now. I really do think more games need more bespoke diagetic minigames like this in them.

When the credits rolled, I laughed to myself and couldn't stop smiling. I was so happy that I made it out, especially after how deadly that whole journey felt.

I think, however, for how much I admire and respect the design of the game, I get the feeling that I'm going to forget it rather quickly. It's a shame. It's fun and heartful, and I bet the next time I go to play it will be great. The closer to you get to playing perfectly, the closer you get to roleplaying the character, seeing a seamless escape from the alien planet.

I love this game, and I hope to be inspired by it for a long time to come.