I just got done giving up on two "
puzzle"
platformers,
Typoman and
Candle, that feature terrible trial-and-error gameplay ruining what otherwise could have been wonderful games. I entered self-righteous 1-star reviews against them on XBox, spending a good half hour of slow controller typing to do it.
I am guessing these games had a certain economic force behind their repetitive, die-and-repeat gameplay. They both had beautiful music and artwork for a small indie game, which set a budget multiplier dictating that the game be short. To compensate for the games' shortness, somebody made a decision to create an unforgiving level of precision in the solutions demanded of the player. End result: very unfun games. It's my theory anyhow.
I wanted to climb out of my pit of grumpiness over buying two crappy games that could have been so much better. What game was like these, but actually good?...
INSIDE (all caps is the preferred stylization)
https://playdead.com/games/inside/
You control an unarmed boy in a lonely, grey future. He runs through fields, abandoned factories, caves, complexes. The game has a bleak aesthetic with vast 2.5d spaces to explore, though progression is fairly linear. The boy is a refugee with an unexplained story that invites your mind to fill in the blanks. Assume any person you see wants to capture or kill the boy. There are exceptions, but it's essentially a brutal and friendless world. Before the game is over, you'll cringe as your character is realistically electrocuted, drowned, shot, crushed, mauled. His lack of weapons or any kind of aggressive action, makes him feel all the more vulnerable.
The challenges alternate satisfyingly between mental and action, and they are sometimes difficult, but always fair. There is also a wonderful lack of repetition in the kinds of problems you must solve. I don't just mean the die-and-repeat over an individual challenge, which is thankfully small. But taken as a whole, the game doesn't make you solve things the same way again and again. And there are puzzles where a designer was clearly motivated to produce that "
a-ha"
lynchpin moment that we DROD players love.
There's nothing cheap or cynical in how this game was built. It's a work of art.
And the finale... I can't ruin it for you. But again, some designer said... what can we do at the end? What can we do that's really unique, really powerful?
And they did something that's perfect - a turning point that revolves around the structure and mechanics of the game.
My only disappointment is that the game is so short. And I'm left wanting a full-fledged story that answers my questions. But maybe the strength of the experience comes from having it be evocative, like a dystopian fairy tale.
-Erik
____________________________
The Godkiller - Chapter 1 available now on Steam. It's a DROD-like puzzle adventure game.
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