It is a nice free to play game which is really a demo meant to entice player to buy developer’s other paid titles. It does a good job in introducing players to full game. It is rough around the edges from settings, graphics to puzzles. A partner is necessary to play this game and puzzles are trivial. The hardest part is figuring out where is a puzzle and communicating information between each other.
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Calicifer’s Reviews
An Imposter
A great way to do demos
This is an actual game demo disguised as a free game. I always liked this model a lot more than actual game demos. Such prologues feel more complete, more satisfying to finish. If they are well made, they feel like their own little games. They give an impression of what full game is like. This is especially great for co-op titles, because barrier to entry for such games is especially hard. You need 2 to 4 copies and it is hard to bite the bullet for all your friends. Being able to get a small taste of it sets you up wanting more. In this way you end up purchasing game which otherwise you might had skipped.
Puzzles
A puzzle game is only as good as its puzzles. In this game puzzles are quite straightforward. The hardest part is always figuring out what you are supposed to do rather than a puzzle itself which might be intended due to co-op nature of this game.
Bothersome theatre, no save point
This game suffers from lack of clarity. The hardest part is not puzzles itself, but trying to find the puzzle.
- The only puzzle which is bothersome is theatre. It is after a puzzle and takes some time to solve during which you can die if you are not fast enough. You are set for failure in a first run and few others, because puzzles there are quite vague. “Castle filled with life”. Does it mean king and queen is here? “Then king soaked in blood said”. Which king? There are two? Do you need to have lamp one? Does he need to have castle or not? Puzzle is easy to solve through trial and error, but it is bothersome as it is gated by another puzzle which can kill a player. There is a missing save point there which makes this game more bothersome than it has to be.
Valves - Valve puzzle is strange one. You have to descent through many identical rooms which serve no purpose. Then my friend failed to identify any puzzle there and I just closed a random valve and it had solved itself. It is a bad puzzle, because clues are not obvious and it is easier to solve by random guess work.
Quite straightforward hieroglyphics communication - Most of the puzzles in this game revolve around communicating hieroglyphics. It is not hard, but requires attention to detail as a lot of solutions are similar looking. There aren’t any harder puzzles in this game. They all revolve around communicating instructions to another player. The hardest part is finding what game expects you to do rather than puzzle itself.
Low Replayability - A lot of puzzles do not refresh after a try. For example, chess puzzle will always be the same. Theatre also is identical. If this is a bite of what to expect in a full game, it sets itself as a game with low replayability value. It can be played twice with role switching at most.
Lack of clarity
This game suffers from lack of clarity. The hardest part is not puzzles itself, but trying to find the puzzle.
Disappearing map markers
Game’s interface and settings are very primitive. Technically it feels like a very advanced mod rather than a full game. Clunky menu options, changing resolution, changes UI layout. Game feels very unrefined.
- At some point you will have to guide player through a maze. Directions on a map seems bugged as they would appear and disappear for no reason. This leaves you stuck unable to complete puzzle for some time until markers randomly re-appear on a map.
Pixel hunting on projector - A puzzle where other player have to solve chess opening, you have to take the film, put it on a projector, lower torches and then press a button. If figuring that order is not enough, that button is a small pixel which overlaps with a grip which you can press. This leaves players stuck as it is not clear what is interactable and what is not.
Going through tiles, what is considered far west, etc - Later in a game you will need to tell instructions how other player should move. However, instructions on the book are not clear. It states various directions like “start from far west” however puzzle itself has no way of using these inputs. You always start by making steps and you can’t start from any location. This resulted in random deaths from some books while clear passes from others. Either game designers had messed up this puzzle or my friend could not figure out those instructions.
Settings
Game’s interface and settings are very primitive. Technically it feels like a very advanced mod rather than a full game. Clunky menu options, changing resolution, changes UI layout. Game feels very unrefined.
Lack of volume slider for voice
It is slow to get started, but fun when you start playing. Main difficulty is understanding what you are supposed to solve in a first place. Puzzles are simplistic, but often wandering around, figuring out what developers really meant with imprecise and vague declarations in a theatre.
- This game lacks proper settings. Such simple thing as rising up voice volume does not exist. This results in difficulty hearing oral instructions from a game.
Game has always on microphone which messes up with other voice chats - Game has mandatory in game microphone which never turns off. This messes up with other voice chat programs. The whole radio thing is an immersive gimmick, but nothing else. Instead of always communicating with other player, you need to press V to do that! Wow, consider my mind blown!
Conclusion
It is slow to get started, but fun when you start playing. Main difficulty is understanding what you are supposed to solve in a first place. Puzzles are simplistic, but often wandering around, figuring out what developers really meant with imprecise and vague declarations in a theatre.