Pemptus on 7/8/2011 at 10:40
If bleakness/gothiness/noirness irritates you as a rule, you won't enjoy it. You really have to treat the game as a whole, without dividing it into prime factors - platforming, mood, gameplay etc. Without the moody moodiness the platforming really isn't anything special, and we've seen the puzzles before, inventive as they might seem. There's some really nice and fluid animations throughout, but without the "artsy" ambience it wouldn't be enough to stand on its own.
I really, really liked it, how it felt so ethereal. It definitely won't be something I'll be replaying any time soon, unlike, I dunno, Braid or Cave Story or Knytt. More of an experience than a game, which is enough to put some people off.
Jusal on 7/8/2011 at 19:41
I finished the game on friday and I enjoyed it a lot. As has been mentioned though, if you don't like the art style and ambience of the game it probably doesn't have enough to really draw you in unlike you might expect from the hype. The puzzles are good but there isn't anything absolutely original there. For me though, it all clicked and I still haven't quite gotten the game out of my head. I imagine I'll be replaying it before the year is over, for both the amazing atmosphere and seeing as I apparently missed a few of the secrets.
My take on the vague plot: I'm sure most people noticed the similarities between the scene where you find the girl near the treehouse and the menu/credits background. Basically the background is a version of the same treehouse, but with a broken ladder and something unrecognizable on the ground with a cloud of flies buzzing above two separate spots. To me it seems that these could be the remains of the boy and the girl. That, with the official description of the game being "Uncertain of his sister's fate, a boy enters LIMBO" gave me the picture that the sister would've died falling from the ladder and the boy would've jumped after her, either not wishing to live alone or leave her alone in the limbo. The gameplay would be the boy's search for his sister in the afterlife.
edit: ...which is pretty much what Renzatic said now that I actually paid attention to what I was reading.
That would be an awfully sad plot though, and most of the ideas I've read have been at least a little more upbeat. Not that the whole game is very upbeat at that though.
Briareos H on 7/8/2011 at 22:19
It reminds me of Heart of Darkness. Not bad, I like the puzzles, but the art often gets in the way of the game.
I'm only one hour in but I'm pretty content with the story so far considering that there is almost none. I'm always more satisfied by less narrative than more. As the metaphor for being recently dead (well, "in Limbo") is obvious from the first minutes, living some of the boys life's fears and fighting against what happened (which is only barely hinted at, I wonder if by the end of the game we'll make out the cause of death) doesn't feel too tacky or pompous.
If I end up continuing playing the game till the end, I'll shell out the 10€. I hope it's longer than two hours.
Renzatic on 7/8/2011 at 22:50
Quote Posted by Briareos H
(...I wonder if by the end of the game we'll make out the cause of death) doesn't feel too tacky or pompous.
I think you could interpret it as such. It's about as vague like the rest of the game, but if you assume
the boy died by falling out of the tree fort, then the last controllable scene in the game is sorta symbolic of that.
As in he falls against a hard surface, which shatters on contact, tossing him through it, and back out into the woods. He wakes up a few seconds later, near the little girl.
Like I said, it's vague, but makes sense when you put it all together. Nothing like Braids "you stalking a chick is a metaphor for the construction of the nuclear bomb" ass pull symbolism.
Quote:
If I end up continuing playing the game till the end, I'll shell out the 10€. I hope it's longer than two hours.
Well...it's about 3. It's short, but it's more than entertaining enough to play through a few more times. Or pick up again later on.
Briareos H on 8/8/2011 at 12:05
I suppose the warez version has all the eggs found already, because as I was making my way through chapter 15, getting into a secret area, a door closed behind me and forced me through a rather difficult section apparently intended for people who got all the eggs. This section takes place in pitch black, relying on audio cues and timing for a few puzzles. The difficulty spike compared to the rest was such that I went online to look for guides on whether this was a bug or not. I was quite astonished to see that only a few people knew about it.
So, for everyone playing now, the PC and PS3 have a whole new section of the game, getting you the Ding! Achievement. It's short but insane and great.
I emerged in chapter 21, meaning - along a sense of "that wasn't supposed to happen, so cool" - that there are chapters that I'll only see by going through the game again. Ding!
Sold.
Briareos H on 8/8/2011 at 14:17
Quote Posted by Jusal
My take on the vague plot:
I'm sure most people noticed the similarities between the scene where you find the girl near the treehouse and the menu/credits background. Basically the background is a version of the same treehouse, but with a broken ladder and something unrecognizable on the ground with a cloud of flies buzzing above two separate spots. To me it seems that these could be the remains of the boy and the girl. That, with the official description of the game being "Uncertain of his sister's fate, a boy enters LIMBO" gave me the picture that the sister would've died falling from the ladder and the boy would've jumped after her, either not wishing to live alone or leave her alone in the limbo. The gameplay would be the boy's search for his sister in the afterlife.
Both work, and I'm not sure there is a definitive answer out there. The author may have sought that particular equivocality.Anyway, I liked it. A bit too short and easy, but nice.
