Honestly, the game kind of pisses me off with how many clever details it gets right. It's subtle but it adds immeasurably to the feel. Or the fact that most magic words just need to be dragged onto their targets but to break a stone, you have to slam the word BREAK into it a couple of times. We grizzled tomb raiders can have the fun of peering around the screen for clues before the sparkles begin. But the blue glow takes a few seconds to appear. They also have an obvious blue glow to make the game more accessible to kids. For example, the way invokable landscape elements are highlighted: stones that can RISE are carved with arrows. I found myself appreciating the tiny details. Every game element is thoughtfully refined. But the craftmanship is really outstanding. (Go go gadget story devices!) The quest story has a more platformy approach, but it's still oriented around word-magic you invoke magic words like BREAK and RISE to manipulate the landscape. You bounce around and manipulate the written word in a playful interactive way which reminded me more of Device Six than most of that classic's direct imitators. Half the gameplay consists of reading Izzy's journal. It is a whim of Izzy's which changes and develops as Izzy's own life becomes complicated. I was initially put off by the quest story, which starts tropey and simplistic but of course that's the theme. In the fantasy story she's writing, a girl (your choice of name) goes on a quest.īoth of these are really well-done, in an unassuming way. Izzy, a young girl who wants to be a writer, is caught in turmoil when her Gran falls ill. Yow - if things go well, IGF 2022 judging could start again this October! I better rest up.Ī narrative platformer which thoroughly, and I mean thoroughly, entwines its words, writing, story, and gameplay. Here's hoping for a better summer and fall. I should probably get this posted before the fever comes on. Ynglet and Moncage look like they'll be awesome when they're out. Spiritfarer, OMORI, There Is No Game, Signs of the Sojourner are obvious omissions - sorry! I have not yet played Chicory, Teardown, Bugsnax, Welcome to Elk, or many others. But this is the exploding-with-delight post, by gum, and I can't not mention these:Īnd thus I close. I don't make the rules, nor the exceptions that prove them.)Īnd while I'm here, a few titles that I already wrote up. (Okay, A Monster's Expedition is flawless and universally loved. Just recognize that it did something, and it did it with a whole and joyful heart. You may say "But that game utterly failed to do what I want!" That's fine. It's about games that I played through with a big goofy grin on my face because they made me happy. And that's a personal reaction! This post is not about flawless games, or universally loved games. I have naturally saved my favorites for last.Īs I said up top, this year was about delightful games. And so we come to the end of another review post run.
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