izigame.me

This is more of a neutral review since it has very good bones, but it definitely needed more. It really follows in the footsteps of games like "The Unfinished Swan" and "What Remains of Edith Finch" but it misses the mark when it comes to what made those games so satisfying to finish.
I think the main issue is that it is basically a series of escape rooms. A lot of the "things" used to solve one puzzle would never be used again, which makes sense as it would mess up the hint system. But that hinders the number of possible puzzles this game could have. I imagine trying to keep each plant puzzle limited to specific areas was a lot of work for the designers as well as the art team. I don't have a huge problem with needing to constantly double back and re-read things. But there were definitely times where I walked through a room and was unable to interact with something because it wasn't intractable until the right puzzle started which meant that I didn't bother looking at it again. I don't think this was a good idea and I don't it's a problem to have too many proofs/evidence available in the book. It adds to the difficulty in a way that's not obtrusive.
All that aside, I don't want the team to make a different game. I really did like this style of puzzle, but I think a game like this (where you can't reuse things from one puzzle to the next) would really benefit from repeatable side-games that don't require complex puzzle design and lean more into the "you're a botanist" angle of the game. Experiences where the outcomes would be unique to each player and an engaging/repeatable activity. For example:
- designing and creating your own botanical garden and watching how plants react to different factors
- a room dedicated to cross-breeding plants to get different visual varieties (perhaps even being able to even recreate the famous "too much purple" virus reaction)
- creating tinctures or medicinal products from the various plants
This would require creating a few new mechanics, but they would be ones that have a large replay value. Interspersed as a fun activity between the various escape room puzzles would give the player more time to just be inside the experience. Which I think is what most people here want and is a testament to the excellent design of the environment and audio/music by the team.
Overall a great start for what I hope becomes a larger series by the team.