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This is a meh review... I can't really put my finger on what this game is missing here.
You are a "light bearer" and you are traveling from area to area picking up bits of story along the way of those who came before you. Unlocking new mechanics for solving puzzles along the way. Each new area has new puzzles and and new environments and new creatures.
Here's the good of it though...
-The game is absolutely beautiful. It's so damn pretty. I took a ridiculous amount of screen shots of this game. Everything was so damn pretty. The colors, the lighting, the designs of the creatures in the world. It's just so damn pretty.
-I mentioned you unlock new mechanics to solve puzzles. There's stuff like floating, surfing, teleporting, etc. Some of them are so damn fun. I had WAY too much fun surfing around. I really really enjoyed it. I spent a good amount of time surfing once I unlocked the ability. It was just so much fun and on the steam deck surfing was really flawless.
-The puzzles are neither hard nor easy. I never felt like I couldn't figure something out and nothing ever felt so easy that it was boring.
-I'll talk more about this in the negatives... but there is a story here... I just didn't get into it much. That being said... I DID get into the ending. The ending was really sweet and I really enjoyed it. It was really sweet and touching.
-Very nice music. I really enjoyed the soundtrack.
The Negative
-The story.... is more frustrating than anything. There are little tablet looking things you find that give snippets of story... but for the most part every tablet truly felt like it was just using different words to say the same thing. Then each area shows what percentage of stuff you have found. You can go to the next area as long as you find 3 orbs. You don't have to get all of them or ANY of the tablets. But I was going for 100%. Finding those tablets each time.... was the most frustrating thing. There was always one tablet I was struggling to find. Then getting them didn't feel rewarding AT ALL because again... the story just felt each time like it was the saying the same thing using different words. Those tablets were hands down the most frustrating part of this game. Finding them was annoying... and not rewarding in the slightest.
-You get new ways to solve a puzzle in the form of new mechanics... but the point of each puzzle is the same. Every puzzle is a slightly new variation of "Get to the orb". So it does get really repetative. It got to where I just wanted to hurry up and finish the puzzles and find the tablets so I could see a new area. Ride a new legendary creature. I wanted to experience the world, so the puzzles felt like a hinderance of that. Don't get me wrong. As I said the puzzles were neither easy nor hard. A lot of the puzzles were enjoyable. I didn't dislike the puzzles... but because it felt like I was mostly doing the same thing over and over (regardless of the changes caused from the surfing, floating, teleporting, etc) it started to get frustrating and boring. Because I JUST wanted to move on and enjoy more of the world.
-Timing puzzles.... there's a certain point where you will get the ability to essentially teleport to certain areas. Then you get the ability to float. Once you have both of those there will be areas where you will be shooting through the air and have a certain window of time to look at JUST the right spot and get the indicator to teleport. If you miss that window... you have to start the puzzle over. This likely won't be a make or break for most people. It did become frustrating as hell for me though because I have sensory processing issues and reduced reaction time because of those issues. Which just makes those puzzles hella frustrating for me.
Overall...
This game was enjoyable. Again the environments were really gorgeous. The game just feels like it's missing something. I clearly have my complaints... but I can't tell you specifically what it was about those that made the feel like it was just... missing something crucial. I don't know if it's variety... if it's just the story. I don't know.
But overall I'd say it's worth a play. Due to my issues with the game though AND the short play time. I definitely don't recommend it at full price. If you can get it on sale and you enjoy a decent puzzle game. I recommend it. The puzzles are generally decent. If you don't mind a very vague and redundant story. But enjoy really pretty environments and decent enough puzzles. You'll enjoy it.
Overall despite my issues I could never say I didn't like the game. It just also isn't exactly a favorite amongst the other games I'm played this year. It is a middle of the road game for me.
Additionally:
-If you are looking for a game to play while sick this is a great game. I played it while I was recovering from a minor surgery. I was on bed rest and this was a good game to play under the groggy effect of pain killers. It was easy to pick up and put down. It was also simple enough that I could play it while maybe not firing on all brain cells. I will say that because I was getting bored at points... I did fall asleep a few times while playing the game.
-I played entirely on the steam deck. It ran well. It controlled well. The battery life was good on it. Zero complaints. I'd actually be willing to wager I'd hate playing it on pc compared to playing it on my deck and that's a VERY rare occurance. Stuff like the surfing I can definitely say I doubt I would like as much on PC.
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