izigame.me

This is a puzzle game where you play as the little cross-walk dude, navigating an increasingly complicated series of street signage in order to.........well, here's the problem, there's no dialogue, so other than progressing for the sake of progressing, you really have no purpose (see below for negatives) until the very end when you sorta figure out what the whole point was (a little too late...).

*Positives*

-Graphics- The environments are really awesome (even if the puzzles themselves are pretty minimalist) truly giving you a sense of progression through an urban landscape (nightclubs, construction sites, etc.).

-Sound Design- The music may be all but non-existent, but the soundscape and in-game effects are top notch.

-Fun- This is a truly enjoyable puzzle game.......up to a point.........see below

*Negatives*

-End Stage Gameplay and Narrative- While for the most part the game is quite enjoyable and you will pat yourself on the back for your big brain, eventually more and more gameplay wrinkles are added, and the lack of any talking or instruction kinda cripples the fun factor at that point because not only do you really have no clue as to why you're ultimately solving all these puzzles, you will eventually have more and more multi-step puzzles with new mechanics that are completely unexplained! I'm not ashamed to say that I looked up a walkthrough to figure out what the heck was the deal with the paint spray canister, because there is not really a good, thorough explanation given in the game, and the tutorial is super weak.

So we've got a mostly enjoyable, pleasing to look at puzzle game whose lack of dialogue hurts it from a narrative perspective (why am I doing these things?!?!?) and whose end levels are rendered frustratingly obtuse because of mechanisms and objectives that are simply not explained.

I'm ultimately recommending The Pedestrian, but mostly because of the first 3/4 or so of the game......the last quarter is just plain frustrating and opaque.