Viewfinder Reviews

Great puzzle game. I have enjoyed it and find the mechanics familiar, yet fresh and new.

Finishing this game, I set it aside and am left with a feeling of profound disappointment. The levels are beautiful, the core mechanics are well done and visually striking, there is a playfulness to the scattered secrets that is enjoyable, but... the puzzle design is exceptionally lacking. The game introduces a new mechanic, gives 3-4 levels of basic introduction to how the mechanic works, and then... introduces a new mechanic right away with another 3-4 levels of basic introduction to how the mechanic works. It does not linger on any mechanic long enough for the player to really get creative with it, and rarely does it require the player to apply what they've learned in any way that is not immediately obvious. That is not to say that there are not good puzzles buried in here, a few of the optional levels were quite enjoyable, but for every one puzzle I liked I felt like there were five that were just wasting my time. The story similarly missed in a way that was all the more disappointing for coming so close to something I could enjoy. It was a neat set up, it was interesting to try and piece these character's lives together from the bits and pieces scattered throughout their work spaces, but there were a couple of points that just made the whole story fall apart for me. I feel like framing the story inside a simulation rather than the real world had some implications that were poorly thought out. The CAIT guide could have been lovely, but it's praise for the more simple puzzles felt patronizing and its personality didn't really match that of the character that supposedly programmed it. I also think that, were I living in the environmental catastrophe that the game's 'real world' apparently is, I would have wanted to scream at CAIT for its patient questioning of how important this research really was. It came close to being good but it isn't, at least not in my opinion. Also, light travels faster than sound. I know this isn't supposed to be an educational game, but it was such a weirdly jarring thing to be playing and have one of the geniuses confidently claim the reverse as part of their monumental breakthrough.

A beautiful, relaxing game that gives you the unique power of duplicating any part of the world around you to solve puzzles . I'm really fond of the fact that all of the puzzles have multiple solutions, ones of which I'm sure the devs didn't intend, but I suppose that's hard to control with a game that literally lets you copy and paste pretty much any object. I found the puzzles to be really easy and I think it's the only puzzle game where I never had to look up a walkthrough/solution, which can be good or bad depending on how you enjoy puzzle games. But in my opinion, you should go into it with the mindset of enjoying a relaxing, eye-candy-filled world along with a meaningful story. [spoiler]Just don't get too emotionally attached - you'll have to trust me on this...[/spoiler]

No pros and cons, just facts in no particular order: [list] [*]I beat the game under 4 hours, including all optional challenge levels. [*]The game consists of 5 chapters gradually introducing new mechanics. [*]I was never stumped by a puzzle. Complexity is not to be found here. [*]The story somewhat beats around the bush but is overall kind of bleak. (See end of review for summary.) [*]I liked the special gimmicky photographs. [/list] Story in one sentence: [spoiler]You are in an abandoned simulation looking for a solution to climate change.[/spoiler]

While I do like the underlying mechanics and the puzzle solving is satisfying, I unfortunately can't play the game past chapter 2 as for some reason the game is bugged and won't continue past it despite finishing every level in the chapter including the bonus level. I've tried verifying the files, reinstalling, and even playing through the game again up to that point on a new save and nothing seems to fix it. Posted a bug report on the discussion page and it's sat with no responses for 2 weeks. Disappointing end to what was otherwise a lovely game to play.

I can't express in words how good and well made this game is, you can see the passion the devs poured in while making this game. It didn't even needed a good story, the gameplay is already amazing by itself and could easily carry the game, but they went the extra mile and did an amazing storytelling experience as well. The graphics are also lovely and fitting to the game. Truly a masterpiece, both as a game and as an experience.

Really cool concept, but the game games itself was pretty underwhelming. $25 for less than 3 hours of a main story. All of the puzzles were extremely easy. Required very little thinking outside the box or creative use of mechanics that it had established. NPCs and story were pretty uninspired.

Cool mind-bending puzzle game. If you like mind-bending puzzle games in general, you will probably like this mind-bending puzzle game. You know yourself ~ RE: other reviewers' advice to turn voice volume to zero and subtitles off, I wouldn't. Sure, this game would probably be slightly better without Jessie chiming in every so often - she's little more than a pointless distraction - but I'd say the other stuff is worthwhile. See how you feel after listening to a few recordings from the other characters.

It's a creative, fun, satisfying puzzle game. But I get motion sickness when I play it, I've tried increasing the fov but it doesn't help.

Very chill and short puzzle game, leaning on the easier side. The mechanic of taking a snapshot of reality is very unique and it's fun to play around with, "breaking" some of the levels (I'm not sure I solved some of them correctly, but hey - those are MY solutions and they're going on the fridge). One very important note though, before you start playing: go to the settings and turn voice volume to 0%. And disable the subtitles. The writing and voice acting are incredibly obnoxious from the word "go". The "holy shi did you just shift reality?!" kinda obnoxious. I've turned everything off 30 seconds in and haven't regretted it once - it was a pretty serene and chill experience. The plot did try to reach me through phone calls, but I ignored those as well. I can proudly say that I have no idea what this game is about and I'm happier for it.