The Plane Effect Reviews

I played this game in its early stages back when it was called ' The Last Day ' It's a really relaxing game with interesting puzzle aspects and a cool art style. I made a YT video for those interested or stuck :) https://youtu.be/IDzkwJVWo5o

I really wanted to like this game - it's weird and I like weird - but the frustration level is too high. Most of the puzzles are nonsensical (the 2020s equivalent of "use pizza with pencil" from the old lucas arts games), the guy is super clumsy and handles like ass which makes any sort of hurry or jump a chore, the isometric view sometimes leads to not being able to tell what is near the character (particularly in the underwater section), and that you can't interact with anything until you "need to" makes most of the game just figuring out what specific order (generally by trial and error) to hit the interactables in. And if I ever hear his doofy "wuh wuh" noise he makes when you hit something out of order again, it'll be too soon.

The run+jump function does not work properly, the lack of death animations is so lazy it really takes you out of it, the last third of the game is a pretty boring grind lacking imagination, and the puzzles are so random that boil down to basic trial and error.

I really enjoyed this indie game but I faced a critical bug in a level called "Event Horzion" at that moment [spoiler]when you have to pull down the yellow batteries and jump below to save yourself from explosion.[/spoiler] I didn't realize what to do at first and now it's unplayable. [spoiler]The robot doesn't appear near the batteries, I can't grab the yellow battery on my back and the explosion happens as soon as I pull down the batteries. The shield around you doesn't disappear and I die everytime. I tried to repeat the same actions to "enable" this cutscene by distracting the robot that needs to appear there with the nearest to itwhite button that turns red but nothings happens.[/spoiler] I will change this review if you are able to troubleshoot this.

Great, little, strange, haunting, soul crushing, mind bending, inspiring and sometime frustrating, ultra indie game. The art style and the minimalist score are beautiful. The gameplay is puzzling and somewhat bugged (as they were many old style point click adventure game to which this seems to be inspire by). It’s images remained stuck in my mind hours after the last game. I always look for different kind of games, this is for sure one of them. A strange, not perfect but unforgettable experience. For the price is a must have.

tldr; 2 of 5 (ouch!), can't recommend I fell for the visuals and concept and made the mistake of hoping the combination would make for a great game. They make for great visuals and concept. I would still stand by both, if the game were in development. I'm an achievement hound and I got this game on sale, so I'll finish trudging through it. However, I'm only about 2/3 through, and it very often feels incredibly slow and tedious. That's not fun; that's [b]work[/b]. The game's impressive potential is ruined by multiple cardinal no-nos: [u]Movement[/u] is incredibly slow. Imagine running through hip-deep mud, and you can't speed up. Then you get a leg cramp. It's that kind of slow. [u]Backtracking[/u] is used frequently and often nonsensically. [u]Crazy thinking/nonlogic[/u] - I've encountered puzzles where it seems that I can't pick up an item and keep it in inventory until I first discover [i]where it will be used.[/i] Nah. Sorry. If I can pick it up, I can pick it up. It's not magically attached to whatever surface it's on until I see where it's supposed to go. That's sloppy. [hr][/hr] Visuals and concept: 8 of 10 Execution of game mechanics: oh, man. Can I put a swear word? No? Okay. Zero. [CLEARS THROAT, SHUFFLES PAPERS] Puzzle Design: [SWEARS] all that backtracking! Seriously. I won't deign to give it a number. And that's me being nice about it.

I loved this game for a great many reasons and I hope you will too! At its core "The Plane Effect" is a mystery puzzle game that unfolds as you meander through a dreamlike state, which often borders on the surreal and even nightmarish. One should note that this tale is depicted with an amazing artistry that stands unique even among the countless other "artistic indie games" out there, enacting a style that does not act simply as window-dressing but contributes to the experience on a fundamental level. Unlike many games it does not feel as if an artist was just asked to throw some pretty graphics on top of a game but rather that the art was always a core consideration when each of levels were designed. And to that point as one wanders though many of the levels, they're found wondering if something terrible has befallen our adventuring friend or if the protagonist themselves are the root cause of the calamity unfolding onscreen. The air of mystery is ever present and helps motivate the player to push through whatever challenges they face. At the end of the day, you play this game with the hope of finding "some" answers and finally seeing a satisfying conclusion but you come to appreciate the journey you've had along the way. Mechanically speaking, the unveiling of this mystery is done by solving a variety of puzzles which range from downright simplistic to incredibly frustrating. Anyone with a math, science or music background will find some of these to be fun applications of age old concepts which they were very likely presented with in school. And to be honest this might be where many players get lost or even "give up" because like any dream, the challenges that unfold are varying in difficulty and seemingly random. This is NOT a game where you develop a few base skills in act one and robotically rely on them through to the end. The puzzles will eventually catch you off guard and stump you, And if you're like me then you'll probably have a hard time admitting that its your fault for not getting them, perhaps even feeling inclined to blame the game instead for not preparing you sufficiently... But once you learn that you, yourself, have to actually bring some skills to the table and that everything isn't just handed to you (as it is in many games), then those puzzles become so much more rewarding to solve. For first-timers, my advice is this, find a good friend to play through the game with you and treat it like a book club or steaming a new show that you've agreed to watch separately but at the same time. For one, it'll help to work through these puzzles with someone else but like any immersive tale, much fun can be had in discussing to death "what might happen next?" or "what does it all mean?", Making "The Plane Effect" a shared experience is a sure way to make it a more enjoyable one as well. At the end of the day, "The Plane Effect" is a surreal and memorable experience. I enjoyed it thoroughly and I would recommend it to anyone who'd like the combination of art, brain teasers and a good horror-mystery. I will absolutely be playing it again.

In a nutshell, I have to agree with the negative reviews on this one. It's too bad because the art direction is quite good but the puzzles are obscure and counter-intuitive to the point of being game breaking. As many others have pointed out, the constant backtracking and the need to continually consult a walk-through in almost every segment is infuriating.

good things: -the art style it's beautiful Bad things: - Everything else - Literally everything I dunno what to think about the "story" I think i didn't get it so nothing to say about it, but the gameplay??? just a non-stop non-sense puzzles with the mechanics of... do you see that object? well now you can't use it but don't worry you would have to go back to use it later sometimes with even no reason at all but cuz the developers decided that. well i regret playing it, the game took me 6.5 hs to finish but i spend at least (probably more) 3 hs trying to figure out what the developers want me to do. The good looking doesn't justified all the rest Sorry

I bought this game expecting a similiar experience like from the games Inside, Limbo, since the artstyles are very similiar. I must say, it has really great atmosphere and graphics. I really love the cutscenes, they were greatly executed and put good in scene. The ending also was somewhat pleasant and the endsong was good initiated. Unfortunately there is a biiiig but.. Besides the above mentioned, literally everything else in this game sucks. I will quickly summarise: - Clunky and slow controls - Missing tutorials for controls (I didn't know I could sprint for the first hour) - Badly executed puzzles - Orthographic view makes some platformer parts really difficult to read The most infuriating part in this game is how it functions. When you enter a room, your first objective is to look around and see what you need to do to progress further. The annoying thing is, everything needs to be done in correct order. If I interact with an object he says no, but if I touch another object I suddenly need the previous object to be collected, even though I could have collected before. This is a very stupid decision, this way I need to return to an already visited objective and try if I can collect it, now that I have done another interaction. I was stuck at least two times this way for more than half an hour, just becasuse I didnt know I need to reinteract with this object. This was super furstrating and made puzzles no fun at all and to the end I just rushed everything to finally end this game. This can be theoretically countered with the "Guided" Mode, which I was happy for that it exists, since it allowed me to complete the game faster. But even with this special mode, I was sometimes stuck and confused, this may be due that this system sometimes broke and didnt work. Conclusion: I enjoyed this piece of artwork and I would really like to recommend it, but the negatives sadly simply outweigh the positives. It has a beautiful Atmosphere, Artwork and Audio, but playing it is almost no fun at all. Seems to me like they focused too much on graphics and environment instead of intuitive gameplay and controls. Ps: I was also stuck for 15min on the very end where you have to launch the rocket, since there was no assigned button on my controller to switch the screen. I had instead to press 4 and 6 on my numpad. How the heck am I suppoed to figure this out?!?? This needs to be badly redone.