Skaramazuzu Reviews

[b]"Skaramazuzu" is a puzzle game that explores a strange limbo between life and death, wrapped in a mysterious atmosphere. Technically, it holds up well with its minimalist hand-drawn visuals, eerie ambiance, and quirky voice work. However, beyond aesthetics, the experience quickly unravels. The puzzles are uninspired, the dialogue repetitive and shallow, the characters forgettable, and the pacing frustrating. There are also some problematic mechanics and too much of slow annoying walking in the same ten screens for the whole game. Despite an intriguing concept, the game fails to deliver a meaningful or engaging experience. I rarely give harsh reviews to small indie projects, but "Skaramazuzu" ultimately left me bored both in gameplay and storytelling. A game about existential searching should at least offer an engaging journey; instead, this one drifts aimlessly, never quite finding its purpose. Manometer: 3/10[/b] The good - Distinct minimalist aesthetics. The hand-drawn grayscale visuals, clean lines, and stark contrasts create an intriguing world. - Good atmosphere. The game initially succeeds in pulling players into its eerie, stranded universe, a mysterious place between reality and imagination. - Subtle dark humor. A faint, ironic tone runs through the experience, adding a unique twist to its themes. - Mumbling voice work. The abstract voices surprisingly convey personality and intention, adding a layer of charm. - Interesting core concept. The idea of a protagonist trapped in limbo, searching for meaning, has potential. Unfortunately, poor storytelling, bad dialogues and pacing prevent it from reaching its full depth. The Bad - Uninspired puzzles. Mechanically simple and lacking creativity, the puzzles often reduce to mere fetch quests with painfully obvious solutions. You don't combine objects imaginatively, you don't need creative thinking, there are no dialogue puzzles. Everything is straight forward. The game holds the player’s hand excessively, characters constantly overexplain what to do next, stripping away any real challenge. Worse still, it recycles the same puzzle (symbols combinations behind doors) four times, reflecting a lack of originality and work ethic. - Shallow dialogue. The writing aims for depth but ends up superficial and pretentious. Philosophical themes are hinted at but never properly explored, and conversations are peppered with repetitive, hollow phrases like “search your feelings” and “look deeper” without delivering substance. - Forgettable characters. Despite their quirky names, the characters feel one-dimensional, both visually and in personality. Even the protagonist fails to establish an emotional connection with the player. - Frustrating pacing. Between key story beats, progression becomes a chore, long walks, empty filler tasks, then story, then more errands and walking, then again story. There’s no connective tissue between gameplay and narrative, making the structure feel tedious. - Poor game design choices. Some mechanics can unintentionally lead players into dead ends. For example I found the broken statue I tried some items on it, the protagonist said that he couldn't catch the pearls so I left. Then when I talked to the creature that was fishing but the dialogue asking him for the fishing road wasn't getting triggered. I had to select "talk" to the broken statue to make this happen. That’s simply bad design. - Repetitive, static world. Despite the short runtime, players wander the same ten screens for around four hours. Almost nothing changes, no new places are getting unlocked neither the existing screens are changing drastically. The world quickly loses its intrigue. - Minimal interactivity. Limited objects and interactions per screen hinder puzzle complexity and immersion. Zuzu could comment on more environmental details to make the world feel alive. - Painfully slow movement. Zuzu moves at a sluggish pace, making the excessive back-and-forth traversal feel downright tedious. At times, I found myself just holding the stick and waiting.

The part with all the dialogue felt a bit exhausting, but overall, it was a fun puzzle game with a great atmosphere and story.