COLINA: Legacy Reviews

Was a little disappointed by how short this game was and the overall lack of horror. The scariest part of the whole thing is the first time you see that ghost puppet lady, but after she shows up a few times you get used to her. The other enemies were just kind of there, and you either had to avoid them or kill them, which wasn't difficult either. Then there's all this mythology that kind of gets forced on you, but isn't necessary to learn in order to beat the game. It would have been nice to have some clues or something in the notes that you find so that there's an actual reason to read them. I would have definitely thrown in some more jump-scares, or replaced the crawler guys who shoot acid with something a little more menacing. I also would have made the glyphs have more uses, because you only really use one or two of them most of the time, and other ones you just use once or twice just to solve a puzzle. Also, it's just strange to collect the orb shards just to find out that they had no actual use in the game, they just earn you an achievement on steam, kind of a let down. I mean, I know I only paid $10 for this game, but i was pretty unimpressed, especially after the demo making the game look so promising. It turned out this game isn't much of a horror/survival/psychological horror game, just a puzzle game with a couple spooky puppets. Would rate a 4/10

A good indie old-school style horror game that is heavy on puzzles and story. COLINA: Legacy has above average production values and is a full fledged game with combat mechanics and inventory management. The beginning is somewhat slow with too much note reading/walls of text, but the game picks up the pace eventually. Released with day one Linux version that was fine other than a graphical glitch (not sure if that has been fixed in the current version). As far as I have played and based on what I have seen in full playthroughs, this game is worthy of a recommendation.

Liked the idea with how you use the flashlight to use your powers and such. Thou for me the game had no scare or horror aspect at all. Find some stuff for a puzzle and solve it and move on. I just found it to be quite dull. Not to talk about the horrible "combat" you have to do later in the game. Wish there had been some atmospheric music in the background. I just can't recommend it as I found it lacking.

[code]Curator page here-->[url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/37670120/] DaRevieweD #37[/url]<-- [i]New review every Sunday[/i][/code] You know how YouTube makes such a random recommendation and it's total gold that you wonder where it has been all this time? That's what Steam did one ordinary day with COLINA Legacy- concocted by an indie team known as [b]Chance6 Studios[/b] fr California! From the trailer & store page it seems the devs hoped for it to come off as a fresh survival horror! Which I was really counting on too as it's one of my favorite genres and I have not played much recently. Well no more stalling, time to get to the root of it~ [h1]"Skeletons in The Closet..."[/h1] [u]The Gist:[/u] Alex comes to in his grandmother's place from a long drive there after fearing the worst when she stopped calling. His parents are nowhere around and the house shows signs of neglect. Before he knows it, secrets are uncovered that date back to before the Earth itself came into being and a ritual that may well be the key to stopping the impending doom. [h1][+] PROS;[/h1] [b](a) Enlightenment[/b] As with survival horror, there's a great deal of exploring and looking for notes to learn more about what's afoot! Locations include granny's house which I liked best, then some generic woods and underground temple. One of the earliest, most vital clue and means of fighting back you'll come across is an old amulet imprinted with glyphs but its power has faded. Before you go wtf, let me reiterate. This game's combat is like a cross between Alan Wake (remember that!!?) and any fantasy RPG really in that enemies can only be vanquished through light! Except here, Alex's flashlight is required to illuminate through a set of glyphs in order to unlock their potential. For instance, the 'death' glyph is the only one that can deal damage to hostiles. Others are kept secure behind puzzles each with their own uses for tackling further specific obstacles and so expanding your colorful arsenal is a must to progress. I also have to point out there are tons of optional minigames; sliding puzzle box, looking for the combo that will build on the lore or raise Alex's health bar~ Quite a lot for a game now less than 5 bucks!! [b](b) Wrong Place, Wrong Time[/b] The story is actually well written and I probably split my skull trying to figure it out. No one has figured it out too online it seems!! But basically there are two main storyline here. One is vaguely told through documents, stone tablets that Alex can choose to pick up. It details the backstory of the extraordinary amulet, its potency and significance to the ritual. All well and good, at least it wasn't left out but man it's a lot to go through.. Though, I'll admit, I was more interested by the broken family dynamics and the past incident with Alex which was a fantastic start to the game! [spoiler]So... Alex almost drowned which then offset the relationship between his parents, even with the grandmother on his mom's side[/spoiler]. But was that the entire deal? Luckily my intuition paid off and boy this family is [spoiler]screwed up[/spoiler]. It can get pretty sad because they're bystanders really and their history is amplified, caught up in something beyond their control. Just wow, and I thought MY family was bad. [b](c) Beyond Comprehension[/b] Aside from some harrowing first impressions and sightings of the monsters- the game wasn't pants wetting at all. BUT, there is a silver lining in that the spookiness just takes some digging into. Well, if you do decide to peruse the notes in the open and get your ass handed to you; the topics they debate on are spine tingling. Traces of cosmic horror in pondering upon the origins of the world and some alternative biblical explanations. If that's not creepy enough, there's philosophical talks about human nature and our propensity to be curious which may bring devastation more so than anything. It gets worse because things likened to the Oedipus Complex surfaces and I don't need that in my life.... not again. Final thoughts, the whole time you play as Alex, you'll be greeted with "yes or no" choices before doing anything and the shift to the 1st person phrasing makes me (err you?) uncomfortable. That and when you throw in the puppet symbolism, the whole question of free will gets out of whack~ [h1][-] CONS;[/h1] [b](i) No Strings Attached- Literally[/b] Sadly, not everything is beach days and happy outings. The combat is the weakest and flawed aspect of the game. You literally just aim and shine that one death glyph at enemies. Except they only work half the time. Let me explain- after every successful damage, there's a slight cooldown but the game doesn't tell you. Hence it comes off unresponsive. Therefore fighting the ever spawning Blue Fairy in the house becomes stressful because she abuses you with flurry of bitch slaps in confined spaces and closeups. The AI is unpredictable and the Moonchild is the prime offender because they have a way too accurate spit attack! But then, they get hung up by objects or freeze in place. Speaking of, the Blue Fairy spawned once in a supposed safe room and her audio cues are messed up because even when she's stationary (in the corner of Alex's eyes), still lets out the wooden "clumping around" besides her signature sobbing doesn't sound often. Control issues? Alex becomes unable to view 360 and see pursuing enemies when his flashlight is on. OR should you decide to switch off the torch mid-run, he'll have to momentarily stop before doing so & same goes for healing. [b](ii) Divine Distraction[/b] Certain bits of the game design haunted me. One, the hints cannot be turned off, so you have to take them in as they come at inopportune moments. Except for some genuinely helpful insights when I was stuck once or twice. For the most part they don't seem to refer which point of the game you're in. Like the game telling me to remember to save even when I just did or telling me to recharge my batteries in the beginning when I hadn't found the charger plug. Then the notes, which frankly is just a lot of exposition and I didn't bother to read them because of the small font (again not adjustable). The backstory is interesting but don't push it. For real, in the house alone, there must've been 10+ just sticking out so close to one another!! [b](iii) A Real Life Boy?[/b] I was actually impressed with the quality of voice acting. Alas, the dialogue, you know... I get it's an indie game but it comes off forced and becomes simply acting. I like Alex the best and it really bothered me why he doesn't react much to the notes about the otherworldly creators. He comes off wooden, like a puppet...!! I'd take the cheesier OG RE lines any day than this! Though very limited in facial animations, I wish there were more cutscenes. There's literally 5 in total and all brief. [h1]"...-Turned Existential Crisis"[/h1] To wrap up, you've got to give credit where it's due as COLINA Legacy captures to a great extent the survival horror atmosphere of the classics. Offering a rich narrative, some might say too much- embedded within Lovecraftian ideas and it is undeniably alluring. Exploration, engaging in what requires a bit sage wisdom definitely feel rewarding though it's fundamentally bogged down by a thin, inconsistent combat system. The solid experience is further tainted when you factor in cheesy dialogue the impeccable voiceover couldn't save or the unflattering enemy AI. Ultimately, as a survival horror it does deliver because there is something special tucked away in there. The legends of the genre; RE, SH hadn't always have the impressive combat track record. If you can overlook it- maybe even get used to, it's an experience to not leave out and just is the legacy the game leaves behind. [h1]7.4/10[/h1] [b]Shame how the devs don't do more horror-oriented works[/b]

A modern combination of retro Resident Evil and Silent Hills that excels both in story and atmosphere. Controls can be a little clunky at times but for some reason this have almost become a horror game trope of it's own. And the Linux port was flawless and stable for me so big thanks for this Linux port!

It's really not that good..... COLINA : Legacy is a mess. I tried to like it. I tried to enjoy what it had to offer, and wanted to, but this one is tough to really enjoy. There is an interesting story under a very confusing structure. Puzzles are in just random places with poor to no context. Lights are confusing at times to figure out what to use on what. Combat is janky as hell. So what's good about it? Well, the Graphics are really nice to look at, and the visuals do have some nice charm to it at times. The story as I mentioned is interesting, and really tries to keep you, and the voice work is pretty good for the game. All that aside, you are thrown into the game like a ragdoll, and on your own from the start. You tend to pick up vocal ques to aid you along the way, but it's mostly you just figuring it all out, and it isn't that fun doing it. I can see the effort on the wall, but I don't see the delivery of something stable enough to hold interest. Alex is not a very interesting Protag because he isn't doing much to be interesting. They let text readings just do the work, and some times an audio que. Overall, CONLINA : Legacy is a dry experience. There isn't much to fear here. Just the fear of a headache from the amount of puzzles you'll be solving.... 4/10

I wanted to like Colina: Legacy far more than I actually did. The game starts off on an amazing foot - you awaken in your grandmother's house after a long car trip to see if she's alright, and slowly begin to piece together the clues as to the extremely disturbing reason why your grandmother and mother have become estranged, all while you are being hunted down by a wailing creature in the claustrophobic confines of the house. The combat mechanic involving the use of a flashlight, runes, and needing to preserve you battery powers creates a wonderful tense atmosphere that genuinely makes you uncomfortable. And then every ounce of good will the game built up got yeeted out the window. Those tiny, but loaded, story tidbits get chucked aside for random notes and drawings and there seems to be a jarring tonal shift from Serious Toxic Family Dynamics to Cthulu. And if you don't read all the notes (which range from research data, birthday cards, and rejected HP Lovecraft story notes) the story doesn't exist in the natural flow of the game. The tense combat goes away when you enter a large, open area and enemies vanish up until the end when they are less frightening and more of an annoyance. Half the time, I wandered about because the game isn't clear on what you have to do, and half the time the solutions aren't clear because an object you need to use an item on is treated the same as a random item with flavor text. The clever flashlight combat and puzzle-solving mechanic becomes an afterthought, with getting battery power more of an annoyance than tense survival horror resource management. It's a shame, because the bones of a great survival horror game is there. However, the game appears to be extremely confused whether it wants to be a Silent Hill-style psychological horror, an Amnesia-style Lovecraftian horror, and instead of picking one or another, it chooses to be both. And unfortunately for Colina, it can't be both. Also, the game basically spoils it's big, end-game twist at the very start of the game by plastering hidden phrases over all the house walls which you can easily reveal with your magic flashlight. Look, if you want your twist to be a surprise, do not refer to the character you are playing with the name of Well Known Character Who is Known for One Specific Thing.

Great light survival horror adventure game that took 6 hours to complete. The first half of the game feels like Alone in the Dark and takes place in a house. The second half of the game feels a bit like Tomb Raider, with puzzles in an underground ancient temple. + This game is extremely polished and works perfectly. You can tell the developers have pride in this game and worked hard on it. + The art style and graphics are beautiful, in 2024 on max settings it feels like a brand new game. + The story is original, and there are over 100 well written interesting notes spread all over the game explaining a massive original backstory to the game. Its really impressive how many notes there are, more than any survival horror game I've ever played actually. + The underground ancient temple puzzles were interesting to explore and fun to complete. + The sound effects in the game are creepy and atmospheric. - There are several slide puzzles in the game which are super annoying and time consuming. - More enemy variety would have been nice. - Near the end of the game, there is a lack of direction in parts, I was lost for about an hour trying to figure out what to do with a certain item. Overall 8.5 / 10

A solid survival horror game with some rough edges with a focus on problem solving and exploration. There is combat/enemies but they're more minor obstacles and don't dramatically impede progress (you are also provided health items generously). Much of the story is told through notes that you find across the world which, from what I've read used to be very frontloaded in the starting house but appear to have been patched to be spread out over the other areas. All in all there's about five areas to go through and depending on how much time you spend poking around at puzzles or reading it should run you about four or so hours. Primary rough spots: - Some optional items are behind sliding block puzzles - No checkpoints. Save often if you don't want to say, complete a sliding block puzzle, die, and then have to do it again... - Time does not pause while you are reading material you pick up. Ensure you're reading in a safe area. - While there are enough clues most times that its hands off approach to problem solving is fine, there are one or two situations that are less than obvious/require you to remember something you no longer have access to. I do highly recommend taking the time to read the notes as I imagine much of the game would be seemingly without context without the mythology they describe, and the story feels more cohesive (if still a little vague at points) with that background. Honorable mention for being the first horror game I've seen that acknowledges that rechargable batteries exist; allowing you to recharge your flashlight batteries at convenient wall outlets.

I wanna start this review off by saying, wow this game is a freaking steal. If you guys are reading this while it's on sale, then BUY IT! If you're a fan of Alan wake, silent Hill, resident evil, ect then this has some extremely strong vibes from the older titles from those series. It absolutely nails it! It's worth mentioning on top of that, the developers themselves are very active with the community, check out how the dev actually stopped by in my stream and gave me some commentary! I give this a solid 9/10! Even at full price this game is an absolute steal guys! https://youtu.be/o56H7gCoERM