Your point about increasing complexity through layering mechanics vs. increasing the amount of steps within one mechanic was an especially interesting observation regarding puzzle design. I like that your reviews not only discover weird and obscure games, but also give something to think about. Keep up the good work!
I like to try and offer constructive criticism whenever I can, considering the amount of game devs in the audience. That said, I'm not a game dev myself, so take my ideas with a side of salt as they are often just my honest thoughts based on what I've observed working well in other successful games. It's interesting trying to break down two similar games to see why one works and one doesn't.
So excited to have my first time staring in the show!! And it's a great video too! My first thoughts about what feels inherently off about the game is first that the opening cuntscenes are so visually different to the rest of the game it's a bit jarring. But most of all the thing that makes it all just feel strange is that all the environments with the puzzles in just look... Unnecessarily large, there is so much unnecessary space in all of these chambers, even the closed spaces with the coloured walls are just so big in comparison to the player, they don't feel like chambers anymore. Look at 7:44 for example, there is no reason for the components of this floor to be so far away from the middle of the room let alone each other, how much of this game is padded with additional walking because everything is spaced out so much, it makes things feel so empty. I can't really explain it but it just doesn't seem claustrophobic enough in my opinion
Lol it threw me off for a second cause I was just thinking damn, Nana Hiiragi is here now, neat. In all seriousness, ye I remembered you from last vids comments cause I pointed out your pfp there too.
I think part of what makes this game feel weirdly lacking is that it doesn't have a "core" puzzle element to tie everything together. From the video, it felt like what you'd get if you took Portal and fiddled with half the puzzles so that they didn't involve using portals - not necessarily a bad experience, but definitely a poorer one. And it confuses me a little, because it looks like they have several mechanics that could fill that role (the time manipulation, the non-euclidean geometry, and/or the twin swapping), but I get the impression that they simply didn't commit.
This has been a pretty surprising streak of good games for Steam Sequence! It seems like a good deal of them are puzzle games. On a sidenote: Ever since I found the first few episodes of this series, I've been trying to expand my horizons on what games I play. At the same time, I'm also trying to steer clear of any of the garbage. I'm glad I did because I've found some pretty good stuff so far.
The intro video is done in the style of a channel called Bedtime Stories which retells spooky stories about ghosts and aliens. HIGHLY recommend you check it out if you are into that sort of thing. The time mechanics are also super similar to Time Shift (an amazing shooter for the 360). Well done brother 8)
I thought I'd seen that animation style somewhere before! I'm honestly impressed by how well the time manipulation mechanics just *works* in this game, but I suppose that given that it's not a new concept anymore there are probably a bunch of game dev guides out there that explain how to set up the mechanic in various engines. Still, it's implemented well and I wouldn't want to take credit away from the devs for that.
It does seem that there are a lot of underrated or overlooked puzzle games out there. I wasn't expecting it to be the most prolific genre on the channel, but here we are. I honestly thought it would be flooded with rubbish FPS games
I will say, a game that actually wanted you to get middling results would be fascinating! But like. It would have to offer consequences for both outcomes actually playing out and an actual grading system to make it work. Instead of making it puzzles you either solve or don't
Whomp whomp, not what "Non-Euclidean" means. Non-Euclidean geometry, in simple terms, is the study of geometry on surfaces which are not flat. A sphere is Non-Euclidean. H. P. Lovecraft, i love his stories to death, but he maimed this term for future generations to also use incorrectly. Like, we have a pretty solid basis for saying the entire universe as we know it operates on Non-Euclidean principles, because the ancient mathematician and philosopher Euclid laid out five simple rules that MUST be true, except for the countless times when they actually aren't.
Your point about increasing complexity through layering mechanics vs. increasing the amount of steps within one mechanic was an especially interesting observation regarding puzzle design. I like that your reviews not only discover weird and obscure games, but also give something to think about. Keep up the good work!
I like to try and offer constructive criticism whenever I can, considering the amount of game devs in the audience. That said, I'm not a game dev myself, so take my ideas with a side of salt as they are often just my honest thoughts based on what I've observed working well in other successful games. It's interesting trying to break down two similar games to see why one works and one doesn't.
Your quest is long, arduous and impossible, it is greatly appreciated keep up the good work 👍
Thanks for the kind words! I'm honestly excited to reach the numbered games soon!
So excited to have my first time staring in the show!! And it's a great video too!
My first thoughts about what feels inherently off about the game is first that the opening cuntscenes are so visually different to the rest of the game it's a bit jarring. But most of all the thing that makes it all just feel strange is that all the environments with the puzzles in just look... Unnecessarily large, there is so much unnecessary space in all of these chambers, even the closed spaces with the coloured walls are just so big in comparison to the player, they don't feel like chambers anymore. Look at 7:44 for example, there is no reason for the components of this floor to be so far away from the middle of the room let alone each other, how much of this game is padded with additional walking because everything is spaced out so much, it makes things feel so empty. I can't really explain it but it just doesn't seem claustrophobic enough in my opinion
That's a good observation! There is sooo much unused free space, it can be one of the things that made the game feel a bit off
Lol it threw me off for a second cause I was just thinking damn, Nana Hiiragi is here now, neat.
In all seriousness, ye I remembered you from last vids comments cause I pointed out your pfp there too.
I think part of what makes this game feel weirdly lacking is that it doesn't have a "core" puzzle element to tie everything together. From the video, it felt like what you'd get if you took Portal and fiddled with half the puzzles so that they didn't involve using portals - not necessarily a bad experience, but definitely a poorer one. And it confuses me a little, because it looks like they have several mechanics that could fill that role (the time manipulation, the non-euclidean geometry, and/or the twin swapping), but I get the impression that they simply didn't commit.
This has been a pretty surprising streak of good games for Steam Sequence! It seems like a good deal of them are puzzle games.
On a sidenote: Ever since I found the first few episodes of this series, I've been trying to expand my horizons on what games I play. At the same time, I'm also trying to steer clear of any of the garbage. I'm glad I did because I've found some pretty good stuff so far.
I'm glad that it's helped you to expand your horizons! There's a lot of good games outside of the AAA sphere. Also a lot of bad ones, but hey
LOOK GORDON ROPES WE CAN USE THESE TO HELP TRAVERSE PITS
HELP ME GORDON!
Made me laugh, half life in VR was golden
@@taisato2091 Yes it was they actually say it in the Game kinda
The intro video is done in the style of a channel called Bedtime Stories which retells spooky stories about ghosts and aliens. HIGHLY recommend you check it out if you are into that sort of thing.
The time mechanics are also super similar to Time Shift (an amazing shooter for the 360). Well done brother 8)
I thought I'd seen that animation style somewhere before! I'm honestly impressed by how well the time manipulation mechanics just *works* in this game, but I suppose that given that it's not a new concept anymore there are probably a bunch of game dev guides out there that explain how to set up the mechanic in various engines. Still, it's implemented well and I wouldn't want to take credit away from the devs for that.
Oh wow, another puzzle game, huh. Ngl I was just watching a Talos Principle 2 video when I got the notification
It does seem that there are a lot of underrated or overlooked puzzle games out there. I wasn't expecting it to be the most prolific genre on the channel, but here we are. I honestly thought it would be flooded with rubbish FPS games
The games recently have been to good. Mave have hit the jackpot. Maybe the next game will completely suck.
Well you'll just need to keep watching to find out! Spoilers: The good games run out.
@@Graeldon luck runs out eventually.
Hope you can keep this going, it's really cool to see games I normally wouldn't ever know of
No plans to stop anytime soon!
I will say, a game that actually wanted you to get middling results would be fascinating! But like. It would have to offer consequences for both outcomes actually playing out and an actual grading system to make it work. Instead of making it puzzles you either solve or don't
Day 89 of waiting for Celeste
Day 91 of waiting for Celeste
Day 90 of waiting for Celeste
I got stuck in a small city I don't live in anymore bc of a broken car. I feel lonely and homesick. Thanks for a good youtube series.
What a cracking puzzle game this was, with some right head-scratchers. Recommended.
Curiously, the intro cutscene is almost identical to that of Infinifactory. Seems like the dev took some inspiration.
Man you spoiled the whole game man. At least I turned it off so I could play it out for my self. The game actually too easy.
Whomp whomp, not what "Non-Euclidean" means. Non-Euclidean geometry, in simple terms, is the study of geometry on surfaces which are not flat. A sphere is Non-Euclidean.
H. P. Lovecraft, i love his stories to death, but he maimed this term for future generations to also use incorrectly. Like, we have a pretty solid basis for saying the entire universe as we know it operates on Non-Euclidean principles, because the ancient mathematician and philosopher Euclid laid out five simple rules that MUST be true, except for the countless times when they actually aren't.
Thanks for the video :)
Thanks for watching!