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Title: Doorways: Prelude
Genre: Action, Adventure, Indie
Developer:
Saibot Studios
Publisher:
Saibot Studios
Release Date: 20 Sep, 2013
English
I struggled with what my recommendation would be on this one. I originally purchased the bundle on sale back in 2016, and only just now played Prelude. I personally can't speak to any of the controversy people mention in their reviews about early access and charging for the other bits when they were supposed to be free because I didn't know the game existed back then and couldn't be bothered to look into it. I don't agree with some of the labels on this one. This is definitely not an action game. Adventure might be a bit generous as well. At best I would call it a walking sim with light puzzling and platforming. But it's not a bad game at all. Let's get to it.
TL;DR: I do recommend the game, but only on sale. $10 feels a little too steep for this very short game.
Pros:
- Very atmospheric and immersive. Here's the thing: many reviews moan about the darkness. I was frustrated by it initially, but it served its purpose very well. The darkness wasn\u2019t that terrible (probably thanks to reducing glare on my screen by playing it later in the day), and it heavily increased my immersion into the game, and really helped make the jump scares effective. It's a tactic that was used back in the flash days with the maze game, but it works well here. The music and tone of the entire game also lends well to the atmosphere. Symbol crashes and various other crescendos in the music happened at just the right time to really up the tension.
- The story is told through visuals as much as it is through narration. The character has regular flashbacks\/visions in certain areas that both serve as jump scares as well as context\/narration for what you see. Additionally, there are notes to pick up all through the levels, which are narrated very well by the chosen voice actor. It lends enough for you to understand your motivations and what is happening.
- Short game. I show 2.6 hours on record for this one, but I had to replay one chapter to find a note I missed, and redid the tutorial to grab a statue I missed. There are a sizable number of collectibles to find, but you don't necessarily need to go too far out of your way to find them. The notes help tell the story, as mentioned above, and the statues\/other bits are just for flavor, but almost everything is either on your way to your next objective or requires a very slight detour to the location you unlocked previously. I did not feel the collectibles padded game time.
- Fairly simple. This is a con as well, but it serves putting it in here twice. I played this as a quick diversion from playing Total War Warhammer 2. It\u2019s a good enough title to break up longer games you may be playing. Of course, since this game is broken up into 3 separate games, that may be difficult if you planned to get the full Doorways experience.
Cons:
- Since I just mentioned it, it is far too simple. The darkness adds artificial challenge to some puzzles, but it wasn't as big of a problem as some reviews would have you believe. However, most of the puzzles required VERY little thought to solve, and there was no real danger if you missed a jump or otherwise. The internal checkpointing of the game was extremely generous. Most sections that could cause a Game Over would start you right at the beginning of said section, and they were not very long sections.
- Overly reliant on jump scares. As I mentioned, the game builds great tension with the darkness, music, and atmosphere, but almost every scare is a jump scare. Most of the "dread" you will feel is just that feeling that another scare is just around the corner. With the aforementioned lack of any real danger, there is nothing to truly fear.
- Broken into 3 separate games. I feel there was no good reason for doing this. From what I can tell, the devs simply wanted to push something out to make a quick buck and build
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