NaissanceE - An experience you should not miss

I have to thank @drewbert a bunch for making me aware of this game. Without Drew talking about the game on the Game of the Year 2014 podcast I would probably never have bought it. But he did, and I did. And I am richer for it.

While I want to write a lot about the game, what happens, what I think happens, and show images from some of the more impressive stages, I won't. Doing so would be a disservice to the game, as discovering those things yourself is what makes the game so good. But Drew was right. In the beginning there are cubes and blocks. Put together in various ways, sure, but blocks nonetheless. So the moment you encounter a circle... it's weird, in a way. There have been more impressive sights before that, but it still resonates in a way. And it keeps on piling on things.

The closest game I can think of is Journey. In Journey the main event for me was the exploration and feeling of discovery. The music paired with the visuals made it onto a cheerful, sometimes melancholy, thing. It was hopeful, open and vast. Meeting other players made it a happy world. NaissanceE is at times pushing you down, it is claustrophobic, and actually scary in a way. Helped a lot by the sound design, but also by the stark visuals. The hard edges, the black and white. And while it is just as vast as Journey, it almost feels sinister. These are of course feelings, and feelings are highly subjective. Your mileage may vary, but I loved every second of it. Or nearly so.

It has it's bad moments as well. Namely the first person platforming. And there is a lot of it. Mostly it works, and it doesn't task you with that difficult jumps. But there are a few sequences that really ground me down. At a few of them it actually seemed like the game did some course correction, moved a few blocks, thus making it easier. But I am not sure about that, might have been my imagination. If it did, then cool. A game with first person platforming should make steps to make it easier when someone fails at one part over and over. If not, then space and time is even stranger in NaissanceE than I thought.

But for every time I felt frustrated by the platforming, there are three or four moments of slack jawed gawking at something that at first made my mind go "Holy fuck". Then I believe I smiled. Grinned even, as spectacle out of sheer visuals is hard to do these days. I am sure you look across larger areas of space in games like Far Cry 4, and yet the areas of NaissanceE is magnitudes more impressive. And when some of those moments got interrupted by a scary fucking sound in the wall nearby, it quickly turned into "Oh no, I need to move!". And onward you push into the unknown shadows. Which brings me to another thing this game does masterfully, light and dark. The lighting system might be simple, I don't know, but it is really impressive. If there is one game where it is important to follow the suggested gamma settings, it is this.

So I'll echo Drew. Play this. More people should.

Played a lot of puzzle/adventure games last year and not only is it special, it was easily the best looking game and after thinking about it for a while was probably my personal GOTY. Every room, angle, moment can be a screenshot and the heights were sometimes dizzying. Another overlooked diamond, but not for those who get to enjoy.

I picked this up after the GOTY stuff and had a really good time with it. Played it through in one sitting. For the most part I liked the nearly complete lack of direction, but I felt that the desert area could have been a little better (I felt like I spent way too much time wandering around accomplishing nothing). My favorite part of the game was the "Going Down" segment. The first time I walked into that room it blew me away- and then again after I made it down to where I initially thought the bottom was going to be.

Looks like an interesting game, I'll check it out soon.

This has been on my to-play list for a while...I definitely should get around to it.

@jaqen_hghar: Well nothing else that interests me is out right now so you might have sold me on it, granted that it's not too expensive. I don't mind experimental weird indie games but I rather not pay over $20 for an hour long experience. How long is it?

Intriguing! I'll def check it out - thanks man.

@humanity: Well, it is not that long. Steam clocks it on 3 hours. I could, and should have, explored more at a few stages though, so I am going to head back in when I got time.

@nophilip: That segment was awesome. I had gone "ooh, ahh!" several times before that, but when entering that room I just couldn't say a thing. So good!
But yeah, a few areas was very aimless. You don't always know if you are going the right way, but that is also what I liked about it. Made it feel, at least a bit, like I was the one going on an adventure. Not some scripted pre-defined character going on a journey.

Its an amazing game. I disliked the final chapter, but everything leading up to it was mind-blowing.