Inside

I just realized I can add captions to images(easily, without going into html view). You have no idea how many times I wanted to add captions to images but also didn't want to make a habit of using html for my stupid little blog posts. Anyway, if I wasn't just explaining that I found captions, I would caption this: "This is the most interesting screenshot I took that isn't a spoiler."

• Genre: Adventure
• Spoiler Free Review: Yes.
• Time Played: ~4 Hours
• Too Short/Long: While it's pretty short, it's fine for what it is, much longer would have dragged it out.
• Soundtrack: There is barely a soundtrack, it's mostly just ambient noises with a couple swells of tones.
• Why I played: I've been recommended Inside a lot. Both indirectly via youtube videos or articles from sources I enjoy, and directly by people I know. It's come up more than most games. I played Limbo and... kind of liked it, so I figured I'd give this a shot.
• Did I cry: No.
• Jank: There isn't much to be janky. Maybe the worst thing is sometimes it seems like the interactions can be particular when they should give a little more range of access.
• Difficulty: It's not really that difficult. There are a few moments in the game where spatial awareness combined with clever maneuvers are required but it starts you approximately 10 seconds before that so you get to try again right away.
• Recommend to others: Maybe it just didn't click with me, but I wouldn't go out of my way to recommend this. I don't think it was a bad game, it just wasn't that interesting. I didn't even love Limbo the way some people did when that was newer, and I don't think this is as good as that.

There isn't too much to elaborate on here. The game is pretty... straight forward. As in you walk straight forward, interact with the one or two interactable objects and then continue to walk straight forward. Sometimes you need to have specific timing to your walking forward and sometimes you need to jump while walking forward. Occasionally you'll be swimming forward, and there are a few instances of the game where they mix it up, just a little bit. In interesting ways mind you, ways that some other games would(and have) made entire gimmicks out of.

That said, I feel like you could have really expanded on any of those mechanics and made a more full game play experience. Not that I think its entirely incomplete, but it lacks something, for me. There is no dialog, the narrative is entirely contextual. You're a little boy and you're running from some people and as you go on you see more and more things. There is room to speculate on these things, if you're someone who likes to do theorize. If you don't, then it feels pretty... straight forward.

Inmost

• Genre: Puzzle Platforming
• Time Played: <5 Hours
• Too Short/Long: Fine for what it is, I wouldn't have minded some more Knight sequences extending it out a little.
• Pleased/Disappointed: Played through in one sitting, so I think I enjoyed it a bit.
• Why I played: I like a lot of the games Chucklefish publishes, and I think that might be the only reason I really checked this out. It's been on my wishlist forever and maybe I initially added it for another reason, but I forgot.
• Recommend to others: Maybe, if you wanna be sad.

Back in the day when the indie gaming scene wasn't as prevalent I would exclaim that 90% of indie titles are either Metroidvania, Rogue-likes(or lites, whatever), or allegories for depression. This ticks two of those boxes, so I'm not thinking things have changed too much.

In the case of Inmost, it literally has you jumping from the allegory parts to the not so allegory parts. Basically the game's story is saying in both an obtuse and not obtuse manner is that how you act has an affect on others. If you need help, get help(which it very literally says during credits).

Gameplay-wise it's a pretty fun little adventure with a guy where you go around and figure out how to unlock the next areas and backtrack and unlock the next areas, except when you're playing as a little girl wandering around in a house, or a Knight absolutely destroying the enemies that kill the other dude on contact.

I would have liked to have seen more Knight sequences, and maybe a couple like fights or platforming challenges using it's unique mechanics. The Knight has a grappling hook, which you do use a good bit in it's first couple sequences, but almost none later, but see him use it in cool ways in cut-scenes. That said, I don't think this game was made with the intent of any of the action being all that challenging. It just would have been really cool and likely taken the game to a definitely recommend from me.

Metrico+

• Genre: Platforming Puzzle
• Time Played: 4.6 Hours
• Too Short/Long: Feels about right for what it is. I was getting a little fatigued at the very end.
• Pleased/Disappointed: Kinda Neutral.
• Why I played: I played a demo of Metrico a long time ago, on Vita I think, and it left quite the impression on me. I always meant to play it. I think I got it super cheap in a recent sale.
• Recommend to others: I don't really feel like I would recommend it. It's not bad, but... it's not as special as it could be. I would probably recommend many other platforming puzzle games first.

Metrico starts off really strong, it introduces cool mechanics based off movement and a world that responds to your every interaction, and presents itself as a game inspired by... metrics/analytics... it's Excel.. the platformer, but as the puzzles become more challenging, it's more about figuring out specifically what makes the world interact with you, rather than everything you do changing the space around you.

I think it could have been really cool if the world was much more dynamic and complicated and responded to each new mechanic, causing layers of interactions, but I can also see how it would be really hard to develop puzzles around that. In the end, I feel like it's a game that starts off strong then just becomes a mess of flailing around until you figure out what works so you can solve the puzzle. It's a cool idea, but probably implemented in other games more successfully.