Superliminal9/12/2023 ![]() ![]() “Superliminal” is more concerned with variety, and keeping each puzzle simple, yet striking and memorable. Most puzzle games are interested in creating deep puzzles. “Superliminal” is so brief and so continuously creative with what it demands, while its puzzles remain easy to solve, that even if I was frustrated for a little bit, that frustration was quickly replaced by joy at the ingenuity and sheer visual spectacle of the solutions. That may sound negative, but it isn’t necessarily. The player either understands what they need to do, or they don’t. There is one correct action to solve the puzzle. The player must scale up the cheese by dragging it into a position where it looks large, so they can use it as a ramp to reach the button. One early puzzle involves a button, which needs to be pressed to open a door, placed on a ledge unreachable to the player and a small wedge of cheese. “Superliminal,” in contrast, is about fumbling blindly to find one correct action, like trying to fit a square peg into the appropriate hole while blindfolded. ![]() Most puzzle games demand that the player perform a complex series of interlocking tasks, drawn from a toolbelt of abilities the player has learned to appreciate. When I started “Superliminal,” I was expecting deep, intricate puzzles. Despite how unique it sounds, the game is actually really simplistic. The rest of the game follows the player as they try to escape the malfunctioning simulation solving increasingly bizarre and surreal perspective puzzles along the way. Very shortly into the game, something goes awry. This therapy is, in the game’s world, a sleep simulation. The player uses this to manipulate the world around them, solving a series of puzzles, all while voice-overs shepherd the player through the game’s narrative - an experimental therapy being given to the player character for some hinted at mental illness. ![]() An item that is dragged far into the air, and so looks large, will become large. In the video game “Superliminal,” items become the size they appear to the player. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |