Ah this was a highly requested game. I had always wanted to get back to this game, and you as my viewers and voters gave a legitimate reason to do so. FRACT OSC is quite a unique and hyped-up game, but does it live up to its billing? I hope this review gives a better idea on how to answer that question. First Impressions The trailer looked impressive and the title itself was enough to entice me to play the game. The developer described the game as a "boldly styled Myst-like adventure". Having played through one of the Myst games, I was even more curious on how the game would play out. Also knowing that it was a musical themed game, I went into the game with rhythm-based games such as Audiosurf and Guitar Hero in mind. Thoughts When classifying this game, think Antichamber meets Kairo meets an influx of color. I was truly amazed by the amount of color and ambient music in the background. I can definitely see the Myst influences with its very open-world exploration. The integration of music into the games through puzzles and movement is one of the strong points of the game's design. Furthermore, the OSC part of the title now makes sense to me. OSC is short for oscillator, and proves the point that music doesn't have to be limited to rhythm-based games such as Audiosurf, Guitar Hero, and Sequence. For those who don't know what oscillators are, imagine a pendulum. When you hang it from a string, it swings from side-to-side, creating wavelengths that would vary based on the distance traveled and length of the string. Other oscillators include tuning forks and the strings on a violin or guitar. Despite that, to be honest, I was slightly disappointed in the game. If you were just playing for the exploration and the aesthetics, you won't be disappointed. However, in terms of intuitive puzzles and a story progressions, it falls a bit short. It isn't a bad game by any merit, in fact it is a game I highly recommend, but with all the comparisons to Antichamber and Kairo, those two games do a better job in the puzzle aspects. What I would have liked was some sort of backstory and an achievement system, so we know which sections we completed. While the game nailed the design choices, it might have been oversaturated by the musical aspect, and detracted from the adventure aspect of the game. There really wasn't anything to interact with besides the puzzles, and very little explanation (if any) was given in-game about why each of the puzzles worked the way they did. I wouldn't have minded if there was a pendulum or tuning fork in game where there would be an explanation of how oscillation works. All in all, I would still highly recommend this game to all sorts of gamers. There is enough exploration and puzzles in the game to last you quite a few hours, and maybe you might learn a thing or two you didn't know about puzzles and game design. I hope this has been an insightful review. See you later! |
About MeHi, I go by letsmaybeLP92 on many sites on the Internet. I enjoy reading and testing out the newest and oldest games out there, as well as sharing my passion with others. Archives
March 2023
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