Guayota

This is one of those times I wish Steam had a neutral review, but ultimately I think what I'm about to describe is a fatal flaw, at least it was for me, so I'm giving a thumbs down. Despite that, I think this game is awesome. It's a totally original idea with cool mechanics and strong puzzle design. They're not totally obvious at first glance but not so hard that you'll want to resort to trial and error. Each one can be reasoned out or intuited once you understand the full scope of the problem. So why the thumbs down? Because truthfully, only half of the game is enjoyable. Each level has two versions - light and dark. You begin each level in the light version, and if you die you get sent to the dark version. Beating either version will let you progress to the next level, and beating both versions rewards you with some additional lore. The problem is the light levels. Every light level has obstacles that can damage you. 3 hits and you're dead. Some levels have a place to heal yourself back to full health, but it can only be used once. Best case you can take 5 hits. When you die you get sent to the dark version of the level, or the level simply resets if you've already beaten the …

[h2] Good for what it is, but not what I expected [/h2] I saw some ads about the game on TikTok some time ago, and since it seemed like it was some sort of Zelda inspired game with a mythology that I didn't know till date, I instantly wishlisted it. But... It doesn't feel like that after finishing the first temple, it reminds me more of some game like "Baba is You", but with different mechanics. The thing is that the game has the exploration tag, but is actually some puzzle game with some in between level selector, which is completely fine but I hoped that the path to the puzzles would give me more context about the story. [h3]The good[/h3] [list] [*] Audio quality: I've experienced some issues with some other indie titles on my 7.1 headphones, but the quality is really good here it's definitely a pretty good experience in that regard. [*] Voice acting: Despite it not having much of it, I found it very compelling both in English and Spanish (didn't try others), though personally I liked better the Spanish one and I recommend to play it with voices in Spanish, which leads to the next point. [*] Settings: You can configure the voices and the game's text in the language…

Guayota is an intriguing puzzle-adventure game developed by Team Delusion and published by Dear Villagers that successfully combines mythological storytelling with challenging gameplay. Set against the backdrop of the Canary Islands and inspired by the island's indigenous Guanche culture and its legends, the game invites players to explore an atmospheric world that is both mysterious and unsettling. At its core, Guayota presents a deeply immersive experience where players take on the role of a nameless explorer on a quest to find the mythical Saint Brendan's Island. What begins as a serene journey quickly unfolds into something far more sinister, weaving cosmic horror elements into the narrative that steadily build a palpable sense of dread throughout the game. The gameplay centers on solving intricate light-based puzzles within a series of ancient temples, each dedicated to a different deity from the island’s mythology. Players must manipulate various light sources—ranging from torches to beams of energy—to unlock mechanisms and progress through increasingly complex environments. What sets Guayota apart is its unique dual-realm mechanic: when players fail or run out of time, they…

Puzzles are fun and give you good "I know what I need to do, now how do I do that?" moments. Did all but one of the puzzle rooms (I kept dying and admitted defeat). It's also a time period and location you don't hear about too often so that was nice, too.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Lovecraft/comments/1f6d4ch/guayota_the_origin_of_darkness "Guayota is a challenging 3D Puzzler with an engaging Cosmic Horror narrative and setting inspired by the Canary Islands' Myths—searching for a fabled Paradise on Earth that should have remained a phantom among legends. "Guayota gets a strong recommendation."

I'm not exactly sure how I found this little gem in the rough, but I have to say it's quite a charming and fun little puzzle game. Most of the stages are split into dark and light modes, with the light one generally being more action-focused, featuring various traps, quick thinking and a health bar, and the dark ones, which don't have a health bar, give you room to think and generally introduce you to new mechanics in a controlled and safe envoirment. Sometimes the dark stages feel like a tip on how to solve the light ones, but sometimes they feel like their own (quite difficult) thing. As far as I understand, the game can be finished with you doing either of the versions, so if you're just looking for a puzzle game with little to no action, I guess you could skip the light mode. The game is hella satisfying to play, features a ton of mechanics, introduced over the course of the whole game, slowly being mixed together, so the complexity isn't overburdening the player too quickly. The stages (except for some endgame ones) are quite short, so it's a great game to play in short bursts, doing a stage or two every time you go back from work or something. The last serval stages can re…