Chasing the Unseen

What a beautifully peaceful game. I saw this game on reddit a few times while it was still being developed. Not that it is terribly long, as you can see by my playtime. The game itself is rather simple, but follows a true path of Buddhist meditation. Like when meditating, the point is the process not the final outcome. However achievement hunting becomes much much easier after you have completed the journey. Definitely a game for platform lovers; It is all about how you manipulate the environment to your whims.

If you've played and liked NaissancE you'll probably like this. Both are similar in that they gave me the feeling of playing some 3d platformer and glitching my way outside the level into the skybox, into some area that was never designed to be reachable but you can manage to explore regardless. Its a game of traversing terrain that's clearly not designed to be traversable (or not designed at all! It looks like its generated with some generative systems or noise functions, with only rare bits of intentional terrain) and then given some sparse things to help you - waypoints to keep your progress, guidance to the next waypoint, and certain things to help you past impassable terrain (the creatures and other intentionally-placed objects). The game has a theme of meditation, which unfortunately seems to hurt the final level, as its mostly stripped of the usual gameplay resulting in something thats more a winding-down than a climax to the game, in the service of the theme. Despite the theme, don't expect it to be a calming game - it's quite frustrating at times. While I finished all the levels, I did not have the patience to chase after all the critters to unlock the extra conte…

This is a very odd, very atmospheric, very lonely-feeling game. The environments are huge and labyrinthian (which is part of the gameplay, you are finding your way through several labyrinths) and the colossal creatures add to the otherworldly-ness of the emptiness. It feels meditative (the labyrinths all have names) and if you're not in a hurry to explore and maybe chase capybaras through twists and turns and lose your way, this might be the kind of game for you. I did get lost here and there, but generally, so long as I was orientating myself towards another goal, I found my way.

Chasing the Unseen, developed and published by Strange Shift Studio, is an atmospheric third-person exploration adventure that prioritizes mood, scale, and abstract symbolism over conventional gameplay structure. Rather than presenting players with combat systems, skill trees, or traditional objectives, the game places them in the role of a young protagonist wandering through a vast, surreal landscape populated by colossal, organic entities. It is less about defeating obstacles and more about navigating them—physically and emotionally—through climbing, gliding, and careful traversal across dreamlike terrain. The core of the experience revolves around movement. Players climb enormous, living structures that double as both environment and creature, scaling twisting limbs, ridges, and fractal formations that stretch toward the sky. Traversal mechanics are simple but central to the experience. A glide or parachute-like mechanic softens falls and allows for controlled descents, turning vertical exploration into a rhythmic dance between ascent and gravity. The absence of combat shifts the focus entirely onto physical navigation, giving each climb a contemplative pace. There is tension i…

While, admittedly, the environments, from what little I've played, are very pretty and the scale inspires a degree of awe, this hardly feels like a game. I got the impression that someone wanted an excuse to show off their cool blender models so they ported some open source platforming mechanics in and hardly tested it. The environments are not fun to maneuver around and don't feel designed for the purpose of a game at all. While I began with a big urge to explore, it was quickly stifled after I dropped to a place that seemed traversable enough, just for it not to be in the slightest, requiring me to jump off until I ran out of lives so that I could respawn at a checkpoint. With mixed reviews, I didn't expect much, but I was really hoping for a halfway decent walking simulator to explore these cool environments. I don't remember how much I got this game for but my gut tells me it wasn't worth the price, let alone the full $20 price tag. I probably intend to play more of the game because I do want to see more of the pretty environments, but partly because I feel bad refunding money from an obviously struggling indie dev. Get this game if you really want to jump on the things you se…

I am very taken aback, in the best possible way. While I knew this game was going to be special and unique after I previously tested it a bit, while delving into it deeper And spending more time, eventually finishing it, I struggle to describe precisely my feelings. I suppose the most accurate way would be to say I am content and satisfied. But also flabbergasted. I was not expecting the game to feel so... overwhelming. The sheer magnitude of the megastructures, the size of the creatures and constructs, it all made my head spin. An experience I've only felt during VR games, But not an unwelcome one. While I did feel a bit dizzy, it was more out of sheer amazement and bedazzlement. I adored every second of exploring the world. I've never played anything like this before. The closest experience in certain aspects, I feel would be shadow of the colossus. A parallel not easily granted. While the actual gameplay is very different, the scale of creatures is comparable. An important aspect that the game left me with, is the whole meditative experience that I was feeling during it. For the unique gameplay aspect, I really quite enjoyed that the game, while easy, still is…