Ruins (2022)

Actually, this could be a really good puzzle game, for better or worse, it has some of the most complex and creative mechanical puzzles, just so many layers of different abilities and how you use them, but it finds a way to make everything harder than it needed to be. I have never been so frustrated with gameplay polish, I can't finish the story because the timing on some of the puzzles is just incredibly precise. For the first 90 minutes, I only run into a few small bugs, but it gets so much worse than that, I can't even begin to describe it, anything from softlocks to just an impossibly low margin for error, I am actually in shock, how did it go from a relaxing puzzle game to being nearly unplayable? I assumed the game was some kind of HLD-inspired action adventure, but the similarities end with the visuals, there is no combat in a traditional sense, and it's mostly a puzzle/platformer with an open world - on that note, I really feel like the devs need to drop the whole blanket thing because you just asking for those comparisons. But as far as I am concerned, this game is in a different genre. The gameplay is structured around using 3 different orbitals that interact with puzz…

I don't have anything to add as the other reviewer already covered everything about the game. Although Ruins might use more polishing, I'm still giving it a thumbs up because it provides a few hours of fun. The game's art and atmosphere are decent. Although the locations are repetitive and the NPCs are forgettable, I don't mind that in a game that is so reasonably priced. What I liked about the game are the pillars that are dispersed throughout the area and disclose a letter of the alphabet. It's completely optional, but it gives you access to additional knowledge about the world. The objective is to search for 100 orbs while exploring this world, which resembles a series of islands above the clouds. You do this by solving puzzles and jumping on platforms. Falling into the void doesn’t matter because you respawn at the nearest piece of land or right before the platforming section. Finding the orbs can be tricky. There is a pillar that shows you how many orbs can be found in the current part of the world, but I still wish there was a better way of locating them. Most puzzles are fine. You usually need to push something, use one of your three tools or simply step on a switch. T…