Inner Ashes

The only game that makes you forget things. I played the demo 1 or 2 years ago, I don't remember at the moment. Nice story and setting...I think. My rating is 7 or maybe 8. I should play it again but I don't remember if it's in my library.

This game is the story of single father Henry Hughes and his daughter Enid plus Henry's best friend Joseph who is an important link between past and present. Henry's wife has died and he is a busy park ranger and has to raise Enid on his own. This is their story. Henry has Alzheimer's Disease and can't remember why Enid and him have been estranged for so long. The narrative is an retrospective journey into Henry's mind about the past and what an emotional rollercoaster it is! Henry's mind is in a dreamlike psychedelic state and his memories are unlocked by tangram puzzles. In the real world, you collect fragments of their past. You experience the day to day struggle of Henry and see the many mechanics used to jog his memory. For example there are post-its all around the kitchen explaining what each object was and how to use it; there was a corkboard with instructions for the day and it was very emotional to see messages of how he was loved. Tangram puzzles and post-it stickers are real life techniques used to alleviate symptoms in patients with AD. The game is really a walking sim collecting glowing boxes which represent Enid's paintings which jog her father's memory. The…

Recommended with caveats. The game starts with a warning about photosensitivity- this is important for people with photosensitive neurological conditions and some vision disorders. There are flashing lights, areas of extreme brightness or darkness, and sequences where the screen will white-out making it hard to see where you are moving the character. UI contrast is not so good- white text or icons that get lost on bright or light colored backgrounds. There are very few settings to adjust things- no colorblindness settings, no UI scaling, no UI contrast settings, no resolution options, no VSync on/off. The game is locked to 30 (31) fps, and the camera can be a bit jerky at times. The voice overs do not always match the dialogue text on screen in English. A few words missed here and there, nothing that changes the meaning of what is being said- the native Spanish version is much better, if you are fluent in Spanish. That all said: The music is fantastic- moody, charming, calming, energetic, dark- changing to suit the scenes and story well. The art styles are quite good- both the comic style used in cutscenes and the stylized almost psychedelic style used in the playable game w…

Trata un tema interesante y la historia está bien, aunque su gameplay realmente apenas refuerza la trama. Los puzles de encajar tetrominós carecen de personalidad y están metidos con calzador porque al ser un videojuego "necesita puzles". Creo que el gameplay y los puzles podrían haberse basado en la memorización. El juego se alarga de manera artificial mediante demasiados niveles, amplios espacios y un lento caminar del personaje. El arte es bonito pero un poco genérico por momentos, el bosque otoñal con fuentes termales tiene elementos interesantes, sobre todo los troncos de los árboles con ese rollo gótico a lo Tim Burton, aunque esto tampoco sea muy original de por sí. La música está muy bien, pero no siempre encaja bien en el momento y se repite en bucle sin variación durante el nivel. El doblaje me gustó bastante, muy natural y resultón. Estoy deseando ver qué más juegos hacen Calathea Game Studio.

A first person narrative adventure where you experience the altzheimer effect. A bit clunky around the edges, but it does hit home. Specially since my grandmother faded away from altzheimer.

Heads up - this game is capped at 30fps, has extreme motion blur and has no options for video settings in the game. The developer should take a long hard look in the mirror.