Phil in the Mirror

Phil in the Mirror pleasantly surprised me in a lot of ways. I'm not really into anomaly hunts, but I really liked the way they were implemented (and later, recontextualized) in this game. I thought the puzzles were very well designed and felt satisfying to solve. It looks like I played after some difficulty adjustments were made, and I think it strikes a nice balance of having some tricky puzzles, but none that felt frustrating or like I didn't have the necessary information to solve it. I was also surprised by how invested I found myself in the narrative. The game has a pretty heavy tone shift in the second act, which I found to be very compelling, and enough breadcrumbs were left to always keep me interested in going to the next puzzle to find out more about what was going on in the story. All in all, a really solid puzzle game, and one I'd highly recommend for any fans of the genre!

Phil in the Mirror is a clever blend of anomaly hunting and puzzling, frequently doing well in its endeavor to recontextualize its scares into satisfying payoffs as you uncover its narrative. Largely, it is successful, with its various puzzles often having clear logic or accompanied by nice Aha! moments. Some steps of its puzzles are more obtuse or much less narratively relevant, which unfortunately fall flat. I would say that its pacing is mostly spot on, though the moments of uncertainty do lead to a bit of banging head against the wall. Overall, it's quite successful in what it's trying to do and is rather smart in its mixing of the genres. As a short-to-mid-length game, it can be completed in a weekend and is definitely unique. I am 98% certain that the song that plays over the ending credits is AI generated. Everyone has an opinion on AI-generated music, and I agree with many that think that it's pretty gross, especially as a musician. It left a pretty unappealing stain on an otherwise good experience. I'm not going to drive down the review scores just for this, though. There's a lot to really enjoy with Phil in the Mirror, and I would still recommend it for fans of puzzle …

[h1]This in an excelent game.[/h1] There are 2 parts. The first one, shorter, it's an anomaly hunting. The second one, the real game, it's a puzzle game. No idea why is not more well known. Completely underrated. If you like jumpscares, then DO NOT click this (this comment will ruin them): [spoiler] There are only 2 jumpscares, if I remember correctly. One at the very beggining, and one a bit later, still during the first part of the game. The second one is a bit milder one, just a screem, nothing that can be seen. There's something that maybe can be consider a third one where you hear some knocking on a door, again nothing that can be seen. After that you are safe. Those scares where only to set the mood, nothing is going to jump on you after that.[/spoiler] IMPORTANT: Ray tracing is mandatory. Anyway, great game. I will keep my eyes open for more from this dev.

This game is super underrated! Definitely play if you Like Blue Prince and other Metroidbranias

Great puzzles with an interesting and emotional story hidden beneath

Solid Puzzle game. Highly recommend.