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amazon Iris.Fall reviews
As an area with a very long culture, Europe and its architectural style have become an icon, an extremely rich artistic dot, typical for a period of human history. The ancient, breathtaking beauty and so famous of European architecture have made it widely used on entertainment media, especially video games. But because of such a “hierarchy” appearance, perhaps no one is strangers to the contemporary European scene.
So how do you bring to life the charms of ancient Europe, to rekindle interest from people so familiar with it? It seems that NEXT Studios has found its answer, and the answer is … black and white. From an unfamiliar architecture and basic graphic style like “out of date”, the producer has molded an extremely “magical” puzzle game called Iris. Fall.
Entering the world of Iris. Fall, you are drawn into a past space, combining classical European architecture with black and white graphics – characteristic of early cinema. But if you just stop there, the game must not be enough to “attract” players at first sight. Therefore, Iris. Fall has created a breakthrough with magical highlights, unreal creatures, objects, and dreamy fantasy space dimensions. The world in the game seems to be made up of the silhouette of miraculous stories that everyone is familiar with such as Peter Pan, Cinderella, The Little Match Girl … Those fairy drawings are like leading the player into a strange fantasy world. that is, where their childhood seems to have gone through the pages of stories and cartoons. But that childhood world was not colorful, but covered with endless darkness of two-color graphics. Dreaming but dark, magical but familiar … that’s how Iris. Fall has made many players “flustered” at first sight.
Adorn the attractive graphics backgrounds are detailed sound effects and mysterious magic soundtrack, extremely in harmony with the scene of the game.
Then, taking place inside that dark fantasy space is a story equally mysterious and magical. After waking up from a dream, Iris saw a figure of a black cat by the window. She curiously followed the cat and got lost in an ancient theater, or rather, the maze of two extremes of light and dark. Discovering the secrets of that theater, Iris gradually realized that this place seemed to have something to do with her.
The game’s plot is filled with mystery. The game does not “take the lead” to let you understand what is going on but instead offers quite vague suggestions, and of course, makes each person have their way of thinking. Some people may find value because it leaves in themselves something magical, dreamy to ponder, but some may find it uninteresting because the story is shown a little fuzzy. But one thing is for sure that the plot contains a dark, revealing the “soul” of the game was built.
Next, let’s go to Iris. Fall’s “heart”: puzzles.
Set on the main two-color space, the puzzles are a delicate blend of light and shadow. In the magic theater, Iris can transform into a shadow on the wall and interact with other objects through their dark. From the three-dimensional space that hides all things, Iris can blend into the two-dimensional space of darkness. There, she can overcome obstacles, go to hard-to-reach places, and interact with objects she cannot reach in the physical world.
The variety of puzzles is also a highlight in Iris. Fall. The puzzles come in a variety of genres such as light inference, swordplay, puzzles, or even solving the Rubik’s cube. The challenges in the game are usually not too difficult to overcome… except for the 2x2x2 Rubik Puzzle. The puzzle does not simply ask you to arrange 6 faces of the same color. In the 8 cells of the block, there will be many cells that have the effect of lighting, and you must arrange the cells so that they can shine on the necessary “key points”, opening the door for you to continue. The problem is that if you are not familiar with solving the Rubik’s Cube, it can take you an hour to solve the 2x2x2 challenge of the game.
Overall, as a puzzle game, it can be said that the challenging design in Iris. Fall is done quite creatively. Instead of creating a boring “come here and do” way, a lot of the challenge integrates the entire space on the screen, making everything part of the puzzle. If you want to admire the unique puzzles, mixed in the light and dark “tones,” Iris. Fall is a game that is worth the experience.
Iris. Fall is an extremely creative concept-based game, but it lacks an important adhesive. That is the motivation for players to move on.
The producer tried to create a mysterious storyline and many hidden things for the user who did not know this was a double-edged sword. Due to being so mysterious, during the game, you will not understand “what am I playing for”. After all, what is the main threat to the character? Do not know. After all, what is the character exploring for? I don’t know. So what is the purpose of this journey when it is completely innocuous?
Lack of motivating reason made Iris. Fall a list of puzzles. You play one puzzle after another … so on, alone, there is no bond. Look at texture puzzle games similar to The Missing: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories or Forgotton Anne, they are completely attractive to players, simply because they have a certain motivation to overcome challenges and continue the journey, not like Iris. Fall … hide metaphors of all kinds and in the end, players still do not understand what they are playing for.
In short, unique graphics, mysterious storylines, and extremely diverse puzzles are the highlight of Iris. Fall. But in a way, the game has forgotten to bring the most basic: a drive to experience the journey.