Monument Valley (iOS, 2014)
Graphics-8.5 Sound-7.5 Control-8 Challenge-6 Story-5.5
Level Design-7.5 Frustration-6 Fun-7.5 Originality-6.5
Overall-7.5
+
Great art direction (minimalistic, middle eastern? and medieval european architecture)
Clever puzzles utilizing perspective illusions and geometry (Similar to Fez but isometric, there's also a few where you use a moving pillar (which the designers tried to humanize a bit) to get Ida further)
Pretty nice sound design (switches etc. make musical sounds when interacted with, ambient soundtrack)
Some very elaborate levels architecture-wise
Good pathfinding
+/-
Pretty barebones and shallow story told in a dramatic fashion, menu icons without text explanations
No lives or continues
No violence
Can't move if you can't see your avatar (but you can make her move behind stuff if the destination is visible and the path is clear)
-
Some inconsistency in where you can and can't move (last level's "hub" room for example)
Only ten levels in the main game (plus one longer level called Ida's dream which has no story connection)
Some level elements are a bit hard to spot on an phone screen (ladders, some switches)
Some overly dragged out and easy parts
Can't skip cutscenes (they aren't particularly long or frequent though) or speed up the game speed (to make crows walk faster for example)
Level Design-7.5 Frustration-6 Fun-7.5 Originality-6.5
Overall-7.5
+
Great art direction (minimalistic, middle eastern? and medieval european architecture)
Clever puzzles utilizing perspective illusions and geometry (Similar to Fez but isometric, there's also a few where you use a moving pillar (which the designers tried to humanize a bit) to get Ida further)
Pretty nice sound design (switches etc. make musical sounds when interacted with, ambient soundtrack)
Some very elaborate levels architecture-wise
Good pathfinding
+/-
Pretty barebones and shallow story told in a dramatic fashion, menu icons without text explanations
No lives or continues
No violence
Can't move if you can't see your avatar (but you can make her move behind stuff if the destination is visible and the path is clear)
-
Some inconsistency in where you can and can't move (last level's "hub" room for example)
Only ten levels in the main game (plus one longer level called Ida's dream which has no story connection)
Some level elements are a bit hard to spot on an phone screen (ladders, some switches)
Some overly dragged out and easy parts
Can't skip cutscenes (they aren't particularly long or frequent though) or speed up the game speed (to make crows walk faster for example)