One of the most attractive Apple Arcade titles comes to the Nintendo console to tell a dark and hard story through three characters.
Apple Arcade was launched as a proposal that wanted to promote a new type of mobile game. The one that surely does not have space to succeed among the gatchas and free to play, full of elements such as integrated purchases and an aggressive business model. In the Apple service we have rescued several jewels, among them Sayonara Wild Hearts, which find their space within a subscription that allows imagination to fly. Inmost was one of these bets. Last week it came to Nintendo Switch to bring with it a story of loss and hope. Of death, uneasiness and sacrifices. The Hidden Layer Games game leaves you indifferent.
We are not going to get into big spoils, since Inmost’s gaming experience is below four hours of play and is an indivisible part of its appeal, but we will say that it is a crude game, in which through eyes of three protagonists we see a dark, unkind face of life. The hero, a seemingly normal man who has no combat skills or anything like that and simply tries to escape from the dark beasts that are chasing him is the connecting point of the whole plot, where we also find a young girl trying to escape from danger -much more mundane, but dramatic- and of a knight who fights against beasts with sword and hook in hand.
They are the protagonists of this game in which puzzles play an essential role in understanding the good and not so good of the game. The first thing is that you can see that the style of control and response of the characters was initially raised for mobile phones. A slow pace, a type of jumps and very marked movements and everything built in such a way so that the not so precise touch control does not play tricks on us. We do not say it as a bad thing, but something that is evident that you notice right away. To this is added a development in which normally two or three challenges are not joined at the same time, but we go step by step: one thing leads to another.
And what must we do to advance the story? It depends on each case. After a brief introduction with the little girl under our control, we will have in our hands the worldly man, a normal and ordinary person who solves puzzles as he advances. The protagonist can pick up and push things, find objects that help him to break through – such as a pick to break stone walls – and pick up and fit gadgets wherever he has to. In this way, our progress is developed by taking gears and placing them in machines that allow us to lift ourselves, use ropes to pick up objects from remote areas, mount platforms with a beam previously extracted from another side and push wheelbarrows, find keys and jump from one side to other. All while dodging enemies, jumping over them, or scurrying away when they’re chasing us.
His playable proposal is reflective, always looking for something to interact with on stage. Similar, although with different abilities, is the little girl. That it has a role much more focused on stealth. By not being seen, and having to escape from all different obstacles, the interaction with the stage being focused on rising to places that due to its size does not reach making use of what surrounds it. And finally, we have the gentleman. This mysterious swordsman has a great range of abilities, but he cannot jump. We have a sword to be able to attack the enemies and stand up to them -the only one that can- together with a hook that allows us to grab all kinds of places, also vertically, to continue their journey. With a higher pace, with almost no puzzles involved, it is the one that puts the most agile and intense action on the table, since we will have certain confrontations where you dodge them -such as the backdash- will be key to later counterattack against enemies that other characters could not overcome.
All of this works relatively well, although it is true that the development of the phases of the girl is not especially inspired, and that the trial and error with the hero is quite tricky. On too many occasions we will be forced to die due to ignorance of the dangers that threaten us. Enemies that appear from a place impossible to see until they have killed you sometime are too frequent. We also miss more precision in the moments of certain jumps that sometimes are not as precise as we would like. It is evident that with the knight and in solving puzzles is where the title unfolds best, without a doubt.
Nor does the outcome of the game help in the final stretch. About the last quarter, and without wanting to get into spoils, the game rushes into its events and the way of explaining them, something that causes the mystery and the details that we are collecting in the first section -by situations, by NPCs that we are explaining and by a narrator who is first a complement and then, excessively protagonist – they are diluted.
Naturally, we cannot ignore the audiovisual section within the equation of what Inmost is and what it means. We are facing a work that elevates the concept of pixel-art with wonderful settings, full of details and layers that offer depth and are capable of transmitting everything – dark and decrepit – that it wants to offer. The character design, the recreation of the dark beasts and certain elements, such as the lighting effects, make it a really attractive game to look at, both static and in motion. Along with this, a beautiful soundtrack, capable of subtly accompanying with a piano in moments of puzzles, but raising the tone and drama when the enemies chase us. His role is to accompany us and let everything flow. And it succeeds.
CONCLUSION
Inmost is an indie that easily attracts attention thanks to its striking and attractive graphics. Behind it and its also outstanding soundtrack is a game with a dark and harsh message, narrated through three types of protagonists with their game mechanics. Stealth, puzzles and combats are exchanged as we play with each of them, although the result is not always at the same level. While the scenes with the knight are satisfying and well resolved, those of the girl escaping and looking for a way out of danger are less inspired, and those of the hero, an ordinary man who connects the plot, navigate two waters: interesting puzzles that compel to relate to our environment, but platform areas that show problems in control and a frustrating trial-error at times. It is not a game that is going to mark a new milestone in this style of indie-style titles, but it has enough elements to be taken into account, despite some of its flaws.
THE BEST
- The audiovisual section is impressive
- What counts does not leave indifferent
- Most puzzles and action sequences
WORST
- Control somewhat imprecise in some situations
- Sharp trial-error: too many deaths from not showing danger until too late
- It rushes in every way in the last part
Okay
It meets the expectations of what a good game is, has quality and does not have serious flaws, although it is missing elements that could have taken it to higher heights.
