Re: Submachine 10: the Exit
Posted: 27 Dec 2015 05:01
Man, that sure was something, wasn't it? I took my time with it and finally solved it, and I only needed a little help from a friend to realise that you can climb down at a certain crucial point. Can't say I was... particularly pleased with myself at that point. The game was really beautiful and the soundtrack was sublime. That sequence where you first go to the Hell Basement was really intense, I was really into it, and felt tense, too bad it isn't possible to make a puzzle game be that tense throughout.
At points though my immersion was seriously hampered by the game itself. I don't know if it is my computer or what, but certain sections of the game ran as swiftly as tar, with the record being it taking around five seconds to move from one screen to another. This was most egregious at the Loop area, where it was most consistently bad, but far from the only place where it happened or the worst instance, indeed I could more easily list the area where it was not noticeable (two of the Loops inside the Loop area, the Basements, the Lighthouse, for instance, ran fine). This made me loathe going into areas that were otherwise designed elegantly. I had similar issues with my version of Submachine 7 (the Palace specifically).
This also made a few glitches appear: if you pick up an item during a transition from room to room, it may appear left of your inventory and still be in your hand, and you can't get rid of it at all, you have to close the game. An interesting one was that if you click just past the centre of the karma portal, the music of the new area will start to play, but you won't be transported into the area. I am also not sure, if my ending quite ran properly, since it also had a really low frame rate? I ran out of music around when Mur lifted his hand, at least, and I'm not sure if that was intended.
The puzzles this time were really intuitive, and even the secrets were easy enough to find (I say so, since I found nine out of ten organically while solving the game). It kept the flow going, even though the screen transition speed wasn't always the best. I liked the fact that actual research and gadgetry was shown and even subbots and humans, dead or not. Especially the fact that more modern forms of research were shown, I've always loved that about Submachine.
The strategy of delivering the story as notes which have snippets of conversation was carried over from the previous two games, which remained a bit odd. I am torn – conversations are interesting to hear, but why do these notes exist in this format (religious pilgrimage reasons)? Certain interesting things were covered, like what Shiva is and what I think is the player's origin story being revealed, though sometimes the area itself told the story even better than the notes within it. Like, the Loop area, goddamn, what brilliant "show, don't tell"– policy. The ending was actually really touching too, but I the crowning jewel was Einstein, what eye for detail to add that.
At points though my immersion was seriously hampered by the game itself. I don't know if it is my computer or what, but certain sections of the game ran as swiftly as tar, with the record being it taking around five seconds to move from one screen to another. This was most egregious at the Loop area, where it was most consistently bad, but far from the only place where it happened or the worst instance, indeed I could more easily list the area where it was not noticeable (two of the Loops inside the Loop area, the Basements, the Lighthouse, for instance, ran fine). This made me loathe going into areas that were otherwise designed elegantly. I had similar issues with my version of Submachine 7 (the Palace specifically).
This also made a few glitches appear: if you pick up an item during a transition from room to room, it may appear left of your inventory and still be in your hand, and you can't get rid of it at all, you have to close the game. An interesting one was that if you click just past the centre of the karma portal, the music of the new area will start to play, but you won't be transported into the area. I am also not sure, if my ending quite ran properly, since it also had a really low frame rate? I ran out of music around when Mur lifted his hand, at least, and I'm not sure if that was intended.
The puzzles this time were really intuitive, and even the secrets were easy enough to find (I say so, since I found nine out of ten organically while solving the game). It kept the flow going, even though the screen transition speed wasn't always the best. I liked the fact that actual research and gadgetry was shown and even subbots and humans, dead or not. Especially the fact that more modern forms of research were shown, I've always loved that about Submachine.
The strategy of delivering the story as notes which have snippets of conversation was carried over from the previous two games, which remained a bit odd. I am torn – conversations are interesting to hear, but why do these notes exist in this format (religious pilgrimage reasons)? Certain interesting things were covered, like what Shiva is and what I think is the player's origin story being revealed, though sometimes the area itself told the story even better than the notes within it. Like, the Loop area, goddamn, what brilliant "show, don't tell"– policy. The ending was actually really touching too, but I the crowning jewel was Einstein, what eye for detail to add that.
