Relicta reviews

This was a good puzzle game, very much like "Q.U.B.E." but with beautiful (and less oppressive) environments. The puzzle aspects are almost all based on manipulation of gravity and magnetism. The physics (at least for me) worked well and were very intuitive (remember that magnetism can go through surfaces!), and only a few times I had to fudge around my solution to get it to work in ways which seemed unintended.... oh, probably my fault for trying strange solutions. Besides, the graphics are absolutely gorgeous to look at, and I found the story and dialogue well written (mind you, characters use the F-words frequently, so, if that bothers you, you might want to stay away; and the main character has "plot blindness" for a while, but that is oh-so-common in all media). Some flaws: the game severely limits your ability to go explore the environment, using many artificial walls; but that might be a good thing -- the "space station" environments, which do allow some exploration, are graphically pretty but very empty and lifeless (nearly non-interactable), which comes across as very boring. I would rather have limited but interesting exploration than lots of freedom to do boring stuff (looking at you, collectibles). But all in all, an enjoyable puzzle game, not as creative as Portal or The Talos Principle (in part because there are very few different puzzle mechanics), but still a nice romp, with an interesting story. Score: 82/100.