Inmost (2019)

It’s a relatively short and purposefully easy game. Even if you get killed, you usually respawn nearby. There isn’t much backtracking, and puzzles don’t have many options. Something between metroidvania and limboid. Cold dark palette. Heavily story-driven, switching between at least 3 different characters that play differently. With the middle-aged man it’s about solving enviromental puzzles, or luring enemies into traps.
With a knight, it’s more about hitting everything with a sword and rolling, but he can’t jump – only use grappling hook in specific areas. With the girl, it’s also about puzzle solving, but there are no enemies.
Some of the cool action sequences are just that: scenes. Not even QTE.

Storywise, it’s surprisingly straightforward. What I mean by that is that you don’t need to read secret item descriptions or find bloody bananas to understand most of it.
A girl is being bullied at school and commits suicide. The mother blames the father. The father, in the meantime, rescues another girl from a burning building, and and attempts to raise her as his own.
The mother doesn’t accept her, is driven to madness, and eventually kills the father and dies herself (I don’t think she commits suicide, she dies from a stab in her stomach). The grandad hears about this, rushes to find the girl and adopts her.
Good, non-trivial story, with a lot of unraveling to do.

*Having left this review draft hanging around for too long, I decided to apply the pros and cons format for the first time without lingering around in an attempt to formulate my old gameplay experience.

This Lithuanian adventure game made a well-defined start on my 2021. INMOST plays on the theme of loss, regret and hope in stunningly crafted, pixelated style. The story is split between 3 different characters at each environment, ranging between adventure platformer and 2D action gameplay.

Pros:

• Exquisitely designed, pixel-based graphics.
• Well contrasted atmosphere for the story, which themes range between innocence, tragedy and bits of horror.
• The emotive yet powerful soundtrack brings up the pivotal story moments to a touching level.

Neutral:

• Fragmented story and background, which makes more sense when it all comes together at the end.
• Metaphorical narrative may appear enigmatic or whimsical at times.

Cons:

• Some parts require trials-and-errors in the 1st playthrough, like a certain chase sequence.
• Controls can get clunky more than often when navigating and getting over obstacles.

Summary: INMOST is a narrative-driven, introspective adventure game with 2D platformer and a bit of action in the mix. I perceive the overall vibe of the game as melancholic and delightfully dark. Recommend for gamers that play more for the story than the puzzle challenges it provides.

Song for the mood: Mesarthim - Absence, Pt. 2 (Atmospheric black metal)

I can't believe this game isn't talked about more. Everything from the presentation to the music to the story is absolutely wonderful. The dev team here really created something special.

Limbo was my favorite puzzle platformer until I finished this game. I finished it a couple days ago and had some time to sit back and think about it and my feelings on this game remain through the roof. What the dev team did here with the art direction is nothing short of a masterpiece. The sound and music that is accompanied with it is eerily haunting and fits perfect for the game here. The gameplay is fun, and while you will die, you won't get frustrated in the same way as you would with Celeste. The puzzles have challenge to them, but they aren't overly challenging. It fit about perfect for me.

The story. Wow. I loved it. For most of the game you are trying to figure out what exactly is going on. Switching between 3 different characters as you continue on. Each with their own challenges and gameplay styles. And while you think you might know what's going on it isn't until the masterful finalé that everything is wrapped up in a nice little bow.

Please. Okay this game. It's the best game I've played in a while. And it's short too! Socking in at about 4-5 hours.