Contrast (2013)

Game #18-I normally suck at puzzle games and usually have a guide bc of my silly dumb brain. But i played this mostly without one and really enjoyed it! a quick puzzle game using shadows and has a pretty interesting world and story.

(Game #19: Subway Surfers- Out of the 5 or so Endless runners i've played so far this is the best so far. im a sucker for endless runners)

Incredibly janky & Glitchy game with shadow mechanic puzzles. The setting and premise is pretty cool at first but throughout the 3 hours it takes to about complete it you are fighting the controls for the entire duration which leaves the game to be a frustrating experience overall.

Movement is way too fast and floaty compared to the environment and is very reminiscent of some of the worst PSX/PS2 era 3d platformers like Bubsy 3D etc. where you fall too far from the platforms you want to jump on and generally wiz through the air too fast during jumps. Frequent places where you will get stuck during mid puzzles aswell forcing you to start over and jump into a pit to respawn because the game doesnt light up the surface of a area again if you miss it so you have to force it with the pit jumps.

Voice acting is pretty good overall but the graphics and engine are heavily outdated even for a 2013 game, it feels more on par with a random platformer engine/gfx wise from anything between 1998 to 2006. Story is really nothing to write home about and it leaves you puzzled by the end for certain things and backgrounds you wanted to know happened in the first place. It doesnt have too much replay value either you can collect most of the stuff in the 3 hours it takes, i think i missed 2-3 luminaries and 2 collectibles at most by the end but the menu for chapter selection doesnt mention which areas have these things so its a hassle to replay, the game however wasnt really good enough to entice a replay anyway.

Graphics: 5/10 Sound: 7/10 Gameplay: 5/10 Replay Value: 2/10

Overall: 5/10

This is a game I barely even heard of before I saw it on Game Pass and decided to give it a go. I’m still to play We Happy Few, but I was positively impressed by Compulsion’s first effort. Simply put, Contrast offers about 4 hours well spent with a unique mechanic, the manipulation of light and shadow to change the gameplay back and forth between 3D and 2D worlds. This opens the door to a ton of interesting puzzle opportunities which the game makes good use of, though admittedly a few of them were too hard for my dumbass self to solve on its own. What stood out to me the most, however, was its awesome visual and audio style. The noir aesthetic in this game is fantastic, at times giving me some serious vibes from other games, mainly Bioshock Infinite’s Burial at Sea and Limbo. And both the music and voice acting are equally impressive. This alone would’ve been worth the price of admission, but the story also surprised me in how it subverted my pretty straightforward expectations.

I do wish it had more polished controls and platforming segments, and was a bit more directive in its puzzle implementation, but I had a really good time with Contrast all the same. The original mechanical premise, compelling narrative and incredible style, combined with the short length, turned this into a pleasant surprise. Easy to recommend to everyone and a no-brainer recommendation if you’re on Game Pass. 7/10.

Really charming little story-driven game with a stylish 1920s-meets-Coraline aesthetic. The shadow platforming mechanics can be really finicky, but the game is short enough that I didn't really have time to be too frustrated with it (I completed the game in just shy of 3 hours). It doesn't hurt that the game's story is compelling... a point of comparison might be The Unfinished Swan, in that the mechanics of the game wouldn't hold my interest on their own but work well within the narrative.

I went in a little nervous because a lot of reviews mention the game being buggy. I played on PC and did not encounter any bugs.