Reader reviews for Resonance page 4

resonance delivers a compelling and smart sci-fi/thriller storytelling experience and also manages to hit that elusive sweet spot in adventure gaming where the puzzles are challenging and fun and also (mostly) seem like they fit naturally into the story. creator Vince Twelve clearly has the strongest of grasps on this genre of gaming. it’s a great fit to have this title under the Wadjet Eye umbrella. I suspect anyone who enjoyed Gemini Rue will find Resonance hits the mark for them too. most long-time adventure gamers probably enjoy the old-school graphics deal like i did, but i’d understand if not everyone appreciates the pixelated appeal… especially considering the locations here never lend themselves to standout art.

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Time Played: 10-20 hours

This game is a gem. Polished old school style graphics with extremely high production values. The story is pretty average but still keeps things interesting with turn of events later in the game, smart puzzles that are well integrated into the environment, and the use of long term and short term memory system that makes dialog puzzles interesting and fun. I loved the puzzle design. The puzzles were challenging but still made sense and they never felt unforgivingly hard, and they were very satisfying for once. There are only one or two puzzles that were a little bit hard, but never unfair. Also great voice acting as usual from games from Wadjet Eye. I would probably have given this game a higher score if the beginning of the game was not so slow, and if the story would have been a little bit more interesting. However, this is a game that every true Adventure Gamer should own and play. One of the best Adventure Games of 2012.

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Time Played: 5-10 hours
Difficulty: Just Right

Resonance starts on a relative low note. After a brief section playing as Ed, the game suddenly displays a screen divided into four quadrants, showing different times. I picked one at random and had the story continue, figuring this was some sort of puzzle. That conclusion lasted just until I finished the next segment, at which point I was returned to the four-quadrant screen with three quadrants “left”. The idea was that you play briefly with each of the four characters, learning different game mechanism, before the game “really” begins, but the screen was counter-intuitive so I was unsure what I was choosing, at first.

However, that is the only point that lacks polish in the entire game. The game is incredibly tight - pretty much everything is well thought out and nothing happens for no reason. Playing through the game again, you discover a multitude of subtle clues, showing just how rich a tapestry the game weaves.
The plot is intriguing and very well written, despite the characters being mostly plot-advancing tools. That stands to reason, though - to further flesh out characters at the meticulous level of details of everything else in the game would quadruple the game in length, not a bad prospect, except it would mean we’d have to wait for 15 more years until it came out.
The strongest point, for me, was the puzzles. Unlike so many modern adventure games, this one doesn’t shy away from introducing challenging sections, without coddling the player via intrusive sidekicks spouting hints or many of the other tricks developers use these days so us poor gamers wouldn’t have to feel any frustration. Many puzzles are difficult but none are unreasonable, and they all share that “aha” moment when you solve them, meaning the solution is logical and satisfying, rather than arbitrary. Logical item interactions work or don’t work in a way the game explains. In short, this game is a heaven for those of us who miss the days where adventure games were more of a mental obstacle course.

The game has no dead ends (an unforgivable sin in my opinion). I was able to accidentally bypass a section of the game without acquiring an inventory item, so the game made sure I could get it in another place, without it feeling shoehorned in. There are no “uh, let’s just wait a bit before advancing, I think we may be missing something” or “let me just pick up this object while we’re moving to the next area” crutches that are sometimes present in order to prevent this - instead the game is just well-designed.
You CAN die (at some points, needlessly, I felt) but the game immediately rewinds time to before death, and I could see no ill effect, point-wise or achievement-wise, to this happening, so the game does reward experimentation and exploration.
I even forgive the inclusion of two mazes, seeing as the sections are short and make sense within the context of the story, and no mapping was required - just keep your right hand on the wall and you’ll be out of them in no time.

To balance this sparkling review, the only things I would change are:
- Add a pause feature. There are some (easy) timed sequences and sometimes real life intervenes in the middle of a play session.
- Lose the achievements and scoring system. While they’re mandatory new and old-school respectively, the achievements are minor spoilers and don’t really contribute much, and the points give you a progress bar that somewhat ruins the “wait, there’s more to be done” moment late in the game.

Other than those minor issues, the game is spotless. If you like challenging games with a compelling plot and functional characters, this is a great buy. I’ve played it through twice already and recommended it to some friends, and have yet to hear someone disappointed with it.

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Time Played: 5-10 hours

Made me lose a night’s sleep and go to work in zombie mode the next morning. That should sum up my impression on this game. To be more clear, I found it quite interesting, well developed, nicely written and cleverly designed. OK, it might not win an origami Oscar for an original script but it has very well planted twists and turns.
The mood is nice throughout the game, mostly due to the well outlined characters. They all have different personalities which is great for fresh gasps of air.
A lot of not so ordinary ways of interacting between characters and between characters and the environment, perfectly matched soundtrack, nice animations and great voice acting make the attention to details a great contributor to the general atmosphere.
The game is long enough to keep you interested (I got a bit too involved as I could not stop until i finished it) and the puzzles are logical and fit pretty well into the story.
I recommend it as a great way to spend a white night.

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Time Played: 5-10 hours