Superliminal Review Code Provided by Pillow Castle Games
Playing with perspectives can be a tricky thing. Sometimes things seem bigger up close and small from far away while some things that are flat can look thick at a specific angle. The idea of changing objects to match your perspective is something that sounds strange but is the exact mechanic that Pillow Castle Games utilized when creating their latest puzzle game Superliminal. Whether you need to increase the size of the object or the size of yourself, all it took was a little change in perspective.
Story
As a patient of the Somnasculpt dream therapy program, you undergo a variety of strange dreams. After falling asleep at 3 AM, you find yourself dreaming and beginning the first stages of this experimental program. You will need to complete a series of challenges using a warped game of perspective in order to complete the therapy process.
Gameplay
Everything in this game is about perspective. The majority of the time it will be about marking an object bigger or smaller by picking it up and changing the way you are looking at it. For example, you can pick up a small box in front of you, turn towards a wall further away and place that box down against the wall. Once you approach the box you just set down, you will find it is as big as it looked from where you were standing.
There are some other perspective aspects that they play with, such as looking at a painted box on the wall from the right angle to make it pop into existence. No matter what puzzle you come across in this game, the answer is always right in front of you if you know just how to look at it. And that is exactly why I loved this game!
It truly felt like the first time I played through the original Portal game where the puzzles increasingly got more difficult, they occasionally brought a new prospect into the mix, made me think outside the box, and gave me a range of puzzle solutions that had me somewhere between “well, that was simple” and “seriously? it was that easy?” Sure, this means there will be a bit of frustration, but without the challenge of a difficult puzzle, the game becomes a walking simulator.
The main aspect that threw me for a loop multiple times is how out-of-the-box they make you get. Sometimes even literally! From thinking of strange ways to get to a high ledge, making my way through an inaccessibly small hallway, get over a wall that I originally didn’t think was going to be the goal at all, and so much more. From the calm start to the confusing, yet enjoyably intense finish, I never really felt like I knew exactly what to expect, even if I had a somewhat concept of what it would be.
Visuals
Visually this game gave off the exact look I would expect. It had the same graphical tone as one of the games that inspired it, The Stanley Parable, and felt fitting to what was going on.
Audio
Same with the sound effects as you are often left in silence to figure out the puzzle, giving a sense of isolation, with music added to moments of traversing and to build intensity. It was a nice touch when you clicked on the boomboxes to hear the latest message from Dr. Glenn, which was always said in a psychologist-styled doctor's voice—calm and clear. The AI that increasingly got aggravated with the player could have been more quirky to give that Portal feel they were going for, but it did its job as it was.
Replayability
Unfortunately, all of the puzzles are the same when you go back through the game and after the initial playthrough, the same pizazz and craziness you experience will be gone. There may have been a few easter eggs or secret pathways to take somewhere, but other than looking for those there isn’t much reason to run through it again.
What Could Be Better
I honestly don’t have anything for this section. I felt that they did an amazing job pulling off a puzzle game with a unique mechanic. They included light dialogue, weren’t heavy with the music, presented a story that had a strong ending, mixed up the way the unique puzzle mechanic was utilized, and led the player through each section of the game. Every puzzle in the game had an easy solution, as long as you knew to look at it in a different way.
Conclusion
Superliminal is a gold hidden gem in the puzzle game genre! I enjoyed it from start to finish and loved having my perspective challenged in such an interesting way. The difficulty increase and style change were fluent in a way that kept me feeling that I understood what was going on and what I needed to do next. If you are a fan of puzzle games, then you are going to love this one! A must buy, hands down!
