Figment - Review

Figment - Review

Review for Fig. Game for PC, Mac, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Linux and Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 22/09/2017 The version for Nintendo Switch came out on 28/06/2018 The version for PlayStation 4 came out on 14/05/2019

Often growing up an unhealthy mechanism is activated in the mind: it will perhaps be an awareness of how much the world can be a really bad place, but fears that did not exist before creep into the head, which make us lose the recklessness we had as children. We grow up - because we have to - and we become more fearful, especially when around us there are people we love and don't want to lose.



Yet courage within us has not been lost: maybe he just got lost, or dozed off behind the routine of work or study. This is the fascinating incipit from which the Danish team of Bedtime Digital Games started, which with Figment made us explore the meanders of the human mind to awaken that long dormant courage.

Figment - Review

Journey

A cheerful little family is traveling by car. It is a normal family unit: a father who sells houses, his wife, and the son who dreams of exciting adventures that he will live when he grows up. Then something terrible happens: noises of brakes and wheels screeching on the asphalt, and then the crash.

The scene, told only through dialogues and without the aid of any visual element, is only the beginning of the real game world: the father's mind. Here we will meet Dusty, the little man in charge of fighting fears, now retired for some time given the bite-free life of the man who hosts him.



However, there is something wrong with the brain, the weather has worsened: there are fog and rain, and as if that were not enough terrible nightmares have appeared that make the life of the inhabitants of the mind agony. But Dusty cares very little, his adventurous days are over, and he just wants to enjoy his drink in peace and endlessly reread the diary of his historical adventures. Not even Piper, a small messenger bird sent from the central part of the brain, can persuade him to intervene. Then the crime happens: one of the nightmares allows himself to steal Dusty's diary. Needless to say, he deserves a lesson.

Figment's opening words are simple, yet the guys from Bedtime have shown that from an apparently banal idea it is possible to create something imaginative and in many ways artistic. The plot will never have great twists, but the mix chosen to season the adventure has something magical about it. In the role of Dusty we will chase three nightmares that took refuge in the dark corners of the human mind: some in the part of logic, some in the creative part of the brain, some in the consciousness.

Figment - Review

What is striking is undoubtedly the style chosen to represent one of the greatest mysteries of the human body, recreated in a surrealistic key: we will walk on bridges of books and pencils, we will listen to childhood memories as a soundtrack and we will travel in three distinct areas, inspired in concepts by real human nature, but represented through a truly remarkable artistic sector.


Dusty Man

The good Dusty will have few actions to carry on his adventure: a combo of three attacks, a loaded hit and a dodge. Walking through the meanders of the mind will therefore be staid, but the real heart of the game are the puzzles. Generally we talk about placing different objects in the right places and in the correct order, but in our adventure there were some goodies: in particular some secondary puzzles related to collectibles that contain background on the life of the "master of the house".


In general, the puzzles are certainly accessible: for those who have been chewing on it for a long time, Figment could be slightly boring, especially in the first part of the adventure. The pace and difficulty of battles and puzzles will increase considerably in the last zone, in our opinion the most satisfying to play, which worthily concludes the six hours of the campaign.

Beyond the three nightmares we will be called to face a few types of henchmen evoked by the evil figures: the variety of the various monsters is undoubtedly scarce, but we believe that Figment focuses its strength in the puzzles and on the settings, as well as on a splendid soundtrack.

Solo

Generally we would gloss over the sound sector talking about the general quality of music and dubbing, but in the case of Figment it is really necessary to dwell. We are in front of a musical jewel, full of evocative traces, in the same mood as the areas of the mind: for example, the left part of the brain is notoriously the one dedicated to logic, so here is a world dotted with clocks and gears, and a light motif accompanied by marranzano (or harp if you prefer ) which recreates the sound of springs and gears.


Figment - Review

As if that were not enough, the various bosses will have fun mocking us with songs worthy of a musical directed by Tim Burton, ranging from folk to heavy metal. Figment lacks any Spanish localization, but we're sure some of the spirit of the game would be lost without a high-quality translation. Certain secondary enigmas based on sounds conclude the picture. In summary, we are faced with the striking example of how music should be used in a video game.

On the graphics sector, created through Unity, there is very little to say: the game is quite simple, but as we have already said, the art sector is truly inspired. Too bad for some sudden crashes of the PC version we tested and for the various uploads between one area and another, quite long to tell the truth (the game is also under development for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch).


Figment - Review

Figment is ultimately a little gem ready to bewitch, the art sector is wonderfully inspired and the soundtrack is a joy for the ears. Unfortunately, Dusty's short adventure starts with one less gear in the early hours, only to recover both on the quality of the clashes and on that of the puzzles. Despite everything it is an experience that we recommend, with its curious mix of surrealism and simplicity, Figment could really conquer you.

► Figment is an Arcade-Platform-Puzzle type game developed and published by Bedtime Digital Games for PC, Mac, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Linux and Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 22/09/2017 The version for Nintendo Switch came out on 28/06/2018 The version for PlayStation 4 came out on 14/05/2019

add a comment of Figment - Review
Comment sent successfully! We will review it in the next few hours.