3.5Cats_AndHalfAFish

Note : Please take these game reviews with a good chunk of salt. They are about my personal experience with a game ; yours might be very different.
Also, I have a professional interest in figuring out what works in a game and what doesn't. I know from experience how hard they are to make !

This game is ... ok. A bit of a mixed bag, really.

Things I liked :

• I love the concept of this game ; the way devices 'unfold' or are crafted from bits and bobs in the inventory, and how almost everything clickable has secret compartments.

• The art is quite beautiful.

Things I disliked :

• The game is 100% linear ; there is only ever 1 puzzle to solve.
• The navigation / camera movements : feels ok early on in the game, but gets really bad towards the end. The camera starts making fast, big, swooping movements every time you try to zoom in or out.
• Interactivity : the game doesn't give the player any feedback as to what objects can be interacted with (changes during gameplay). This means you have to double click -everything- -all the time-.
  Interaction with devices is sometimes finicky, in that you have to be zoomed in correctly and look at a device from the 'correct' angle (eg. basement).

• The hint system : this is a bit broken. The idea is that there are 3 hints, and that you need to wait a certain amount of time before you can see the next hint.
  Usually, the 1st (and sometimes even the 2nd) clue is pretty useless (eg. "take a look at the cabinet near the window", or, "find a place to use the device in your inventory").

Meh :

• The idea for the 2 different lenses (time manipulation and hidden text) is ok, but not well executed since there are no hints as to when / where you can use them in the game.

• The story is developed through letters from master (da Vinci) to student (the player). However, the story is rather weak and doesn't add much to the gameplay.

• The game ending felt abrupt and rather unsatisfying.

So, as I said : "a bit of a mixed bag" ...