![]() #MAQUETTE GAME REVIEW PLUS#On the plus side, the couple is voiced by real life spouses Bryce Dallas Howard and Seth Gabel, so there is a bit of familiarity that comes across in their performances. From meeting in a coffee shop, to nervously saying “I love you” for the first time, Maquette manages to hit just about every romantic cliché in the book, and while these things can and do happen in some relationships, it just felt like the writers were ticking boxes instead of writing a more personal and genuine relationship. Unfortunately, just about every aspect of the story is riddled with clichés and fails to be as engaging as the actual gameplay. You never actually see the couple, so the story is delivered exclusively through voice overs and written text that appears throughout the environment. #MAQUETTE GAME REVIEW HOW TO#Thematically, it’s all tied to the gameplay by attempting to explore what it means to navigate the challenges that come from being in a relationship, as well as how to work out life after it’s come apart. Maquette’s narrative is centered around a young couple that’s recently gone through a break up, with the bulk of the game focused on reliving the memories of their relationship. One area that isn’t as engaging is the story. While Maquette is a bit on the shorter side, clocking in at 3-4 hours, there’s a good amount of variety to the chapters and the puzzles always manage to stay engaging. ![]() One chapter is centered around using different colored gems to open corresponding gates, while another is largely focused on manipulating a staircase and activating elevators to move to a smaller version of the world. To keep things from feeling stale, new puzzle types are added on a fairly regular basis. The game is split across multiple chapters that typically have you solving puzzles in the four connecting areas before moving on. ![]() It’s a tough concept to wrap your brain around, but the possibilities that arise once you start making these connections is exhilarating. While the bridge might be too small and simply fall down the chasm if you tried to place it there, it would fit perfectly fine when paired with the model, which would then reflect into the larger world by becoming a fully sized bridge. For example, you might find a tiny handheld bridge and then discover a gigantic chasm. The genius of Maquette lies in how it interconnects the same world at different scales and tasks you with moving across them to change both your size and the size of objects to solve its puzzles. It’s essentially a world in a world in a world… so on and so forth. If you get outside of the areas surrounding the courtyard then you’ll just find yourself inside a larger version of the world. In theory, the world of Maquette is infinite. While moving smaller objects in the model can move larger objects outside, it’s worth keeping in mind that the concepts of “inside” and “outside” are complicated. Maquette uses this concept of recursive worlds to play with size and location in truly clever ways. If you were able to follow along this far, then I’m sure you can see where this is going. The cube is massive and impossible to lift, but if you go into the domed building in the middle of the courtyard, walk up to the model, pick up the tiny version of the red cube and move it, the large version of the red cube outside is moved as well, allowing you to proceed. The way the game first teaches you about recursive worlds is by blocking the path to the first puzzle area with a giant red cube. In the middle of the courtyard is a domed building that contains a smaller replica of the courtyard, the four surrounding areas, and even the domed building. At each of the four sides of the square is a connected area that houses a different location with a puzzle. For starters, I want you to imagine a square courtyard. The concept of a recursive world is a bit difficult to explain, but it’s necessary for understanding how Maquette works. While it’s not an overly difficult game, the introduction of its signature mechanic, the concept of “recursive worlds”, is a lot to take in and requires a decent amount of patience and playful curiosity. The term “thinking outside the box” gets thrown around a lot in regards to puzzle games, but I’ve never seen one where it applies as aptly as in Maquette. ![]() ![]() Available On: PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |