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Awesome, Difficult, and Stylistically Beautiful.

  • BlueHood
  • 07/07/2014 12:55 PM
  • 850 views
Okay - so at this point, I'm considering myself somewhat of a veteran of Moga-games, and I can still vehemently assure you that Safety: Life is a Maze is one of the most difficult yet satisfying plays in her repertoire. So much so that I actually saved my end-game save-file so that I don't have to brave certain parts if I ever want to recap on the story a second time. Let's leap two feet first into Safety: Life is a Maze!

Done in a beautiful, blue-tone television-set artstyle with soft, and with unobtrusive music, one of the first things you'll notice about Safety: Life is a Maze is that it's very easy on the eyes and ears. Soft static periodically in the distance, giving you a sense of mystery and excitement that I would venture to say goes almost unexplained (which makes it evermore satisfying somehow.)
If the artstyle of Ghost Suburb II or XOMBYCAPYSE bothered you, but you love Moga's stuff, this is your remedy!
I've only one complaint with the artstyle and that is the fact that blue-on-blue can occasionally make it difficult to discern doors, portals, and other critical gamepoints.

However - that makes that 'Aha-!' moment of trying to go somewhere you didn't think you were able to a bit more satisfying - as do several other points where you'll find yourself trying degrading and even self-depreciating things (and you'll be doing them successfully - no spoilers beyond that!) to advance the plot. The 'Oh, goodness! It worked!' factor is enough to make you grab your cheeks in satisfaction.

The plot is almost Silent Hill-ish. You'll find yourself braving a strange new place with very few true friends (many of whom you'll recognize from the original Safety title) - and you'll find that there are a lot of events to be interpreted in a lot of ways, and perhaps none of them are a true-blue recounting of what has actually transpired. The conclusion will leave you forming your own conclusions and oddly satisfied with it - or alternatively, approaching Moga and asking 'Is this the correct interpretation?' - at which point you'll likely still be doing the former.

The difficulty is crippling.
You will hate spiked spheres by the end of the game, and their randomized path of movement (as opposed to pathed movement in the original Safety) will be the number-one cause of death for you. So frustrated was I with these jerks that I actually put the game on hiatus for about two months before really diving in and attempting to best it. I saved immediately after passing one of the most difficult points in the game and as mentioned above, I hid that savegame away so I never have to do it again. It takes luck, patience, conservation of resources, and a patient review of randomized behavior for spiked spheres.

I highly recommend this game.
The art-style, story, and difficulty are enough to satisfy anyone,
and if you're already a fan of Moga titles, you're likely sold by now!

4.5 out of 5 for crippling difficulty and occasionally frustrating graphic-tones offset by an otherwise amazing product.