Plot

Well, as far as I played, I understood that it is about a girl that is called temporarily Alice (got that from their tumblr blog) who wakes up in some kind of castle and starts exploring it. So good so far. Nothing about the main story is revealed here, which is completely understandable since it is just a demo and tries to show us how this game will look like, trying to familiarize us with it. I actually feel more enticed to play the full version because it left me thinking about what I saw in that castle and how it will connect with the whole story.



Gameplay

The gameplay is your usual. It is nice and simple. The thing that bugged me here a little though was the sprites movement (the character pauses a mini second then walks) and the footsteps were a tad bit too loud, also I felt a bit restricted by having all doors locked on me, other than the ones I was supposed to walk into. I would have loved to explore stuff myself. Other than that everything works out neatly while interacting with the objects around you.

Puzzles

I can't say that I liked the puzzles, mainly because there weren't any in the first place. I was at first intrigued by what function the red marble would have, but later I'd find the other marbles too and just place them in some holes in the ground so I could progress to the next part. The other marbles were found in rooms a few steps away and I didn't have to do crap to find them except for clicking on stuff. Also, the part when Alice says she should remember that poem she reads on the wall is kind of unnecessary in my opinion, because seriously, if I was the person reading it, it would be really awkward to remember random stuff I read in walls. If the function of the poem is showing you how to place the marbles, then it is a bit unnecessary too, because it causes more confusion than it helps. But if it is for another part of the game, then I can't wait to see what's behind it!

Visuals/ Music

The strongest point in the game are the visuals, with the detailed mapping, pretty little miss Alice sprite toddling around in the castle, the busts haaaa... heaven. A thing I have to mention here that was a bit pointless to me, was the fog within the castle (but I won't judge you for that because you may have a reason behind it) Also I'll have to say that the noises Alice makes are a little bit over the top. She just overreacts at everything. In this case, less is more. I'll have to make a confession. I died on purpose to look at the pretty game over screen. Wonderful, just wonderful.
Moving on to the music. I totally love it and it is memorable to me. I kept staring at the title screen and enjoying the beautiful music. Sorry if I have to add here something bad too, but the music when you find an item is kind of long and annoying. Still fantastic job on everything within this area!



Characters

There is not much to say here, except that Alice looks like a cute, little, innocent girl that doesn't show much personality. Probably due to the lack of interaction with other characters and objects surrounding her. But that is also totally fine by me, because we will know more about her in the full release.

Overall impression

Pocket mirror left me with a bitter sweet aftertaste. I am expecting something good from this game since the demo didn't reveal anything except showing that there will be some crazy roomies in the castle, and that there lives a giant, maybe? (judging by that huge finger that was poinitng at the wall). It has a fantastic visual appearance, beautiful background music and probably a nice story to go with them too. It needs polishing in some aspects and the puzzles should work my brain out a bit, but other than that it looks promising. I will certainly keep an eye on it.