divergence

Divergence is a curious sci fi puzzle game that immediate attracted me for its nice and peculiar graphics. I did not expected that they were so connected to the gameplay, but let's start from the beginning:

The game starts with a beautiful introduction that sees our unnamed astronaut landing on the mysterious facility that will be the setting of the whole game. Our astronaut is immediately greeted by a voice that speaks through a radio...


So this is how the adventure begins...

The place is empty and somehow reality seems to shift changing costantly the surroundings from the hi-tech pastel coloured enviroment of the space station to a dark wilderness area complete of an hostile inhabitant! What happened? And what can be done?

Divergence is a sort of action puzzle game that looks like some sort of "pacifist Hotline Miami": be ready to die a lot of times (no energy or hitpoints, you die with a hit) and in different situations, but do not worry top much since this is expected, and the game autosaves quite frequently. It's also rather short, but only if you do not look for secrets and optional areas where you can find additional documents that explain the story of the space station.


Things are getting weird here! Oh look, there's a keycard over there, I am sure it will be useful!

How does the game work? It's extremely simple, you just walk around but you have to pay attention since in some areas reality shifts intermittently, closing gaps, creating walls and so on, it's like two different maps overlaps bit only temporarily, so you risk to fall in a pit or to be stuck into a wall that were not there before. But wait, there is more! You can also find some items that shift the nearby areas, and can be moved around to change the surroundigs according to the parallel reality... hm ok it's probably easier watching it that describing the situation!
But the parallel reality, as I mentioned before, is inhabited by a hostile creature... and when you will see it be ready to run!

Divergence is an original little game: it looks gorgeous, the effects are really well done and impressive, at the same time it's a simple game without lots of controls or options (I'd day minimalist), but despite this it requires both quick thinking and good reflexes. There is a certain variety of puzzles and situations despite the shortness of the game,that well incorporates with the mysterious setting and atmosphere. Mapping ans music are both well done, and well contribuite to the overall experience.


Wait, WHO is here? Oh... no... nonononono! NO!

Unfortunately there are some issues, I had some crashes when I opened the inventory and tried to read a parchment, and I also was instakilled when entering a room because I was suddenly embedded in a wall! Anyway thanks to the frequent autosaves and shortness of the game these problems were mildly annoying even if it was not fair. Despite these nuisances the game looks cool and is cool!

Verdict
This is a great and original concept for a puzzle unfortunately marred by some bugs. Despite this it was a short pleasant experience and different kind of game from the usual ones. Simple and enjoyable, the game has also different endings depending on how many parchment you found (some are in optional holden areas!), anyway I played this game only once but I admit I'm going to do another run later!

4/5 for this pretty and imperfect gem.
So now I suggest you to try to stop the energy leak of the collider... you won't be disappointed.