INSIDE

Inside is a peculiar little game. Although it’s made in RPG Maker, the kinds of gameplay it employs can be likened more to those of puzzle or platformer games. I’m not sure what to call it exactly, so let’s take a closer look.

The Graphics:

From what I could tell, these were mostly custom with a handful of rips and edits. The game has two settings; one is a research facility, and the other is the virtual reality program being tested there. The VR graphics are almost entirely custom. The style is rather plain and things don’t have a lot of detail. They look coherent together, though, so the simplicity isn’t too big of a problem. Furthermore, there are only a handful of objects to interact with, most of which are immediately recognizable. The only real problem with the graphics is that the rips used for the facility contrast greatly with those created for the VR. They’re much more heavily detailed, and the difference between the two is definitely noticeable. There’s a bit of a clash with the character sets as well, again related to the simplicity of the VR compared to the higher detailed sprites.

The Audio:

In spite of its nature as a puzzle-platformer-whatever, most of the game’s audio is intended to be ominous and create tension (more akin to a horror game). I have to admit, the atmosphere the game creates works surprisingly well. The visuals aren’t going to scare you, but the various background noises and eerie ambience really make things suspenseful. The tracks chosen match the pace of the action and set the mood. It really helps you get into what’s going on, and I’d say it’s one of the game’s strongest points. The sound effects come from RPG Maker’s RTP, and they’re all just fine for what they’re used for.

The Story:

Not an entirely important aspect for this game. It feels more like it was tacked on to explain the situation than to be anything of serious depth. It’s not particularly enthralling or remarkable, so the fact it’s downplayed isn’t really a problem. But a bare-bones story like this doesn’t have to be so dull. If the game were longer and the story more fleshed-out, it may not have come off so dismally. It doesn’t seem there was much put into it, as there isn’t much that comes out of it. At the start, you’re even given the option to skip all the cutscenes as you play. The fact the story can be removed from the game at all is a sign of its weakness (although this could also be viewed as a strength for gameplay if it can stand without the narrative).

The Characters:

Like the story, they’re not very important. They’re pretty much just vessels to move things forward. There are only four or five significant people in the whole game, along with a handful of NPCs. The hero is trapped in the VR alone, so you never get the chance to speak with the rest of the cast yourself. The cutscenes reveal the plot and carry the entirety of the character interaction. The game’s too short for any of them to really develop, so they don’t stand out from each other much. Their dialogue does nothing to help the problem, which leaves a lot to be desired from the cast.

The Gameplay:

And here we have the puzzle-platformer hybrid business going on. The controls are your standard RM* fare, so you’ll be walking in four directions and interacting with objects by pressing Enter or crashing into them. Progressing through each stage of the VR world is as simple as finding the exit. Sometimes a key is needed to open the door, sometimes you need to press a switch to disable a trap, and sometimes you need to evade an enemy for a set period of time before the exit reveals itself. Although the game has monsters, there is no battle system. Combat consists of you running for your life and avoiding foes as best you can until you're allowed to leave. It would’ve been nice if this were more obvious, because the game makes no indication as to what’s really going on. There’s no way to defeat the monsters OR trick them into stepping on traps, so oftentimes you may be wondering what it was you did to make them go away and the door open. The answer is: you did nothing, because nothing is required of you. I was disappointed to find this out, because it removes any depth combat might have had.

Anyway, aside from avoiding monsters that can’t be killed, you’ll be avoiding traps such as spiked balls/floors. These trap objects all move in semi-obvious patterns, so you’re merely tasked with finding a way around them that won’t get you killed. Monsters are unaffected by traps, so avoiding everything around you can become quite tricky when a lot of different things are involved. Getting through each situation requires some thought (puzzle) and some fast finger work (platformer). Except the monster fights, which are nothing but avoid-damage exercises. Although the gameplay presented works as its intended to, it leaves something to be desired. The variety of the obstacles you encounter isn’t very large, and it isn’t always clear what exactly is going on (especially with the enemies‘ attacks). The game’s short length makes up for this somewhat, but it may also be a result of the lacking variety. A few new elements would increase the puzzle-solving potential; even the current ones aren’t totally exhausted.

The Design:

Stage design is critical to the quality of a game like this, and I’d say Relyt has done a good job. The puzzles are set up well, although most of them are not very hard to solve. The various ways you’re required to move help break up the action and keep it from becoming monotonous. However, I can’t help but feel that this game didn’t reach the height it could have. A little more variety in the traps and implementation would’ve gone a long way to keeping things interesting. The game is short enough that this isn’t much of a problem, but there’s no reason it couldn’t have been longer with more innovation. It has difficulty levels included, but these mostly affect the damage you take from traps/monsters and the availability of healing tiles.

All in all, Inside is a complete game that doesn‘t feel like one. The story is more of an afterthought and combat could stand to be more interesting. The variety of puzzle elements is lacking, and the game needs to be more fleshed out as a whole. This is a tough one for me to rate, but based on what it currently is versus what I think it could have been, I give it a:

5/10

I heard a second one’s in the works. Hopefully we’ll see more of what I was hoping for there…