Written as part of the RMN Secret Santa 2014 Event.

Gameplay

There is little to no gameplay in Lyra. You basically just walk around and open doors. Now, it's tagged as a Puzzle game, so you'd expect that the puzzles would be the meat, but they aren't, I only encountered two obstacles that I would actually call puzzles, which were:

The Switch-Flame puzzle, which was extremely easy. You're just told the answer as soon as it starts, so I'm not really certain if it actually counts as a puzzle or not. But given that the game is so devoid of them, I figured I'd count it.

The other puzzle was the Season Room, which to be honest was the complete opposite- extremely confusing. Perhaps I'm just stupid, but I tried a few combinations of seasons and nothing the game seemed to be hinting at actually worked, so... I solved it by just running around taking random paths until I wound up at the exit. Funnily enough this worked on my first try, and was actually quicker than taking the time to figure the puzzle out.

I'm not sure if the other obstacles I came into contact with were supposed to be puzzles or not. There was the Silph-Co esque teleporter room, which again was just randomly trying different things until I won. There was the doll room, which helpfully sees your sprint randomly disabled. That was more of an annoyance than a puzzle, so.

Outside of the "puzzles" I don't see what else I'd categorize as gameplay, to be honest with you. Simply exploring an area (i.e. walking around aimlessly) CAN be gameplay, but this game isn't built around that concept.

Worldbuilding (Setting, Atmosphere, Writing & Characters)

Let me get this straight- this is supposed to be a Horror game. Fair enough. Like most modern horror games it isn't scary at all, so I guess it hits the nail on the head.

Lyra takes some really obvious horror routes and sticks some animated dolls in here and there. There's a fairy godmother type character, who's obviously evil straight from the second that you first meet her, a revelation helped along by the fact that if she WASN'T evil there would be no reason for her to even be there. She gives you some excuse about being "sent here to help you escape" which makes so little sense in context that you're left to assume it's either bad writing or a lie.

The main character is flat and uninteresting. She can't remember anything (there's another obvious horror route), so most of her dialogue is just "I don't understand..." or "Why do I remember this?". Simply put, if I don't care about the main character I can't be expected to feel terrified when her life is in danger.

The game is set in a castle, which begs the question of why there are so many huge rooms with nothing in them- I've been to several IRL castles, none of which even remotely looked this way. It's a shame, because having tight passageways and dimly lit areas (like a real castle) would have really helped the game's "Horror" atmosphere. Instead, the rooms are big and mostly brightly lit, making you feel welcome and safe.

May I also add that putting a joke room in there with the threat "it's more than it seems" and then having it wind up as a cheap gag is a really good way to kill any and all suspense and terror? I don't know why you would do this. I just don't.

In short, the game is supposed to be a horror title, but really seems to be doing everything in its power to avoid being scary.

Aesthetics (Music & Graphics)

Lyra is built using free graphics, which basically means just the RTP. Nothing really wrong with that... When it's done well. Lyra's maps are empty and pale (with the exception of the garden where you meet the angel girl) and end up being extremely boring to look at. The overlays and screen effects help at some points, but during other sections (like the aforementioned joke room) they only serve to make things worse.

The music is good quality, and is practically the only reason the game might feel even remotely scary at some points. But it's my opinion that the game doesn't do the music justice, so it comes off as ill fitting in the end.

The font choice is a little off. It fits with the title screen and the general look the game is attempting, but it gets cut off at certain points and can make things hard to read (like the angel girl's name).

Overall

Lyra is tagged as a Puzzle/Horror game, and is neither scary/eerie nor a good puzzler. I apologize for having to be a downer as part of the Secret Santa, but really, the game leaves me no choice.

As a side note, putting a photoshopped picture of Rick Astley in your game folder is... What? When I see something taggedas "Here's a random picture. Enjoy." I'm expecting something related to the game, like a wallpaper or mocked up cover, not a Rick Astley x Quantum of Solace mash up. This is a fantastic way to make me immediately disinterested in taking the project AND the creator seriously. Bravo.