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COMPLETE: Infini
Aug. 15th, 2021 07:56 pmThis one came because Nakana.io was having an "If you own any one of our games then all the rest are like 90% off" sale, and we did, so we added this one to the collection because it looked really weird and intriguing. And it was fantastic, which only solidifies Nakana as a good publisher in my eyes. This means that Nakana is now responsible for three of what I consider to be among our top games this year so far (after Journey of the Broken Circle--the one that qualified us for that sale--and Mythic Ocean.) They're very much threatening to overtake Mojiken Studio as my favorite "Oh, they published this one? Say no more, instantly wishlisted" publisher.
Infini is a puzzle game. It is also incredibly visually and musically weird in what we consider to be a very positive way. It's striking. I can't think of another game on the market that looks or sounds anything like this one. As far as the puzzle elements, though, everything essentially boils down to the following core elements:
Exploiting the latter two mechanics to the hilt is the key to traversing most puzzles. For example: If the level exit is contained inside a solid square prison of cube walls with no actual way in, you can move to the right of that square and get the camera to follow you, then zoom way in, such that the right wall of the square is in the middle of the screen and is the only wall visible (the upper, lower, and left walls are out of frame.) Then you can go off the right side of the screen and reappear on the left, which, oh, hey, now you're inside the square where the exit is. Upper/lower/left walls? What upper/lower/left walls?
Honestly, the trailer is so incredibly demonstrative and well put together that just watching it tells you everything you need to know about how the gameplay works and about the visual and musical aesthetic presentation.
There are also twenty-six collectible Strange Symbols (each corresponding to a single letter of the alphabet) scattered throughout the levels and even in a lot of the chapter-opening and closing narrative walk-around bits. They're either a hidden secret or they're in plain sight but in a position where "how in the world do I get that and survive?" is an extra challenge, and so they serve as the majority of your completionism challenge. The Strange Symbol language is used exclusively both in a sort of secret side lore museum and by a major late-game character, but every individual letter you've collected is translated, kind of like FFX's Al Bhed Primer. Thus, building your collection turns the plot from "eldritch unknowable Cthulhu speak but I can vaguely infer that this is threatening somehow" to "oh now I know exactly what they're saying and that provides so much context."
There are also a few bonus levels here and there that are unlocked both with Strange Symbol collection and with having completed other levels. The bonus levels were hard enough that I almost needed a walkthrough, and I might well have caved but for the fact that this is a niche indie game and there are no bonus level walkthroughs. I eventually got them, and I felt like an absolute genius when I did. I give them a solid 8 the One to Qrostar scale of puzzle difficulty. (We can provide this one valuable piece of advice: If there's an asterisk under the individual level number when you're going back and looking at it in the level selection, that means there's still at least one more Strange Symbol to be found in that level somewhere.)
Narratively, the plot is... somewhat obtuse and allegorical at first, being presented largely out of order and starring a cast of concepts as characters like Time, Memory, Infinity, War, and so on. Things come a little into focus as the story progresses. The ending is... heavy, such that the first time we completed the game, I just assumed that that was the Bad Ending and that there would be a better one once we'd hundred-percented the Strange Symbols and bonus stages. There wasn't; there is but one ending, and the story really is just kind of like that. However, remember when I said that a major late-game character speaks in Strange Symbol language, and that there's an entire side lore museum thing that provides backstory explanations and such except that those are also in Strange Symbol language? Mechanically, nothing new happens when you go back and revisit all of those scenes again once you actually are able to understand them; the plot does not branch or change, everything still leads to the same single ending. Narratively, though, the knowledge gained from understanding both the backstory and the character monologues puts entire new English class-level layers of meaning into what's happening, and that ultimately made us a lot more satisfied with the ending.
So, yeah, this is a weird game in the best possible way. A+, do recommend if you like puzzles, artsiness, and/or litcrit allusions.
Infini is a puzzle game. It is also incredibly visually and musically weird in what we consider to be a very positive way. It's striking. I can't think of another game on the market that looks or sounds anything like this one. As far as the puzzle elements, though, everything essentially boils down to the following core elements:
- The goal of each level is to reach the exit (that silver ring, which is a portal.)
- Touching the shiny cubes = death.
- The screen always wraps around in all directions. Falling off the bottom will make you fall back in from the same position on the top. Moving off the right side of the screen will make you appear in the same spot on the left.
- What is currently visible on the screen is treated as the only elements that actually exist.
Exploiting the latter two mechanics to the hilt is the key to traversing most puzzles. For example: If the level exit is contained inside a solid square prison of cube walls with no actual way in, you can move to the right of that square and get the camera to follow you, then zoom way in, such that the right wall of the square is in the middle of the screen and is the only wall visible (the upper, lower, and left walls are out of frame.) Then you can go off the right side of the screen and reappear on the left, which, oh, hey, now you're inside the square where the exit is. Upper/lower/left walls? What upper/lower/left walls?
Honestly, the trailer is so incredibly demonstrative and well put together that just watching it tells you everything you need to know about how the gameplay works and about the visual and musical aesthetic presentation.
There are also twenty-six collectible Strange Symbols (each corresponding to a single letter of the alphabet) scattered throughout the levels and even in a lot of the chapter-opening and closing narrative walk-around bits. They're either a hidden secret or they're in plain sight but in a position where "how in the world do I get that and survive?" is an extra challenge, and so they serve as the majority of your completionism challenge. The Strange Symbol language is used exclusively both in a sort of secret side lore museum and by a major late-game character, but every individual letter you've collected is translated, kind of like FFX's Al Bhed Primer. Thus, building your collection turns the plot from "eldritch unknowable Cthulhu speak but I can vaguely infer that this is threatening somehow" to "oh now I know exactly what they're saying and that provides so much context."
There are also a few bonus levels here and there that are unlocked both with Strange Symbol collection and with having completed other levels. The bonus levels were hard enough that I almost needed a walkthrough, and I might well have caved but for the fact that this is a niche indie game and there are no bonus level walkthroughs. I eventually got them, and I felt like an absolute genius when I did. I give them a solid 8 the One to Qrostar scale of puzzle difficulty. (We can provide this one valuable piece of advice: If there's an asterisk under the individual level number when you're going back and looking at it in the level selection, that means there's still at least one more Strange Symbol to be found in that level somewhere.)
Narratively, the plot is... somewhat obtuse and allegorical at first, being presented largely out of order and starring a cast of concepts as characters like Time, Memory, Infinity, War, and so on. Things come a little into focus as the story progresses. The ending is... heavy, such that the first time we completed the game, I just assumed that that was the Bad Ending and that there would be a better one once we'd hundred-percented the Strange Symbols and bonus stages. There wasn't; there is but one ending, and the story really is just kind of like that. However, remember when I said that a major late-game character speaks in Strange Symbol language, and that there's an entire side lore museum thing that provides backstory explanations and such except that those are also in Strange Symbol language? Mechanically, nothing new happens when you go back and revisit all of those scenes again once you actually are able to understand them; the plot does not branch or change, everything still leads to the same single ending. Narratively, though, the knowledge gained from understanding both the backstory and the character monologues puts entire new English class-level layers of meaning into what's happening, and that ultimately made us a lot more satisfied with the ending.
So, yeah, this is a weird game in the best possible way. A+, do recommend if you like puzzles, artsiness, and/or litcrit allusions.