Hello Noisy Pixel People! This week I have had the pleasure of previewing an interesting puzzle game called Iris.Fall by developer NEXT Studio ahead of its November 2018 release. After playing the short demo, here are a few things I thought you would like to know.
First off, the game doesn’t tell you a lot about who your character is or what is happening due to uncovering the mysteriousness of your character’s situation is a major part of the storytelling. However, the game’s Steam page gives the following background information:
“After awakening from a dream, Iris follows a black cat into a dilapidated theater, traveling back and forth through a strange labyrinth of light and shadow. As the story unfolds, Iris begins to realize that everything in this theater seems to have some kind of hidden connection to herself.”
The demo I played started with a cutscene of Iris following the black cat into the aforementioned theater and upon entering, you are hit by a mysterious dark cloud that provides you with the ability to enter what I will describe as the shadow plane. Essentially, this allows Iris to transform into a shadow and traverse on shadow platforms cast by various objects in the room thus introducing the main mechanic of the game.
There were a couple of puzzles that I encountered in the demo, some using the shadow mechanic and some not. One of the puzzles had me pose puppets to match the images in the corners of the stage and another had me use metal rods to route an electrical current. While I appreciated the puzzle variety that these brought, the real draw of the game for me was the shadow puzzles, specifically the final puzzle of the demo.
The final puzzle had me rotate revolving staircases into position for me to use their shadows to progress further into the demo. There were several orbs that you had to get to and from each of them you could rotate a staircase horizontally and vertically. I found this puzzle to be a lot of fun and just the right amount of challenging. If this is any indication of what future puzzles in the final game are going to be like, I am definitely looking forward to seeing more of Iris.Fall.
The game kind of reminds me of Alice in Wonderland and Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events. It is eerie with a splash of whimsy and mystery, and I found myself really digging the art-style. The one hangup I had during the demo was finding out Iris couldn’t jump(which I guess makes sense since this is a puzzle game and not a platformer) however, I felt like most of the obstacles/puzzles Iris faces in the game could easily be avoided/overcome if Iris could just jump or even hop.
Anyways, overall I enjoyed the quick demo very much and I am excited to see what the final version of Iris.Fall is going to be like. The game has a lot to prove in the later parts, mechanics-wise and holding the interest of the player, but after my short time with the game, I’m willing to see all that it has to offer.
