CALENDULA

Конструктор Красного Цвета лайк

Calendula is one those games where figuring things out is part of the game itself. As the page describes, it is a mystery and experience. Not so sure about experiment, as it is not the first game in this genre and I have seen similar flash games, but it can stand out with heavier horror vibes and stylish visuals. The visuals are probably the best part of the game, even better than the 'game' itself, as I was intrigued by what would come next more than with what think I should be solving next. Some of it was video of things, nicely cropped into another video or gameplay, other times I had to walk several meters. That was not enough to fully immerse me, just a small variation. It is disappointing that once you figure some stuff out you cannot use it from the start of the game, it just tells you 'nah', and then if you complete it you are met with 'oh wow now you know'. Well what if I knew from the start? Would be cool to make something about it. Achievements are rather straightforward, nothing out of ordinary, but completing game in one run can be annoying considering game has bugs. I also did not quite get the overall message of the game and how it is connected to the 'game' itself. The puzzle concept seems to be unrelated to the 'story' or 'horror' part. At least no jumpscares in this one. My best guess is [spoiler] that it is somehow connected with being born as a person, so new game is new life. But what am I tweaking then, my genes? Why is everything broken? How can I continue save files from other people? As the game asks itself, WHY? What is not my fault, I'm not even born yet! The labyrinth of abstractions was not ready to be unraveled to me for some reason. It did not even feel like the game was stopping me from playing it, more like it was broken in too many ways. [/spoiler] Sadly I encountered an in-game bug in the middle that stopped my progress and left a bad taste. I want to believe that this is some fifth-wall breaking narrative device to stop me on tracks, but it surely did not feel like it. Still, I give it a positive review, but barely. Take on sale and don't expect much, and maybe then you will be surprised.