The Entropy Centre

Pretty good puzzler in the vein of Portal. Sometimes wears its inspiration too much on its sleeve but finds a central mechanic that is different enough to stand on its own legs. The problem is that it's long to the point that it doesn't have many more tricks to show on the final acts. Once you understand that all you have to do is reverse engineer the steps you have to take to complete the puzzle, it becomes pretty easy, especially compared to something like Talos Principle or even Portal itself. It's not that the puzzles are badly designed - i would say that some are actually pretty smart - but the game ends very much after the point that the time mechanic becomes routine. The mid-game levels genereally took me a lot longer to complete than the endgame ones. This isn't all that bad, though. I like a certain "breeziness" when playing a game like this, that makes me feel smart for figuring it out quickly. It's comfort food for puzzlers, still with a few good highs. The central narrative mechanic of saving the world by rewinding it is original and often intriguing. I liked scavenging the terminals for story crumbs and I was very curious to see what they would do with everything that they were foreshadowing throughout the narrative. Problem is - and spoilers for the ending - they never really do anything other than what was telegraphed from the beginning and I felt a bit disappointed about that. There's also the issue that the game never gives the protagonist and their companion a chance to be anything but quippy and chipper. Even in darker moments of the story, there's practically no dramatic weight from the characters. Aria never really acknowledges the implications of her story and it's very jarring to see her and Astra keep the jokes coming even when the personal stakes for her should be astronomical - never mind the world becoming a flaming sphere. As for presentation, I started the game feeling that it would be the same office/liminal space aesthetic that became pretty tired in media as of recently, but there's enough permeations of the theme to keep it fresh for longer than what I expected. I really enjoyd some of the maps the game put me through, especially in the mid sections. Again, it goes a bit longer than it really should and some of the acts are more samey than others. The combat sections should've been cut since they add very little to the game besides a bit of frustration in an otherwise comfortable pacing of gameplay. The big setpieces are well made but I would've prefered if the environment itself was more the enemy rather than the little respawning robots. I really enjoyed my time with this but it's not something that I would think of revisiting anytime soon. I would be excited to play another game in this style, especially one with a more modular and versatile central mechanic. The premise is, again, very compelling, but the game struggles to hold its own narrative weight and seems to retreat every time there's a chance to delve deeper onto its themes. But still, I love it for its atmosphere, charm and, really most of its puzzle quality.

10/10 puzzles 10/10 visuals Decent writing. The annoying action sequences drag the game down to an 8/10.

I love this game! The concept is refreshing and the writing is wacky & funny! While the similarity to Portal is noticeable, it managed to innovate in quite a few places (apart from the concept of entropy, obviously) - be it the lore or some of the challenge elements. Side note, the graphics are gorgeous (Unreal Engine) and run surprisingly well on my laptop. If you liked Portal or the movie Tenet, you'll feel yourself at home! 5/5

It's good, I suppose..? The puzzles and overall polish are relatively basic compared to the giants in the genre. Far too many puzzles are easily cheesed, which is unfortunate since you can tell the developer sometimes thought of protecting against cheese, and at other times I finish the puzzle with cheese while goofing off while exploring the puzzle area, only to spend another 10-15 minutes to actually do the puzzle and solve it as it is intended to be solved. Achievements-wise, I kept expecting there to be some achievement involving vending machines, which wasn't the case. I kept expecting easter eggs to pop up if only I checked every single door I came across, but no such luck was had. The overall levels are simultaneously impressive and disappointing. It's always the same trash, desks and tables and stuff, just slightly reoriented. Vending machines that (if they work) dispense 6 times, but you can't do anything with what they dispense. Many of the walls glow around their edges in a lighting-glitch kind of way. I came across some weird stuff that I feel might have been of note on another platform (like a random toilet I cannot interact with facing a sunset, or being able to reach a very interesting-looking neon-lit water pool) but end up nothing burgers. I've softlocked several times while trying to skip certain elevators by climbing over or out of them. Yet at the same time, the interiors actually feel varied, and some areas are absolutely massive. Every place feels like a unique space rather than just another box. This unfortunately also leads to a lot of OOB exploration, but hey, at least I discovered some evidence of a cat cult and cat food while doing so. And the story? While it is very predictable in a way (I pretty much called it in one of the first few acts after I got some story nuggets) I must commend the developers on going above and beyond with actually doing the atmosphere during some of the story-heavy sequences. It honestly feels like the story parts and the actual game had two very different teams with different budgets working on them, and that is a shame. Despite my disappointment in some ways, it is worth what I paid for it. It's biggest flaw is genuinely that there is so much potential that has gone unexplored. While the main mechanic is nothing special, it can carry the game, but it just needs so much more consistent investment. Why can some broken things be rewound, yet others cannot? Why do some things break and others do not? Why is it so trivially easy to follow E when it pops in and out to guide you, only to see it mysteriously disappear in ways that make no sense in regards to the storyline? While can't I crouch a little to fit through this huge hole? How did I manage to softlock myself in a hole right after a checkpoint? Etc. It is the lack of consistent quality in all of its facets that makes it so regrettable. Despite that, I had fun playing a competent game. It's not highly refined art, nor is it AI slop. It entertained me, even if all my attempts to break the levels before ever solving them might not be what the creators intended.

Very good.

Great game, very similar to Portal. I love the soundtrack and the graphics, and that my PC doesn't explode from it. Runs at 60-80 FPS.

Дуже кльова гра. Чудова складність пазлів, особливо під кінець, коли гра змушує нормально так поміркувати. І загорнуті вони в надзвичайно захоплюючий сюжет, з перервами на екшн, видовишність, і гумором на додачу. Не знаю, що тут ще треба. Брав на розпродажі і навіть не очікував, що це буде настільки якісна річ. Однозначно рекомендую спробувати.