Nerd game. Designed to appeal to nerds through and through, top to bottom. Discussing STEM-related topics, interfacing with janky old computer hardware, and doing lots of maths! But it's not difficult maths, it's... nerdy maths. Some people say this game just feels like maths homework. And they're right! But I think that can also be seen as an immersive part of translating an alien message. There's going to be some (lots of) busywork, and that's just fine with me.
Far from perfect. Far from everything makes sense. There are things to nitpick on and inconsistencies to find, but nerds love doing that anyway, and the fact that the game creates the framework to find and think about those inconsistencies to begin with is to its great credit. That said, there are very many reported things that need fixing, and some things probably can't be fixed at all. There are so many mistakes that I feel reluctant to give the game a positive review in its current state. In the current patch (1.1.1), there is even a transmission that cannot be solved without bruteforcing (237), and it's been like that for over a week now -- any other game would instantly get a negative review out of me for something like this.
But I can't bring myself to thumb this one down. I fell in love with its excellent aesthetics, all the spinny dials, the music (except "Where The Sun Never Rises"), everything feels just right in a comfy nerdy way. (Though I do recommend disabling "split colors" in the settings if you don't like having headaches). Sometimes I'm just sat there, looking at the two screens and all the dials and oscillators around them without even thinking about the puzzle, or leave the game running all day just to listen to the music.
Which is great, because you'll be staring at those two screens for the vast majority of your gameplay time, solving puzzles, trying to make sense of all the signals that the aliens thought you outta see, slowly building up your fragile tower of definitions, noticing patterns, making conclusions. Eventually, the problems start consisting almost entirely out of things you yourself have defined, the tower becomes your home, and if you've not defined something correctly and things stop making sense? Uh oh, now you gotta go back and re-examine all of your assumptions and guesses!
But worry not, for you're not in there alone. In-game, you are a part of a team of scientists, and your NPC colleagues act sorta kinda like a hint system. But their chatter more often than not just gives away the answer instead of being subtle. Sometimes they even magically know things they have no way of knowing. Other times, they will even give things away without you having to ask, i.e. through the names of the transmission groups. They're a bit of a design contradiction: you can disable their helpful chatter if you want to solve everything yourself, but, at the same time, you want to hear what they have to say, because what they have to say is interesting and cool.
As I kept playing, I came to realize that, just like the alien language is challenging my preconceptions on grammar and syntax, the game itself is challenging my preconceptions on what a puzzle game should be. The game is -not- about you proving how smartypants you are, it's -not- about being a difficult, hair-pulling challenge, it's there to be a somewhat immersive and nerdycool experience about translating an alien message, which you would never have to do alone, so it's -fine- to let your colleagues help you. It's -fine- if the team gives away the answer. They won't always be able to, so you will have to pull your weight too, as part of a team effort! Even if they won't always be on the same page as you. It's weird to end up feeling like that about those mostly faceless npcs, but the game does an excellent job at making you do just that. I loved how they would often react to and comment on your definitions, even though you could have typed absolutely anything in.
A note on the tone: it doesn't take itself seriously, but, at the same time, the game remains mostly believable. Usually when you have nerdy science fiction crap it has to be all serious like, but this game manages to be very light-hearted and silly without breaking its immersion. Great job, game!
So, in the end, this was a great experience, so I forgive it for all the tedious, repetitive transmissions, I forgive all the mistakes and inconsistencies and contradictions, I forgive "Where The Sun Never Rises" for being so grating, and I will fondly remember the game as an instant classic.
