Analysis: Creaks. Amanita Design’s excellent puzzle game

0
315
Creaks
Analysis: Creaks. Amanita Design's Excellent Puzzle Game

We analyze Creaks, the new proposal of Amanita Design, creators of the masterful Machinarium or Botanicula, who offer us an excellent game of puzzles and platforms that are very varied and superb at an audiovisual level.

Creaks

There are studies that, given the immaculate nature of their career, make us very excited with each announcement of a new title that they are going to launch. The small independent study Amanita Design It is undoubtedly one of the greatest exponents of the aforementioned. The Czechs have been flying the flag of the creativity, imagination and daydream to offer us a list of superb video games that have made us enjoy themselves in style. First they surprised us with an attractive point and click adventure for the browser, the original Samorost. After the continuation of this launched in 2005, it would be in 2009 when they would release their first masterpiece, that wonderful Machinarium that helped revitalize the genre of graphic adventure, which began to rise from the grave after years where it was presumed dead and buried. This beautiful adventure starring an endearing little robot was also one of the mainstays of the assault on the foreground of the video game sector that gave up the then emerging independent sector of it.

In 2012 the Czechs presented us with BotaniculaAnother wonder point and click in a beautiful and original environment that invited us to experiment with everything around us and surprised us at every step with the consequences of it. Four years later we enjoyed a close in style to the Samorost trilogy, and finally, in 2018, they surprised us again with the delicious interactive comedy starring an overactive hairball, that Chuchel that took away our hearts. With this history, it is not surprising the enormous emotion we felt when Amanita announced her next project, this fantastic Creaks that concerns us today.

For the occasion, the brilliant studio has taken what is possibly the biggest step forward in his career, leaving behind some of its hallmarks, preserving others, and giving us what is until now its most ambitious project. The main change is the new playable two-dimensional puzzle adventure approach with direct control, leaving behind that handling with a pointer so characteristic of his works. It keeps its peculiar narrative, without the slightest line of dialogue as is the trademark of the house, and despite the fact that to a certain extent it is something different, we also find ourselves a delicious audiovisual section and full of care and detail, all this combined to offer us a wonderful adventure that is greatly enjoyed and will keep us glued to our screens while it lasts. So, we are facing a brainy title with which to squeeze our brains out by solving some very original and satisfying puzzles, while we delight our senses with a masterful staging. Creaks we loved and it has conquered us again as only Amanita knows how to do, and of course, we recognize that for the occasion they have put all the meat on the grill. If what you want is a good puzzle adventure with a superb packaging, the new proposal of the champions of the Czech imagination is one of the great proposals of the year, Available for both PC and Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4, Xbox One and mobile devices.

The mysterious underground castle.

The adventure we will enjoy begins in the room of our anonymous protagonist, a young man of whom we know nothing. Suddenly, after slight tremors, he discovers on one of the walls of his room a passageway to an ominous underworld, where you will visit a kind of castle of cyclopean proportions. In addition to some dangers that we will talk about later, and that give the title its name, this place is inhabited by bird beings of anthropomorphic forms. Shortly after arriving at such an amazing place, we see how the castle is under attack by a gigantic creature, and the efforts of birdmen and women to avoid greater evils. Our mission will be to get to the bottom of the castle and find out what’s going on. As usual in her works, Amanita does not present us with an argument of cosmic proportions or that intends to change our lives. On the contrary, it offers us a simple and straightforward story, but as they always manage to do in a masterful way, they manage to immerse us in the universe of their proposal and make us part of it as only the brilliant Czech studio knows how to do. They also offer us a series of characters with whom the player connects immediately, and all of it without using even the most line of dialogue nor any kind of artifice, as they have always done.

SEE ALSO  Microsoft is working on a feature to let you write with your eyes

Yes, it is true that for the occasion they use a few prerecorded scenes using the game engine and without any transition, but in any case, the narrative Amanita is present and is as special as ever. It is also true that said narrative is here more subject to gameplay than in previous works of the studio since that motivation to explore and surprise ourselves with our actions is not present here, since we are facing a Linear Advance Classic Puzzle Platforms, so it does not lend itself as much to it as it did in Botanicula or the Samorost saga. This commitment to a more traditional and less experimental approach may not be a tasteful dish for some of the most staunch followers of the study, but we consider that have been successful in not typecasting, and despite the fact that they have put aside that experimental brand of the house in order to offer a somewhat more classic product, the bet works and continues to maintain the Amanita spirit.


Analysis: Creaks. Amanita Design's excellent puzzle game
 

Although the characters don’t say a single word, those gestural conversations and with nice sounds that we enjoyed in previous titles are here, and they will make us smile more than they always have. That domain of the narrative so his and so characteristic of a special medium such as that of the video game appears here and continues to surprise us. The ominous and in a sense slightly terrifying touch of the game also distances it from other more cheerful works in the studio, but as we have already mentioned, we applaud the bravery of not being pigeonholed and taking a step forward.

Puzzles and Platforms

Until now, all Amanita titles were cut by the same playable pattern: pointer control that invited us to click on everything around us to surprise us with the magical and crazy consequences of our actions, bringing the genre of point and click to its maximum expression. For Creaks, they have decided to completely change the paradigm, for employ direct character control, and bet on a Fully linear two-dimensional platform puzzle game. The playable change is more than clear when the game itself recommends that we use a control pad to enjoy it in all its splendour. So we leave behind the experiments of the past to bet on a more traditional approach. The truth is that initially the handling our character is a little bit strange and it takes a few minutes to get hold of it entirely, and on a couple of occasions it will make us make a mistake. And they also seemed a bit demanding collision detections with enemies, especially going up and down the stairs. But in any case, as we have already mentioned, once the initial moments have been overcome, these problems go to the background and allow us to enjoy the true protagonists of the adventure, puzzles that the truth is that we have loved them.


Analysis: Creaks. Amanita Design's excellent puzzle game
 

These approach puzzles are quite simple. In our epic to reach the base of the underground castle, we will have to cross many rooms. The common premise for all puzzles will reach the exit of several of these rooms. The thing is complicated when to advance through the rooms we must use switches, pressure sensors and many more surprises. And also, we will have to deal with several beings that populate the castle, which they are lethal to the slightest contact. At first, we will be totally defenceless before them, and we will have no choice but to flee. But we will soon discover the importance of light when interacting with these dangerous beings, which will allow us to use them to our advantage. On the one hand, the light will serve as a refuge, since these beings will be kept at bay while we are under their shelter, fleeing in addition to it. But is that if we can focus them directly with a light beam, will become harmless pieces of furniture They will also serve us for multiple purposes, such as climbing or activating pressure sensors. In our adventure, we will find 5 different types of beings, each with their own behaviour and patterns And we will have to learn how to deal with them and take advantage of them on the go.

SEE ALSO  Some researchers no longer have any qualms about using AI in scientific papers

This variety manages to be adding new mechanics to the puzzles continuously since these beings will be presented to us separately and gradually until we reach a point where we will have several of them at the same time in the same room to offer us a puzzle that combines what we have learned so far and will be a real challenge. At older, several mechanics will also be added and some skills, so that every bit of the game we offer something new to understand and assimilate to be able to advance, so it avoids falling into tedium and will make us enjoy ourselves at all times. It is true that we would like these mechanics to be exploited a little more and add some more to the mix, but it works and never gets boring.


Analysis: Creaks. Amanita Design's excellent puzzle game
 

The difficulty is very well adjusted and follows a very well planned and logical curve. The resolution of the puzzles is generally very logical and satisfying, and all without any explanation or tutorial, knowing how to introduce the new elements organically and treating the player as someone smart. Being puzzles that usually unfold on a single screen, although at first, they seem very complex, with some observation and ingenuity we will see that all the answers were there, and it is a pleasure to play with all the possibilities, mechanics and behaviour of the beings that inhabit this peculiar world to continue advancing. The slightest contact with the beings that populate the castle will mean our death, something until now never seen in an Amanita game, but this will not be too serious a problem since we will immediately return to the beginning of the room in which we were, or even to some intermediate checkpoint if we have already taken several steps in the right direction of solving the puzzle in some cases.

At older puzzles, and to give our neurons a slight rest, we will find some pictures that will present us with small and short mini-games that, saving the distances, they remind us for example of those seen in the Wario Ware, for example. The game is translated into our language, which we will only notice in the initial and pause menus since as it has been repeated there is not a single dialogue or text in the entire development of the adventure. The title lasts around 6-8 hours depending on our expertise and possible jams in a puzzle.


Analysis: Creaks. Amanita Design's excellent puzzle game
 

Audiovisual feast

At the audiovisual level, how could it be otherwise in a game of Amanita Design, we are before a sovereign feast for the senses. The graphic work is colossal, with a beautiful staging with hand-painted graphics of excellent workmanship, with an exquisite art direction reminiscent of that used in Machinarium, with a slightly darker but just as precious touch, reminiscent of the works of Tim Burton for example. The stages are very ornate and full of detail, they have a job and huge care behind and help to build and give meaning to the universe that Amanita depicts on screen. Also highlights the excellent work of the animations of all the characters that populate the adventure, which endows them with a tremendous expressiveness that makes up for the total absence of dialogues and that makes these characters transmit a lot and we can empathize with them. So good is the visual work that you are forgiven for not offering a little more variety in your surroundings. Amanita are masters when it comes to capturing beautiful and imaginative fantasy worlds on screen, and with Creaks, they have hit the nail on the head with a new work of art, something darker and more ominous than on previous occasions, but which is a real delight as they have always managed to offer.

SEE ALSO  Your WhatsApp profile photos will be more private thanks to the new update

Nor is it trivial that developers recommend enjoying the adventure wearing good sound helmets. The excellent soundtrack by Hidden Orchestra It is a real enjoyment and adapts like a glove to what happens on screen. It also works dynamically, gaining strength and presence as we take the correct steps in solving the puzzles, in a great in-crescendo that motivates us to continue solving the intricate puzzles we come across. The working set of sound effects, varied and with a lot of packaging, ends by rounding out a sound section that, as in all the titles of the studio, has a central role in the game. A title that it is enjoyed both as an intellectual challenge and as a true delight for the senses, which he never tires of pleasing with every step we take in his magical and mysterious world.


Analysis: Creaks. Amanita Design's excellent puzzle game
 

CONCLUSION

Amanita Design has done it again. It is true that we are facing its less experimental and surprising title, and that several of its hallmarks have been left on the road. But in any case, we have also liked this more traditional approach to offer us an excellent puzzle and platform game that we have completely fallen in love with. It is a really satisfying and very well measured intellectual challenge, and one that knows how to introduce new mechanics and playable elements that keep the formula fresh and entertaining at all times. All this adorned with an audiovisual section of the house that is a sovereign feast for the senses, with delicious graphics painted entirely by hand and a magnificent dynamic orchestral soundtrack. And of course, with the peculiar narrative Amanita, without the slightest dialogue or line of text, how well these masters dominate and that manages to immerse us in their proposal and connect with it as only they know how to do. It is not the best work of the champions of creativity and imagination that are Amanita, nor the most surprising or groundbreaking of their titles, and some staunch fan of the studio may be disappointed by the loss of several of the hallmarks of it. We have loved it and we have enjoyed it very much, and we can only recommend it if what you want is to give the coconut a beautiful and special title. The recommendation that we extend to all the work of one of the essential studies of the modern age of the sector, without whose masterful contribution it would be impossible to understand the current state of the videogame world and the enormous impact that independent development has had on it.

THE BEST

  • Very satisfying puzzles with very well measured and staggered difficulty.
  • Audiovisually it is a feast for the senses.
  • How well he manages to immerse the player in his world and connect with his proposal.
  • The narrative “Amanita” and the studio’s commitment to creativity are always delicious.
  • The constant introduction of new mechanics and playable elements.

WORST

  • It is the least experimental and most traditional title of the study.
  • It takes a bit to gain control at first.
  • He could have exploited his mechanics a little more.
8.5

Very good

Game with a remarkable finish that we will enjoy and remember. A good purchase, highly recommended for lovers of the genre. It is well cared for at all levels.