Lorelei and the Laser Eyes evaluate: A pocket book puzzler with spooky vibes

I believe the advertising and marketing for Lorelei and the Laser Eyes may need completed it a little bit of a disservice. Whenever you watch the trailer for the primary time, you’re left with the impression of some sort of game-shaped media of unsure style and magnificence. They draw focus to its avant-garde French New Wave-film aesthetic and its vaguely spooky, borderline survival-horror vibes. That’s all nicely and good — and all of that’s current and accounted for within the recreation — however Simogo’s Lorelei and the Laser Eyes actually is an old school, mind-bending puzzle recreation.

Lorelei’s story is advised with minimal exposition and no introduction — you play a mysterious girl who arrives on the Resort Letztes Jahr with a letter in her purse and a mission even she doesn’t appear to know. You, the participant, should assist this girl piece collectively who she is and why she’s right here, and what precisely it’s the resort’s unusual denizens need along with her. None of this data comes with out effort — after I say, “piece together,” I imply within the almost-literal, jigsaw puzzle sense.

The resort itself is replete with puzzles in each single room, each lock and secure requiring you to unravel a mind teaser as a way to entry its rewards. The sport tracks your progress and catalogs each scrap of data you obtain inside its menu (which is defined in-universe as the principle character’s eidetic reminiscence). So you may entry any clues you might have discovered elsewhere within the resort at a second’s discover. There’s a sort of Metroidvania really feel to it, within the sense that you simply typically received’t have the instruments to unravel every puzzle instantly, that means you’ll should backtrack as soon as you discover the related clues.

Lorelei (or LatLE) is what I prefer to name a pocket book puzzler, within the sense that it’s greatest so that you can have a pocket book readily available always to maintain observe of the clues. The sport does job of retaining clues and knowledge obtainable always, however most gamers will seemingly want their very own system for retaining observe of which clues go along with which puzzles. That’s both going to be your jam or it isn’t. However when you’re like me — a veteran of ye olde point-and-click journey video games — then it’s seemingly going to interact your mind in a satisfying manner.

Value a thousand phrases: What to love in Lorelei and the Laser Eyes

The artwork design in LatLE is its most distinctive characteristic, with virtually all the pieces in black, white and shades of gray. The one coloration that seeps via is brilliant, pinkish crimson neon gentle that’s normally used to point one thing vital or noteworthy. It’s placing, particularly the shades of crimson begin to bleed into and overpower the monochrome world, making one query the truth round them. The longer the sport goes on and the extra you progress within the story, the redder and harsher it will get.

LatLE’s puzzles are by far its biggest power. They’re tough, however not not possible to unravel, and reward intelligent considering and cautious commentary. You don’t should be a genius, and the sport offers you many of the instruments you’ll want (together with an in-universe calculator constructed right into a handheld gaming gadget) to get the options. I received’t say anything about them, as a result of even when I keep away from spoilers, I don’t wish to give any unintentional hints to unravel the puzzles once they may in any other case work them out your self. It’s an actual pleasure to do, and I wouldn’t wish to rob any participant of that.

Certainly one of LatLE’s strengths is the consistency of its puzzles and its early hints on learn how to clear up them. That is one thing I seen all through my years of taking part in all the pieces from Nancy Drew video games to hidden-object adventures: Having constant puzzle mechanics is an unsung piece of recreation design. You shouldn’t be introducing new sorts of puzzles hours into the sport, particularly when you haven’t ready your gamers for them. Certainly one of LatLE’s massive set items is a large maze, and by the point the participant will get to it, they’re prepared because of the copious foreshadowing that screams, “You’re going to have to traverse a maze.”

Lorelei and the Laser Eye’s story is maybe its greatest shock. I used to be ready to jot down that a part of the sport off, even when it was good. The puzzles have been my most important focus, and story can be a pleasing bonus. However the recreation’s story isn’t simply good; it’s wonderful. With out spoiling, it incorporates the puzzles and ambiance into the central narrative, dropping contradictory clues about what’s happening as actuality bends and twists, to the purpose the place the story itself seems like one massive puzzle — the final word puzzle, even.

Sketchy on the main points: What to not like in Lorelei and the Laser Eyes

In a recreation as functionally simple as LatLE, the easy mechanics are each a power and a weak spot. After they work — they usually do work, for essentially the most half — they supply a easy, gratifying recreation expertise. Nonetheless, any small flaws can really feel like large issues comparatively talking, and LatLE has one flaw in its design: The menus operate on a single button press. Granted, your complete recreation (bar the motion) capabilities on a single button, however it’s largely within the menus the place this turns into a problem.

As I stated earlier than, LatLE saves and catalogs all data you discover, together with random symbols, e book pages or conversations, all neatly filed by class in your menu. Nonetheless, if you wish to navigate via the subreddit, there’s no “back” button. Since you may have just one button to work with, you need to navigate to the earlier menu by discovering the “back out” image on the submenu and tapping it along with your one button.

Contemplating how a lot time you’ll spend scrubbing via the clues on the lookout for that one piece of information that’ll show you how to clear up that one puzzle you’ve been caught on, having to navigate to an in-menu again button, quite than having one tied organically to the mouse or controller, could be a ache. It’s virtually like a backhanded praise to the sport’s puzzle design that irrespective of how caught I obtained, I by no means obtained annoyed with the puzzles, however the menus had me able to chuck my Swap out of a window.

The one different most important problem I had with the sport is that there’s a touch system teased that doesn’t exist. Personally, I wouldn’t thoughts if the sport had a perfunctory trace system. I don’t assume it might have taken away something. However the recreation doesn’t have one — as an alternative it has a cellphone line the participant can name for “advice,” which is commonly not recommendation however some obtuse phrase from an untrustworthy character. By incorporating a touch choice that doesn’t supply hints, it feels as if the devs are tricking gamers into feeling silly. It’s merciless, for all I don’t assume it was intentional.

Must you play Lorelei and the Laser Eyes?

Any gamer who’s a fan of puzzle video games, mind teasers or journey video games will get pleasure from Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, particularly in the event that they’re not afraid to drag out a pocket book and get writing whereas taking part in. It’s a improbable story wrapped in a stable basis of gameplay, and what few drawbacks there are don’t take away from the expertise in any manner that issues. Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is a recreation that’ll problem and reward you equally, and it’s the most effective general experiences I’ve had in 2024 to this point.

(Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is at the moment obtainable on PC and Swap. Annapurna Interactive offered GamesBeat with a evaluate code for the needs of this evaluate.)