[Review] Projection: First Light – A Dark, Cute Journey

[- Wolver]

                                                                                                              Game Informations :                                                           
                                                                                                              Developer: Shadowplay studios
                                                                                                              Publisher : Blowfish studios
                                                                                                              Platforms: PC ; Playstation 4 ; Xbox one ; nintendo Switch ; iOS
                                                                                                              Original release date: 2019

 

Projection: First Light is a side-scrolling platforming game developed by Shadowplay Studios and published by Blowfish Studios. You’ll play as Greta, a shadow puppet girl made out of paper, as she starts her journey to self-discovery after she runs away from her home.

You’ll travel to Indonesia, China, Turkey, and England throughout your journey. Each place you visit will have its own unique characters for you to interact with. These characters will guide you through the levels and through your personal journey, as they give you advice for your life and the problems you’re feeling.

All this, though, is told without any words. Instead, Projection does a good job telling its story by showing you what’s going on while making progress. It’s like trying to communicate with someone who speaks a different language, you’ll have a lot of “Oh, I get it" moments when playing this game.

Projection’s aesthetics are one of its best features. The music and sounds are great and they make you feel like you’re inside another world, a shadow puppet world. Speaking of shadows, they look awesome. Every character, place, and object you encounter is filled with details.

Despite being a 2D game, the places you visit have a sense of depth, and you’ll feel like the world is so much bigger than you think. Combine that with the music, and you’ll even feel nervous when moving to another section like something big is about to happen. And it will, you just need to be patient.

Speaking of patience, you’re going to need it when learning to play this game. Projection is a simple game: Just go from point A to point B, solving puzzles and obtaining a few butterflies as collectibles along the way.

The problem is, the controls are not the best when using your screen. To control Greta you need to swipe left or right to move and up to jump. Despite being simple controls, they’re not that responsive, and you might jump beforehand, causing you to lose progress or even drown.

The biggest problem is the light. You see, you are not alone in this journey. You have a light ball with you that’ll help you cast shadows to solve puzzles and make progress. The puzzles are mostly simple, and even clever, although they might get repetitive. However, it takes time for you to get used to the light and to learn how it works. After you learn to use the shadows, the game becomes easier and less frustrating.