Inside

Gameplay 9/10
Graphic 9/10
Soundtrack 9/10
Story 9/10


Platform : Xbox Series S

Playdead's Inside is in my opinion, the greatest art form as a Videogame medium. This masterpiece manages to shine in every aspect twice as much as I could even think to be possible. This game is Visually stunning to look at with it's surreal aesthetic, terrific lighting effects and incredible looking visuals. Every level and environment looks highly detailed and polished while also looking minimalistic and unique in it's own way. I also love how alive and dynamic this world looks and feels with the boy's realistic movement and how the surroundings react to your every move.
The side scrolling gameplay may seem simple at first (using only a jump and grab button as the main gameplay mechanic) but the masterfully crafted puzzles, which is a true successor to Limbo's trial and error gameplay, manages to completely void the game from a single dull moment. Every action and movement feels heavy and may have fatal consequences which sometimes creates terrifying scenarios. The physics mechanics also adds another layer to the gameplay and at most times, the game emphasizes on it.
Story wise, Inside lacks any type of dialogue or traditional narration but instead manages to tell a story through it's world and surreal atmosphere. The journey of the boy is filled with twists and surprising moments which runs your mind through different emotions such as fear, confusion and shock all at once. The Storyline is also accompanied by a Haunting yet beautiful music score (and sound design) that fills the world with ambience and is masterfully implemented in certain moments throughout the game. I believe the story is open to interpretation and can be understood differently through different playthroughs. The game is also scattered with hidden areas and collectibles that adds replay value to that mains storyline (which lasts around 3'ish hours) which manages to unlock an alternate ending after achieving the main ending.
I loved my mind bending experience through Inside's bizarre storyline and I encourage everyone, even those who don't like puzzle games or even if you don't play games at all, to try this masterpiece at least through one playthrough.

Started - 1/23/24
Beaten - 1/23/24

Rating - 9.1 / 10

-With “Inside”, Playdead provides a masterpiece of visual storytelling-

About as unsettling as a side-scrolling puzzle-platformer can get. The haunting atmosphere; where a child is thrust into a disturbing situation chock full of mind-controlled humanoids, rabid dogs, mermen, and creepy locales, lends itself to brilliant sound and art design. The gameplay is superb and while most of the puzzles are simple, in a trial-by-error way, you get a feeling of elation when progressing. As with their previous title “Limbo” the player is not given much in the way of narration through dialogue and text. Though, much like its predecessor, we are given a rich and layered story with twists and turns aplenty. From start to finish, and boy do I mean FINISH, you will be on the edge of your seat of the unknowns in the narrative, puzzles, action, and outcome this game will provide.

This is a game that is still on my mind weeks upon completion, and I’m not sure I’ll ever forget the way it made me feel. Here we have an improvement on what made “Limbo” great and I can’t wait to see what Playdead has in store in the future. 🤞Hopefully soon🤞

‌‌          Inside
✪ {ᏚᏟᏫᏒᎬ : 9.1}
….
᯽ : “wow. I'm not even sure what can i say about this. all i can do is praise it. a very beautiful looking game, with AMAZING sound design and animations that displays a strange and interesting story which leaves you with many more questions than answers. it was so incredibly immersive, intense, and atmospheric from the very first moment. i loved every second of it.
also, i didn't know this was made by the same team that made limbo. i loved that game. but now comparing the two, this was such a huge leap. very proud of these guys.”

…   …………….
🝰 | 𝚁𝙰𝚃𝙸𝙽𝙶𝚂

• Story/Lore : 7.2
⋆ Environmental Storytelling : 9.3

⋆ Atmosphere : 9.7
⋆ Immersion : 9.6
⋆ Intensity : 9.6

⋆ Gameplay : 9.2
⋆ Movement : 9.5
~ movement was incredibly fluid. i loved it.
⋆ Level Design : 8.7
⋆ Puzzles : 9.0
𐄁 Pacing : 8.3
𐄁 Difficulty : some puzzles were whether very hard to figure out, or I'm just stoopid. i really enjoyed the challenge tho.

⋆ Visuals : 9.2
⋆ Lighting : 9.2
⋆ Details : 9.0
~ one thing that stood out for me was the fascinating rope and chain physics. they did physics really really well.
⋆ Environment Design : 9.0
𐄁 Cinematography : 8.7
𐄁 Artsyle : ⍟⍟⍟

⋆ Animations : 9.5
⋆ Movement Animations : 9.5

⋆ Sound Design : 10
• SoundTrack : -
~ tho there are some for adding tension and ambiance, it doesn't really have like a theme or a soundtrack. it gives it's place to the incredible sound desgin. and i think it really fits the game.

• Performance : ￪￪￪￪
~ never ran into a problem. very fast fail loadings and smooth chapter select. no loading screens. no cutscenes, everything happens in action.

⎆ 𝙾𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚁𝚂⬎
𐄁 Replayability : 7.0
𐄁 Innovation : ⍟⍟⍟
𐄁 Accessibility : -
𐄁 Setting Options : ⍟
𐄁 Extras : ꭗ
𐄁 Collectibles : 7.0
𐄁 Trophies : -
~ the only trophies are for collectibles sadly.

…   ……………….
？| 𝚀𝚄𝙴𝚂𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽𝚂

𐄁 Do i recommend this game? yes. yes. yes.
𐄁 Did it make me take my time with it? absolutely.
𐄁 Did it meet my expectations? I'd heard alot of people praising this game so i had very very high expectations, but it still somehow managed to shoot above that.

…    ……………………
〄 | 𝙸𝙽𝙵𝙾𝚁𝙼𝙰𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽

- Platforms : PS4 Pro
- First Playthrough : 23.9.23
𐄁 Finished at : 24.9.23
𐄁 Playtime : 3h 58′
- Beaten : 2 times
- Fastest time : 2h 3′
- Trophy Progress : 100℅
⟆⟅ | No Platinum :<

Okay, just finished this thing. Thing being an pretty appropriate description here. It's a nice platform er in an interesting world with good puzzles for the majority of the game, but the ending was a bit underwhelming and frustrating in the story Departement. Not a deal breaker but unfortunate, as it was almost great.

Found this to be a massive slog which is kind of weird since this is a very short game.

it's all just too minimalistic for me yeah the lighting and atmosphere is cool but it gets boring incredibly fast and all the levels kinda just blend together.

The character handles very poorly for a platformer he walks so slowly and feels heavy .

Apart from the starting and ending this just doesn't work for me. Everything it does little nightmares does 10x better.