LogFAQs > #968432472

#7: Unsighted

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/4/8/6/AAA-H0AADvIe.jpg

So let me get this straight. There was this great indie game, with beautiful pixel art and a good soundtrack, that perfectly blends Zelda and Metroid elements into its own, unique concept, that has a story that revolves about lesbian robot romance, and I almost didn't fucking play it? I nearly PASSED on this?

When I was snatching up games to play for this list during the last major Steam sale in the spring, I originally passed on this game, and probably would have left it in the 'should've played' list going into this. I felt I'd spent enough money, and this was the next game to play, but for some reason I stopped just shy of buying it. I regretted that decision following the sale, because I felt like this one could be pretty good - but as luck would have it, it went on sale again like a week later. I didn't pass it up this time. Good choice.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/4/8/7/AAA-H0AADvIf.jpg

I'm not sure why I second-guessed Unsighted at first. I think there were two main reasons. One is that it had that kind of - I don't want to call it Soulslike, but it's got that tricky kind of combat where you have to actually care about reading enemy attack patterns and dodging and occasionally doing blocks with tight timing windows to gain an advantage, and I'm just never good at those. Reason number two has to do with the game's main gimmick.

In Unsighted, you play the role of Alma, an android tasked with saving a dying world. See, the idea in Unsighted is that everyone in the game is an android of some kind, and everyone has a limited time to live before they run out of the energy that makes them sentient, INCLUDING you, rendering them mindless killing robots. This imposes a time limit in the game; take too much time wandering around, searching areas, fighting enemies, and gradually all of the NPCs in the game will die, starting mostly with less important ones, until even important characters start dying off. You can find items that will give people more time, but there is a strictly finite amount in the game, and you don't get much of it - only buying someone another half hour or so in real time. And of course, you may need to buy yourself time, too. But if you help people, they'll be able to reward you by providing services and giving you special items.

It's a really unique, and highly intimidating concept, and while the game does allow you to turn this off if you'd rather play this Zelda-style adventure at a more relaxed pace, I decided to accept that the game had a plan here, and I played it on its normal settings. I needn't have been so worried; after all, I'm a speedrunner at heart, and I like to do things fast. I think if you've ever speedrun a game before at all, you'll be well equipped to play Unsighted. The game's ticking clock element does provide a sense of urgency, and you'll probably be forced to lose a person or two (I only lost one on my first playthrough), and you'll just kind of have to accept that you can't save everyone. But that's the kind of story Unsighted wants to tell and the game it wants you to play. I don't know if it works for everyone, but it worked for me at least - the added sense of urgency that the time hanging over my head gave me made me extra relieved any time I found good equipment upgrades or useful items that would help me make progress faster, and it made me feel accomplished any time I made quick progress through an area.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/4/8/8/AAA-H0AADvIg.jpg

As for the action, I didn't need to worry about that either, unfortunately due to one of the game's biggest flaws. I started out in this game feeling quite challenged, and maybe a little overwhelmed - the game doesn't give you a lot of health to work with at the start and you really have to learn how to block and dodge enemies' attacks efficiently and play battles smart. That holds true for this game through a fairly challenging early game up through the first boss or so; beyond that point, you can start to get weapons and chips (stat boosts you can equip, basically) that really start to break the game wide open. Some of the stuff in this game is crazy broken, and by the final boss I was nearly invincible to the point that I could basically just mash my face into the boss, attack, and not worry about dying until I eventually won. I can't blame myself for making the strongest character possible, but I sort of wish they hadn't let me.

But I forgive this game's wonky difficulty curve, because it's otherwise just a truly superb action-adventure. Like I said, this game is kind of a mashup of both Zelda and Metroid, but in many ways it meets or even exceeds both series. It probably shares most in common with Zelda, in that it's got top-down action where you go to different dungeons, using keys on key doors and finding a dungeon item that helps you progress. It's all very Zelda, but in a way that doesn't disappoint or feel like a cheap imitation; the level design here is really top-notch and scratches the same itch as any of the best Zelda games do, taking some ideas from those games (mostly Twilight Princess - if you've played the game, you know what I'm talking about) and improving upon them.

But it's a little Metroidy too, and this is where the game really shines. Instead of its dungeons all being separate areas like in a Zelda game, all of the game's areas are intricately woven together into many interconnected routes, and there's plenty of optional areas to explore, shortcuts to take, and alternate routes to use to get where you're going. Not to mention that there's plenty of clever sequence breaking. There are often more than one way to get through an obstacle, or more than one way to find the item that you need to progress, and while the game does have a very obvious suggested path, just a little bit of clever thinking or realization of certain sources will let you go almost anywhere you want. It's not easy, but the game isn't stopping you, either, if you can figure it out.