Etherborn is the latest puzzle game in which, to find the exit of each level, you will have to bend the laws of gravity. A very well executed idea that surprises at every level. We reached the end of this ethereal tree and we tell you our feelings in the Etherborn analysis.
The press release says Etherborn is a mix of GRAY with Monument Valley . If we had to look for a comparison, it might be right, but the difficult thing to find a true reference for Etherborn is what speaks best about it, because it is a very unique game. Even within the puzzles that make use of the mechanics of gravity , which are not few, Altered Matter’s work stands out. Not so many dare to take this concept to a three-dimensional environment, where the opportunity to expand these gravitational puzzles are as great as the chances that a piece will not fit. That the player ‘breaks’ the game.
I do not even want to imagine the amount of testing that Samuel Cohen and Carles Triviño’s team must have had when designing each of these rooms. Squaring all the blocks and paths in such a way that the player is unable to find himself stuck, while in turn applying some logic to each level. Just thinking about it gives a headache, and it is a good example of the planning work that has had to be done so that everything is closed and without loose ends.
But what is truly brilliant about Etherborn is not only that. In many puzzle games, when you find the solution, the challenge ends. If you were to play it again, it would be practically a walk, since you already know the methodology. But here, with the game over, I’m still having trouble getting through some of the levels by repeating them, even after getting through each of them. This shows just how intricate its level design is, primed to force you to work with spatial vision rather than muscle memory. Even more so if we take into account that, once completed, we can access a New Game + where a series of objects change their location, altering the order and development of each puzzle and showing that the team has been able to twist its formula even more .
Rebirth. Etherborn Trailer
Etherborn … upside downDespite its elaborate structure, the mechanics are easy to understand. We control this ethereal figure that can move around the stage and, at most, has the ability to jump. The difference is given in the contoured edges of the structures, which allow us to vary the point of gravity. If we try to go over an edge on a rigid surface, we will fall. So we will always have to look for these curved areas to make the gravitational change. In the process, we will have to find orbs of light to take to some key points, so that we open a path to continue.
The ascent of this tree of life is divided into four levels in addition to our birth, as a tutorial.
There is no doubt, as I say, that the best thing about Etherborn is that intricate level design, which added to the art and musical work of Alexa Escudero and Gabriel Garrido imprint that ethereal character you are looking for. It is important because it invites you not to abandon. Because, even if a puzzle gets stuck, you find yourself in a comfortable environment that invites you to try again. Despite the hostility of the challenge, it is impossible not to be seduced by the colors and sounds that populate this ether. Even going up and down a series of uncomfortable, annoying blocks that prevent you from moving forward, that get in your way, generate a certain harmony in the player in the ringing of each movement.
The mechanics are simple, altering gravity by changing dimension through these curved surfaces.
The best thing about Etherborn is that intricate level designIn one of the most difficult phases of the game, one in which all the elements and mechanics learned converge and put you to the test, I was hooked for a long time. You had to climb these black and white pieces that go up and down, but, near the end of the puzzle, you had to make an inconspicuous turn. I fell into the trap of the easy path that the designer had set before me. It took me a long time to get over it, but when I did, I missed more of those situations in Etherborn, as the rest of the trip, while challenging, was not that much of a problem. So even though Etherborn lasts 4-5 hours, I don’t think the game is short. However, it misses more levels,more challenges. It’s hard not to see the full potential of this idea to create more worlds, with a new mechanic that radically varies the process. May it return you to that ignorance of the first levels.
Four worlds make up the adventure, each one divided into several challenges. We are left wanting more.
There is no doubt that this means Etherborn leaves you wanting a lot more. The ascent in this tree of life is divided into a tutorial and four levels, with several different parts in each of them and connected with a voice-over whose monologue is perhaps too abstract to be able to link the player or even what is happening on screen. It is not the important part of the work, but the way of executing these pieces of ‘history’ seems somewhat unnecessary.
Having now revisited Etherborn in its New Game +, I find myself stuck again at some points. As if my mind refuses to learn the impossible patterns and paths that make up each level of play. The new locations of the orbs of light, more elaborate, almost as collectibles, have allowed me to recreate myself even more in the environments and even let my imagination fly to the number of ideas that could continue to be implemented in its structure, shortly after play with time, speed, altered states of surfaces or triggers on stage. But with its four levels, it already manages to leave its mark of quality. Subtle and well worked. Ethereal.
“Very good”
Etherborn
Etherborn is a puzzle game that manages to challenge the player based on a well-planned alteration of gravity. Its level design is exemplary, and the artistic and sound design goes well. It may be a bit short, but for the pure reason that it leaves you wanting more, even with its New Game + mode. There are many gravity puzzles, but few make the most of their possibilities in a three-dimensional environment.
- Very well planned and executed level design
- The mechanics of gravity. Does not age at any time
- Leave wanting more levels that squeeze all the possibilities
- The dialogues between missions, too abstract and poorly defined
