Note: While our description is accurate and there are clear similarities between the two games, Playdead has asked us to clarify that Somerville's executive producer Dino Patti did not have a creative role on Inside.
I had such high hopes for this title. It shares a pedigree with Limbo and Inside, two games known for their alluring visual style, puzzles, and atmosphere. While I appreciate vague storytelling, I do require a modicum of visual narrative. Somerville doesn't feel like a cousin of Inside or Limbo but rather reminiscent of those painfully derivative knock-offs that don't offer enough puzzles or narrative to be recommended. Not a single puzzle had my head scratching for more than 10 seconds, and there weren't enough of them as often I would walk for ten minutes before encountering one. Given my experience in these types of games, I am usually patient. I take my time and try to enjoy the scenery. Given that, I was still able to wrap Somerville in less than 3 hours. That's insane for a game charging this much. I know it says 3.1 on my record, but that takes account of me sitting through credits, baffled by the game's logic to end when it decided to. Just when you acquire your third ability, the game barely makes use of it before an ending that makes Inside feel straightforward. And let's not ignore the game's polish in that it isn't. You get hung up on terrain, characters vanish and reappear, and navigation can be a real pain as you try to understand where you are supposed to walk to. That ended up being more of a chore than the puzzles. The puzzles were easy. I bet I spent twenty minutes of the game wandering around a room trying to figure out where I can walk to. It's such a damn shame as I was really looking forward to this title. Also, most of the trailers ruin the game's most interesting moments, so if you think there is some great revelation or moments the game is holding back, sorry to disappoint, but that won't happen. Finally, a mild spoiler regarding the ending. It concludes with a puzzle so badly communicated, that you are not even sure that it is a puzzle the first time you play. In fact, you'll likely have to read discussion groups to discover this. To make matters worse, solving this puzzle requires you to pay attention and interpret moments from the whole game, moments that don't appear important...meaning if you did not pick these up, you have to replay the game. And even if you do pick them up, the final solution still requires a hell of a lot of guesswork. You're likely to default to one of the game's "bad" endings. This results in a slog that could have been solved if the game had a modicum or foresight to have you replay these moments before the end or have a series of flashbacks so you can remember the final solution. I know people want to feel smart for having to figure this out, but Somerville is a narrative failure. Seriously, I just finished Scorn--that game's a hot mess and it made more sense than this.
I full heartedly agree with all your points. I wanted to like this game so bad, and usually I try to give games the benefit of the doubt, but there were just too many glaring issues that I could hardly say I even had fun with this game at all.
This is one of those games that make me glad I have Gamepass because I played it for an hour and immediately lost interest. The opening was nice however things get wonky once you start “running” around the land.
Pros: The Puzzles are simple, to be honest, but the game is very creative in the way it makes you use your powers. Graphically it looks stunning and the art style was appropriate. Cons: This game is not as good as Limbo or Inside but it has its moments, especially in the middle of the story it gets better and trippy. Unfortunately, the game suffers from clunky controls and bad angles. Most of my deaths in the game were because of the awkward camera angles or the slow movement of the character. It can be aggravating. Speaking of dying, I wish they would add death animations that would be more impactful. Remember Inside or limbo... Now, I did like the game but I can't say that I was not expecting a bit more. Anyway, it's on gamepass so at least I think people should give it a try.
Kind of wish the review said a little less, but I bet it was a hard line to tread when the game is more straight forward and on the shorter side. Still intrigued though. I forgot this was coming out so soon.
Totally understand and even acknowledged that reluctance, but when an ending falls flat, I think it's an important thing to bring up in a review. There's obviously a lot more detail I could have described and avoided. -Bloodworth
@@EasyAllies no worries Blood! Saw the comment and stopped watching just in case lol, but i know you guys wouldn't spoil anything significant in a review. Just one of those games for me lol
Yeah, for sure. I'd agree that if you are pretty sure you're going to play it anyways, you might as well hop in first and come back to the review after. -Bloodworth
Sometimes it's nice to pop into a short, beautifully atmospheric game. Unfortunately the game is pretty broken for me on Gamepass for PC, crashing more than 6 times in as many minutes. Hopefully a stability update is in the works because I really want to experience this without interruptions.
Oof, PC gaming is so weird. While I had some rough issues, I haven't seen a single crash, and I've played it several times, including before the most recent patches. -Bloodworth
Surprised you couldn't find the God of War review, it's pretty easy to spot on the home page. But here's the link ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-18x01iMWtak.html As for Gotham Knights, we won't be able to put out a full review, but you can find a conversation video we had out around launch as well as more thoughts on Frame Trap. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-VjcEWBCJ_k4.html ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-eApcI4ahaJw.html -Bloodworth
Brandon is no longer involved in the day to day operations of Easy Allies, but we still hire him to do VO. And in fact, when he announced he was leaving, he announced a new tier on our Patreon where you can get him to read just about anything you want. -Bloodworth
I played both Limbo and Inside this year. While I think Limbo is one of the worst games I’ve ever played, Inside easily sits in my top 10 of all time. The premise of Somerville always seemed promising but it looks like this one retains the same jank as Limbo. This is looking like a sale game.
