Venineth

Despite its stunning visuals and immersive and strange atmosphere, the gameplay simply gets too repetitive for me to be able to recommend it to most people. The most satisfying part of the game was when you got to take in the scenery with some light platforming and a pleasant soundtrack, but quite early on, the game takes on a heavier focus on puzzle elements together with slow and methodical platforming. while those types of gameplay aren't bad in and of themselves, they did not mesh with the more relaxing atmosphere and floaty controls that well, and just ended up becoming frustrating.

This game is amazing, but its existence also perplexes me. It is a rolling platformer, you don't get any background explanation, you don't get anything, you're just a ball. A ball made of metal, rolling around in different places. Sometimes you need to be a fire ball to solve a puzzle, sometimes you need to be an ice ball to solve a puzzle, but you're always a ball nevertheless, just rolling around in either a vast and empty landscape or something that looks like technology and structures left behind by an alien civilization, you just keep rolling.

From the technical side of things, it controls like a regular rolling platformers, you may find yourself angry because you didn't use momentum well enough and you fell off a ledge into some lava, or you may use momentum well enough that you skip a whole section of the level. The cryptic text the game incorporates into itself is, while charming when it comes to achievements and such, is very confusing when it comes to the settings menu (where some settings also like they don't work properly).

Graphically, the game is stunning. I regularly found myself just stopping the adventure to take in the landscape or take screenshots of it, but I also have to say that sometimes the things aren't bright enough so it made me think there was a wall where I was actually supposed to go.

Overall, great game.

 Venineth impresses right off the bat with its art direction, graphical fidelity, sound design, ultra-responsive controls, and level designs that vary from open and puzzle-filled to linear and platformer-oriented. Unlike the marble players control, however, the game has some issues with keeping the momentum going. After breaking down the first barrier in the hub world, players unlock the second set of levels. These are quite large, and don't convey a sense of direction to players as well as the first levels, which makes them easier to get lost in. As a result, they tend to overstay their welcome, and sticking to my goal of finishing just one level a day became laborious. By the time I decided to stop playing Venineth, I was finishing levels that only about 15% of players completed—and I was less than halfway through the game. Worth looking into for patient folks seeking a more "serious" rolling platformer, but I found it hard to stick with.