![]() If it seems as though I have barely talked about the child character, this is only because they are largely at the crux of the narrative and any mention would likely spoil their story. The experience is by no means ‘ruined’ by this ending, but nevertheless the narrative as a whole would have been more effective if story telling stuck with either metaphors, leaving things ambiguous and open to interpretation, or the very direct exposition it concludes with. ![]() However, as the game progresses, the story begins to rely on clichés and abstract ideas around pain, before taking a hard dive into a contrived and confusing ending. The story of Inmost is a little befuddling to begin with, having very few explanations as to what is happening, though this is successful in building up a sense of intrigue at the start of the journey. This blue tinted, pixel art world lends itself well to the desired atmosphere of a “dark night”, and despite being largely linear (with some backtracking), the player truly feels as though they are exploring and uncovering the secrets the world of Inmost has to offer. Whether it’s the erratic strings scoring the knight’s troubles or the melancholy sweeping orchestra following the man, Inmost offers a soundtrack that will instantly envelope the player into its shadowy world. ![]() In particular, the soundtrack serves as the driving force behind the story of each character, with every section having its own music. Inmost takes pains to ensure the player’s journey lives up to the expectation of being an “atmospheric” experience. Creatures manage to be genuinely creepy and interesting looking, without falling into the trap of being generic shadow monsters, and the deliberate slowness of the man’s movement often creates genuine feelings of panic when fleeing from them. In fact, much of the gameplay in this section involves running away from or totally avoiding monsters, making the difference in playing as the nimble, violent knight and the ungainly conflict-avoiding man all the more clear. Conversely, combat in the man’s sections is rarer and never features fighting with a weapon, meaning enemies must be killed through puzzle solving, such as squashing enemies with doors which proved far more engaging. For instance, toward the end, the knight’s sections become a little too repetitive given that combat solely involves continually grapple-hooking to a platform, then mashing a single button to kill enemies. This keeps it from feeling too sluggish for the most part, though perhaps not during certain combat areas. It would seem the game is more focused on building up this sense of atmosphere through music and visual style, rather than forcing the player to struggle through complex puzzles. Likewise, puzzles succeed in being stimulating despite not being particularly difficult, with most solved through locating a certain lever or pushing objects to reach high up platforms. Nevertheless, exploration is not marred by the deaths that the player might rack up due to this, as checkpoints are frequent and very forgiving. Platforming is straight forward with no particularly big jumps or quick movements needed but can be finicky, in the occasional difficulty of aligning characters with the specific platform being jumped to. You will traverse a range of environments, from infested abandoned mines to disgusting monster lairs, and each location is splendidly depicted with mysterious misty backgrounds and curious objects scattered about. ![]() Each character is unique from the last, and features play styles distinct enough to make every section of the game enjoyable, with every shift in the narrative back and forth between characters being a welcome change of pace. ![]() In the meantime, we see the knight rapidly slice, drop and grapple hook his way across the landscape meanwhile a small child clumsily explores the dreary recesses of a home rife with disturbance and things which do not sit well. The man, arguably the character with the most screen time, stumbles and jumps his way across dark hellscapes moving toward - or perhaps away from - an ambiguous target. The player journeys through the stories of three very different characters across the span of the game, who each exemplify three different types of gameplay. Storm or not, Inmost delivers on immersing the player in a darkly atmospheric experience, one which offers a largely engaging story and the occasional fright. ![]()
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