Lorelei and the Laser Eyes evaluation: A pocket book puzzler with spooky vibes

I feel the advertising for Lorelei and the Laser Eyes may need executed it a little bit of a disservice. If you watch the trailer for the primary time, you’re left with the impression of some form of game-shaped media of unsure style and elegance. They draw focus to its avant-garde French New Wave-film aesthetic and its vaguely spooky, borderline survival-horror vibes. That’s all nicely and good — and all of that’s current and accounted for within the sport — however Simogo’s Lorelei and the Laser Eyes actually is an old school, mind-bending puzzle sport.

Lorelei’s story is informed with minimal exposition and no introduction — you play a mysterious girl who arrives on the Lodge Letztes Jahr with a letter in her purse and a mission even she doesn’t appear to know. You, the participant, should assist this girl piece collectively who she is and why she’s right here, and what precisely it’s the resort’s unusual denizens need along with her. None of this data comes with out effort — after I say, “piece together,” I imply within the almost-literal, jigsaw puzzle sense.

The resort itself is replete with puzzles in each single room, each lock and secure requiring you to unravel a mind teaser to be able to entry its rewards. The sport tracks your progress and catalogs each scrap of data you obtain inside its menu (which is defined in-universe as the principle character’s eidetic reminiscence). So you’ll be able to entry any clues you’ll have discovered elsewhere within the resort at a second’s discover. There’s a form of Metroidvania really feel to it, within the sense that you just typically received’t have the instruments to unravel every puzzle instantly, which means you’ll need to backtrack as soon as you discover the related clues.

Lorelei (or LatLE) is what I wish to name a pocket book puzzler, within the sense that it’s greatest so that you can have a pocket book available always to maintain observe of the clues. The sport does job of holding clues and data obtainable always, however most gamers will probably want their very own system for holding observe of which clues go together with which puzzles. That’s both going to be your jam or it isn’t. However in case you’re like me — a veteran of ye olde point-and-click journey video games — then it’s probably going to have interaction your mind in a satisfying manner.

Price a thousand phrases: What to love in Lorelei and the Laser Eyes

The artwork design in LatLE is its most distinctive function, with virtually every part in black, white and shades of gray. The one colour that seeps by means of is brilliant, pinkish purple neon mild that’s normally used to point one thing necessary or noteworthy. It’s putting, particularly the shades of purple begin to bleed into and overpower the monochrome world, making one query the fact round them. The longer the sport goes on and the extra you progress within the story, the redder and harsher it will get.

LatLE’s puzzles are by far its best energy. They’re troublesome, however not inconceivable to unravel, and reward intelligent considering and cautious remark. You don’t need to be a genius, and the sport provides you many of the instruments you’ll want (together with an in-universe calculator constructed right into a handheld gaming machine) to get the options. I received’t say the rest about them, as a result of even when I keep away from spoilers, I don’t wish to give any unintentional hints to unravel the puzzles after they might in any other case work them out your self. It’s an actual pleasure to do, and I wouldn’t wish to rob any participant of that.

Considered one of LatLE’s strengths is the consistency of its puzzles and its early hints on easy methods to clear up them. That is one thing I seen all through my years of taking part in every part from Nancy Drew video games to hidden-object adventures: Having constant puzzle mechanics is an unsung piece of sport design. You shouldn’t be introducing new sorts of puzzles hours into the sport, particularly in case you haven’t ready your gamers for them. Considered one of LatLE’s large set items is a large maze, and by the point the participant will get to it, they’re prepared because of the copious foreshadowing that screams, “You’re going to have to traverse a maze.”

Lorelei and the Laser Eye’s story is probably its largest shock. I used to be ready to write down that a part of the sport off, even when it was good. The puzzles had been my most important focus, and story could be a nice bonus. However the sport’s story isn’t simply good; it’s glorious. With out spoiling, it incorporates the puzzles and environment into the central narrative, dropping contradictory clues about what’s occurring as actuality bends and twists, to the purpose the place the story itself appears like one large puzzle — the last word puzzle, even.

Sketchy on the small print: What to not like in Lorelei and the Laser Eyes

In a sport as functionally easy as LatLE, the straightforward mechanics are each a energy and a weak spot. After they work — and so they do work, for probably the most half — they supply a clean, gratifying sport expertise. Nonetheless, any small flaws can really feel like large issues comparatively talking, and LatLE has one flaw in its design: The menus perform on a single button press. Granted, your entire sport (bar the motion) capabilities on a single button, nevertheless it’s largely within the menus the place this turns into a problem.

As I mentioned earlier than, LatLE saves and catalogs all data you discover, together with random symbols, e-book pages or conversations, all neatly filed by class in your menu. Nonetheless, while you wish to navigate by means of the subreddit, there’s no “back” button. Since you’ve got just one button to work with, it’s important to navigate to the earlier menu by discovering the “back out” image on the submenu and tapping it together with your one button.

Contemplating how a lot time you’ll spend scrubbing by means of the clues in search of that one piece of information that’ll enable you clear up that one puzzle you’ve been caught on, having to navigate to an in-menu again button, moderately than having one tied organically to the mouse or controller, could be a ache. It’s virtually like a backhanded praise to the sport’s puzzle design that regardless of how caught I acquired, I by no means acquired annoyed with the puzzles, however the menus had me able to chuck my Swap out of a window.

The one different most important problem I had with the sport is that there’s a touch system teased that doesn’t exist. Personally, I wouldn’t thoughts if the sport had a perfunctory trace system. I don’t assume it might have taken away something. However the sport doesn’t have one — as an alternative it has a cellphone line the participant can name for “advice,” which is commonly not recommendation however some obtuse phrase from an untrustworthy character. By incorporating a touch choice that doesn’t provide hints, it feels as if the devs are tricking gamers into feeling silly. It’s merciless, for all I don’t assume it was intentional.

Must you play Lorelei and the Laser Eyes?

Any gamer who’s a fan of puzzle video games, mind teasers or journey video games will get pleasure from Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, particularly in the event that they’re not afraid to tug out a pocket book and get writing whereas taking part in. It’s a improbable story wrapped in a stable basis of gameplay, and what few drawbacks there are don’t take away from the expertise in any manner that issues. Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is a sport that’ll problem and reward you equally, and it’s probably the greatest general experiences I’ve had in 2024 to this point.

(Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is presently obtainable on PC and Swap. Annapurna Interactive offered GamesBeat with a evaluation code for the needs of this evaluation.)