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Machinarium screenshots9/3/2023 Some of my favorite areas were the arcade, the greenhouse, and the bar. In fact, each area feels different from the other, and the puzzles show that as well. The game does a good job of keep most of the items near the puzzles they are involved in, that way there isn’t a lot of backtracking. Some involve combining items and using them with the world around you, and some are complex brain teasers. You move around the world investigating items and solving puzzles. If you’re at all familiar with the point and click adventure genre, the gameplay here is pretty common fare. The ability to save at any point as also appreciated, and the quick trophy list was a welcome addition. I occasionally triggered this by accident, which was slightly annoying, but it’s a small gripe. The menu system is located at the bottom of the screen simply rolling your cursor down there will pop it up. The menus are pretty barren, but effective. With no dialogue I expected the game to deliver on the audio front, and it does in style. The sound effects, by contrast, often pop with life. You won’t find any big orchestra booms in the soundtrack, rather melodic and unique ambient sounds. The audio side reinforces this as well, with much of the music being ambient and soft. As the player, we’re just an unassuming robot in a big bad world. The game never feels depressing, rather like a motivational slideshow. The world around you constantly feels bleak and oppressive, but the characters inhabiting the world itself balance it out. It all feels very dystopian, and ultimately cold. The aesthetic is used in some truly interesting ways as well, with tall alien-like skyscrapers littered in the backdrops, and oil leaking from the gutters in back alleys. This in turn reinforces our narrative drive, creating a great symbiosis of narrative focus and visual representation. The metallic, rusty, broken world reinforces the overall gloom that is present throughout the game. The overall artistic style of the visuals is greatly themed, as well. The hand-drawn visuals fit the style of the game immensely, and there is an obvious attention to detail here. The narrative is intimate, and the game has an intimate look. This ties in perfectly with the look of the game. Our hero encounters some crazy characters whom he assists (such as the musicians pictured below), and these quirky robots breathe more life into the game’s atmosphere. That’s a tone that sticks throughout the whole game, and it really pays off. These would often put a smile on my face and make our robot hero relatable. These memories always revolve around his partner and love. There’s also some really cute idle animations that play when you stand in place: a speech bubble appears over the robot’s head and shows memories. Every important aspect of the story will play out in front of you, and any backstory needed is shown via flashbacks. In this way, the story telling is successful and gripping. You’re simply a robot trying to find his lover, everything else happens as your adventure progresses. In addition, the narrative is one of experience, rather than history. However, the game manages to pull it off by excellent world atmosphere. In most cases, the choice to go silent can really be a detriment. In fact, the entire game has no spoken word. Something you’ll immediately notice about Machinarium is its lack of dialogue. This way you can decide if Machinarium is the kind of adventure you’d like to embark on. That may not be your kind of game, and hopefully I’ll be able to clarify some specifics. It’s an intimate game, and one that forces you to think. It follows a little robot who simply wants to leave the oppressive world around him, and overthrow an evil plan on the way. The game was developed by Amanati Design, a small indie studio based out of the Czech Republic. I had the pleasure of experiencing this game seven years later, on the Playstation 4. Machinarium is a point and click adventure game originally released for Windows PC in 2009.
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