Semblance

I bless the games down in Africa! [Issue #36 – November/December 2018, p. 21]

Semblance is a game full of excellent and satisfying puzzles, marred only by some odd jankiness and a final level that doesn’t focus on the strengths of what had come before. While short, the experience was overall enjoyable, and a fun take on the idea of a world that can be deformed on your way to finishing a puzzle. It could definitely use more levels, but it doesn’t overstay its welcome, and in the end, isn’t it good for a game to leave you wanting more?

Semblance's haunting atmosphere and clever gameplay mechanics make it a memorable and satisfying puzzle platformer. However, once you're done with it, you'll wish that there was a lot more to experience.

Semblance is a decent puzzle platformer with a unique take on the platforming portion of the genre. While the game’s linearity provides a better flow to the game, individual level checkpoints would have been appreciated.

With a soft world that you can bend with your actions, Semblance brings something unique to the 2D platformer. Barring some collision issues, it does provide a steady learning curve, with innovative challenges, all presented with a distinctive art style.

Semblance is a frequently delightful, innovative platformer that's all about breaking the rules. When it’s at its best, it’s devilishly clever, but it has a curiously stilted pacing and flow. Its subversive take on mouldable platforming is fun to play, but ultimately its underutilised core concepts will leave you wanting more.

Semblance lets you deform your platforms to solve puzzles how you want, but it limits your tools so severely that the promise of that idea is wasted on mediocre puzzles. It has a neat look, but like its core mechanic, it wears thin even before you get to the end of your two hour trip through the game.