At first glance, Semblance looks like just another puzzle platformer, if one with a rather distinctive art style. However, within minutes of gameplay, the differences emerge, revealing a game whose deceptively simple exterior hides significant complexity. You play as a sprite who jumps and slides through a world full of danger. Your goal is simple: collect the orbs that will rid the world of a strange, mysterious evil. This proves to be a satisfying challenge, as the game has a unique premise. The very substance of your world is malleable: you can push, stretch, and squash the matter around you. In order to achieve your goals, you manipulate your environment, all while avoiding deadly lasers, spikes, and other traps.

Developer: Nyamakop

Publisher: Good Shepherd Entertainment

9 Hours Played // Review Copy Provided // $9.99

Evocative, minimalistic graphics

The art direction in Semblance is truly commendable. A huge amount of visual interest is packed into this game, which is impressive given its minimalistic style. The colours are simple: at any one time, there are at most three on screen, each representing a key element of the game. In the first set of levels, for example, purple represents good, green represents evil, and pink is the colour of the orbs that will heal your world. However, it’s not that simple. Like almost everything in this malleable world, the colour coding shifts with your progress through the game. This simple concept ensures visual interest without compromising the game’s minimalism.

Likewise, there is a surprising amount of detail and personality in the game’s characters. As you explore the world, you are watched by sprites who emerge from the scenery. These creatures respond to your movements, jumping and chittering as you pass them by. You do not have any meaningful interaction with them, but somehow this contributes to the game’s atmosphere, rather than detracting from it. Indeed, their presence ensures that you never really feel alone as you play through the game.

Ethereal, atmospheric audio

The game’s soundtrack complements the immersive atmosphere created by the graphics. Ethereal and enigmatic, the music evolves with subtle themes that reflect the world around you. These themes are dreamlike, shifting and wavering with airy tones and understated percussion. Furthermore, the shifts in the soundtrack when you discover one of the cave paintings also contribute to this atmosphere. There is something almost reverent about these moments. As I studied the etchings in a cave, I could not help but feel that I was discovering ancient chapters of a forgotten, sacred story.

Also noteworthy are the sound effects; it would be remiss of me to ignore the satisfying splat made when you squash the mosquitoes. It was an amusing touch and made the hunt for bugs rather enjoyable. The background forest sounds also enrich the game’s atmosphere. These sound effects, together with the music and graphics, helped to make my playthrough a memorable experience.

A true pleasure to play

The gameplay in Semblance is sublime. A general criticism I have of the puzzle genre is that often a game will claim to be groundbreaking, only for its puzzles to be familiar, well-worn tropes that have just received a fresh coat of paint. Or, worse, the solutions are so obvious as to render the game boring. Semblance, however, is not that game. I truly couldn’t say the last time that I had such a good time playing through a puzzle platformer. It was a lot of fun to learn the new mechanisms and to interact with the environment. Every time I thought the game couldn’t get any better, it did.

At first, the puzzles are simple, but they soon get challenging. At no point did I feel that I’d seen it all before, which is refreshing for the genre. Moreover, the game never holds your hand, instead, it strikes the perfect balance between challenging and achievable. New ways to interact with the environment are always a discovery, rather than something that is handed to you. Likewise, answers to the puzzles are never so obvious as to be disappointing. In fact, they are all incredibly satisfying. Furthermore, there is a fair amount of complexity in the puzzles. Given that there are only four controls (jump, move, dash, and reset), this is very impressive.

The game is a little on the short side, but replay value is not lacking entirely. For example, each world has a collection of hidden statues. You do not have to activate them to complete Semblance, but finding them is a puzzle in itself. Likewise, you can also collect the mosquitoes for an added challenge. However, the puzzles do only tend to have a single solution each, which reduces the game’s replay value.

Near-flawless execution

The game runs very well, with no notable frame rate drops. Loading times are quick, negating the frustration when you die and respawn. Admittedly there were some glitches, but these were minor. For example, I would occasionally get stuck at the edge of platforms. Similarly, sometimes the camera would focus on the wrong area, leaving my sprite offscreen. However, these were not a major source of frustration in my playthrough as they were relatively infrequent.

What the game executed quite well were the controls and the camera. The controls are responsive and easy to use. Likewise, aside from the issues with the camera noted above, the automatic zoom was incredibly smooth. The way it focused on areas of interest lent fluidity to the gameplay and significantly enriched the playthrough experience.

A debut with a splash

I adored Semblance if it wasn’t clear from the rest of this review. Nyamakop’s debut is an impressive, fresh take on the tried-and-tired puzzle platformer genre. The puzzles are original and satisfying, while the gameplay is smooth. With its beautiful graphics, evocative soundtrack, and very few technical issues, Semblance is an excellent addition to any puzzle fan’s collection.

Semblance’s beautiful graphics and immersive soundtrack create a lovely atmosphere. The game’s original premise revitalises the puzzle platformer genre, and the game is a lot of fun to play. A must-have for puzzle fans!

If you enjoyed this review and would like to help us stay ad-free, please consider supporting us on Patreon or maybe even shout us a coffee! If platformers with a story are your thing, have you read up on Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse? Otherwise, for a different type of puzzle game, you might be interested in Lost Phone Stories. And remember to follow us on Twitter – you can find me here.