Selma and the Wisp is everything that I should love in a video game. Not only does it look as though it’s somewhere on the atmosphere scale between delightfully creepy and downright disturbing, it also promises two of my favourite things: puzzles and platforming. What a shame to discover, then, that almost nothing about it lived up to this expectation.

Developer: Toucan Studio

Publisher: Ultimate Games

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

The objective in Selma and the Wisp is simply to guide Selma, a frightened child, through a series of sinister settings without letting her be killed by any of the traps (or, indeed, be literally frightened to death). There’s not much to the story or character development; perhaps better described as a vehicle for incessant sobbing than a protagonist in her own right, Selma is fairly one-dimensional, although her occasional decapitations do provide something in the way of narrative interest.

The game is meant to appeal in its mechanics; the eShop description for the game boasts of a ‘co-dependent control system’ in which you can control ‘two characters simultaneously,’ although this description isn’t quite accurate. You really only control the wisp, which Selma simply follows around in a trance. You can, however, command Selma to follow the wisp or to stay put. This is necessary in contexts where she’d leap off a platform, walk headlong into a fire, or otherwise meet some untimely end. Your only other ability is ‘explosion’, which does exactly what it says on the tin. Exploding is necessary to clear barriers such as petrol tanks and blocked paths. Your power is finite, however, and you must keep an eye on your energy meter; if it runs out, Selma dies. Thankfully, you can top up this meter by collecting the glowing spheres scattered about.

Some of these atmospheric touches can be a bit creepy.

On paper, it sounds interesting, but unfortunately, the implementation of these mechanics is just too patchy to pay off. Perhaps most frustratingly, your control of Selma is entirely indirect, so it’s hard to ever really feel comfortable with the controls. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that Selma’s movements are incredibly inconsistent. Sometimes she will jump straight off a ledge in her trance; at other times she will pause until it’s safe to jump. There are a good number of climbing sequences; will she climb or just stand there, statically dumbstruck? The latter happens more than I’d care to admit, which makes for unsteady gameplay. There’s also no satisfaction in working out the trick behind it because there simply isn’t one; rather than there being any systematicity to these obstacles, they do seem to be a technical flaw in the game.

These issues are compounded by the fact that the game fails to achieve any sort of consistent signalling system with regard to its assorted dangers, obstacles, and traps. For example, for the vast majority of the game, fire is dangerous and will kill you. There are, however, a number of instances where you can – and indeed must – walk straight through raging flames, and doing so won’t incur any damage. Fall damage is similarly inconsistent, while other obstacles will simply kill you with no clear signalling whatsoever.

The low-poly graphics and gorgeous colours make for some striking frames.

These inconsistencies don’t make for a particularly enjoyable experience, and it feels like it just keeps getting worse as the game progresses. For example, there’s also little satisfaction to be had from solving the puzzles. Not only are they predominantly variations on the old lock-and-key trope, they don’t really involve much thinking at all, with many of the solutions coming down to trial-and-error.

Moreover, the game also involves frequent deaths that can feel a little cheap at times. You know you’re going to die; it’s hard not to feel like the process of playing this game is a little pointless. Feeling generous, one could argue that the way the game encourages this sort of nihilism is something of a metaphor. In truth, it’s probably more likely a case of poor game design.

Where one might have hoped the game would redeem itself is in its atmosphere, and admittedly, there are quite a few striking frames in the game. However, Selma and the Wisp is lacking in subtlety at every turn, which seriously undermines the efficacy of the worldbuilding. Game over messages have clearly been written with the intention of being creepy, but they miss the mark and fail to add any sense of horror to the game. Likewise, the zombies, corpses, and other eldritch enemies feel far too caricatured to be anything close to disturbing. Throughout it all, Selma constantly gasps in fear and pain and it’s just too theatrical to be effective. On the contrary, it’s incredibly annoying, which I am certain is not the vibe the developers were going for.

You just know this isn’t going to end well.

I was initially excited to review Selma and the Wisp because it looked like exactly my type of game. However, it simply fails to achieve any of the goals it seems to have set out for itself. The platforming is dull, Selma’s helplessness is tiresome, and the puzzle elements really don’t offer enough of a challenge. The game’s single redeeming feature is its interesting art, but there are better experiences to be found elsewhere.

Thanks for reading! Have you played Selma and the Wisp? Give us your thoughts in the comments or come on over to our Discord to chat! In the meantime, check out the Nindie Nexus Merch Store. We’d love to see you repping your favourite Nindie site! And, as always, don’t forget to follow us on Twitter – you can find me here.