Inmost, despite its invitingly bleak and ominous pretence with its environment, does unfortunately give way to a few technical cracks adding to the mix. Sometimes your dodge-rolling to avoid a lingering mass of black ooze (which I’m sure is obviously a not-so-nice entity to interact with at all) is off by a frame or two. Particularly when those expected and scripted set-pieces occur and you’re having to rush, even run away from a ravish monstrosity Inmost doesn’t always stay on the good side of its players. Of mistaking a leap for an ascent…and vice versa. Replaced by a control scheme that, while a lot more standard an affair in its movement, is not without an occasional technical annoyance of mistaking one move for another. Sure, the methodology in measuring one’s jumps and leaps of faith alike are present, but the weight of their would-be physics are absent this time round. One more influence that’s never too far away from passing mention. Inmost’s intentionally-confined vibe - near-suffocated of some much-needed vibrancy - is one that fits right at home with developer Playdead’s own script on atmospheric, perilous, downtrodden puzzle-platformers. Even if the light in this case is not exactly liberating and may in fact be similarly adverse. A world clearly plagued with some degrading ill, but not without its glimpses of ease in the near beyond. But one brief glimpse of a sun peaking over the horizon or rays of light flooding a battered interior and you get a slightly better understanding of what Hidden Layer Games are going for here. The chunky, exaggerated details to certain characters and a similarly restrictive color palette dominated primarily by a multitude of pale series of cyan/blue hues or greens in other parts. Inmost could very well be the recipient of many a comparison to the original run of Game Boy titles - the monochromatic, not-so-black and white display that such games were confined to within the screen of Nintendo’s first handheld device (discounting the Game & Watch series that is). After all, the intention is to stand on one’s own two feet, rather than at the crutch of a major influence, no matter how clear. And while there are some that make it imperative to keep with the overall aesthetic and perhaps limited capabilities of technology at the time, there are some that aren’t afraid to add an extra coat of tone or, as the case may be, lighting to better serve the tale being told. This appreciation for how those classic fourth and fifth-gen releases looked and felt is as sought-after as the gameplay that underpins it. Some resembling a long-gone entry so close in fact that it would be easy to make solitary comparisons and base one’s judgement on that alone. Titles that look almost like they’ve been pulled directly from out the 8-bit or 16-bit era of consoles - the NES, the SNES, let’s not forget the Sega Genesis/Megadrive on top. You’ve seen the comparisons made with games like Shovel Knight, Owlboy, The Messenger and so on. Or perhaps the potential with which many a miniature square can create, in drawing us into worlds of fantasy and mystery alike. Is this to be a recurring trend, particularly when it comes to 2D platformers with a clear appreciation for the joys of pixel art.
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