Lemma is a parkour exploration game which makes gamers immediately think of Mirror's
Edge.
But is it any different or even possibly better?
Let's find out in the Lemma First Impression Review.
Let's identify what Lemma is and what it sets out to do.
It is a first person parkour game with mystery and exploration in a surreal world.
You start off in this strange floating platform world in the sky not knowing who your character
is, where you are, or why you are there.
It's a total mystery and that's the best part.
The game is developed entirely by one person, Evan Todd, and he was kind enough to provide
a review code for this game.
I had a chance to play it for a few hours, and I can definitely tell you about the gameplay
and whether it's worth your time.
As you begin traversing you'll pickup notes which seem very esoteric, but gives clues
to the world you're in.
You'll also pickup a phone and begin communicating with a mystery man that you have some sort
of vague relationship with.
You jump with the right trigger, grab with the left trigger, and roll or slide with the
left thumbstick clicking in.
The world seems daunting at first as platformers are slim and far apart, but you will quickly
realize just how intuitive the game is.
The game teaches you without putting you through a tutorial specific mission.
Controls are actually very easy to pickup and have varying degrees within their techniques.
You quickly find yourself utilizing the moves you learn to reach new areas.
And you begin to make your own conclusions on how to solve puzzles.
It does a good job of introducing you to a new concept and then challenging you with
a much harder to solve situation.
That's video game basics, and surprisingly this game excels where a lot of games fail.
The game also has some innovation as you can spawn platforms and challenge elements exclusively
with your steps.
You can wall run and extend a wall.
Slide and extend a floor.
Or solve puzzles by stepping on an illuminated surface.
The world design and art style of Lemma is also surprisingly good.
A lot of the world is built with Voxel graphics, those chunky 3D pixels and it adds to the
game's mystique.
The world is truly huge as you can look out at platforms far away and even look into the
vanishing point.
Everything from the ambient music to the large spaces conveys how the game is really an isolated
and unknown world.
Everything about the game is very subtle.
The way you learn the moves, the puzzles presented to you, and the revelation of the story.
Even the graphic effects look nice, but there's no crazy eye candy.
The game has slow but very balanced pacing in every way possible.
Lemma is very polished for an indie game.
As I've stated many times, everything is intuitive and unfolds naturally.
The game looks very attractive and it feels very natural to move through this artificial
world.
It even has oculus rift support which could be very immersive for those oculus early adopters.
My only complaint is that I wish there were voice acting for the sections where you read
notes or text message on your phone.
Arguably this could be a game design choice to make the character feel even more isolated.
The game can also be a little slow, it's definitely not an action combat game.
It's exploration, mystery, and parkour movement.
I can highly recommend Lemma if you are interested in an exploration and mystery game with intuitive
movement.
The game sets out to accomplish a unique design and it is successful.
If you don't have patience for a slower game, you may want to look elsewhere.
Subscribe to the Skilled Channel for more game reviews.
Features: Parkour Movement
Exploration & Mystery Non-Linear Story � Four Possible Endings
Oculus Rift support
Negatives: No voice acting