Cozy Game Restoration works wonderfully as a cleaning sim. Its core aspect of game cartridge cleaning is brilliant, with a variety of tools to use and plenty of detail to get lost in. The interactive elements on the desk, like the lamp and radio, make the setting feel real. The lack of pressure is refreshing; knowing I could stop at any point and return to clean another time was lovely. So often, games that require a percentage of completion demand you meet that goal before moving forward. I’m glad Cozy Game Restoration doesn’t follow that trend.
Despite the visuals being grounded in a sturdy reality, the dream-like state that introduces the game never fades. Enemy introductions overwhelm your senses with flashing horrors. Walker is forever swamped in a disarray of reality, hallucination, and memory. You start Silver Pines in the middle of nowhere, but as the case opens up, it seems Walker might know more about this town than even he knows.
One of my favourite elements in Helix: Descent N Ascent is the arcade machines. You find them dotted around the world, and completing their levels rewards you with access to new areas within your environment. Every level has the same premise: make your way to the other character on the opposite point of the screen. Each machine offers its own twist, based on the abilities you have been learning within that section. It mirrors the base game in a compact, stylised form. I like how this not only changes up the style of gameplay, but offers inadvertent insight into the character you’re seeking. In the world you’re in, the other character crops up on occasion, withholding the way forward. Catching up to them only causes them to push you away. In the arcade games, they make a consistent appearance, and reaching them spooks them into high-tailing it outta there.
Bosses do feel challenging, but never to a point of being impossible. My first encounter with a boss resulted in me eating pretty much all of my snacks for health. The more you explore, the more items you can find to assist in fights: it turns out there's a multitude of strong weapons out in the world. Once I figured that out, battles became a lot easier to succeed in.
Retrace the Light is a beautiful game. A vast variety of environments require completely different designs, and to be able to accomplish that whilst maintaining cohesion is impressive. Not only are the traversable areas a joy to admire, but the character designs are lovely too. The images of characters in conversation are colourful and bright, with an almost watercolour feel. It’s an interesting choice to put in such a technology focused game, but one I really like.