Yerba Buena Reviews
Yerba Buena features a gorgeous art style and some genuinely clever puzzle mechanics, but frustrating design choices and uneven pacing hold the experience back. The game’s inconsistent puzzle quality, combined with a poor checkpoint system, results in excessive backtracking that repeatedly disrupts immersion and momentum. I genuinely wanted to enjoy Yerba Buena more because some of its ideas are excellent, but too many mechanics work against the overall experience. While there is still a decent puzzle game underneath its issues, frustrating pacing and inconsistent design prevent Yerba Buena from reaching its full potential.
Yerba Buena has a solid idea on how to advance the puzzle genre, but lacks the execution to really pull it off. What is here is certainly enhanced by a fairly ok story, which has a very cool reveal behind it, but a lack of compelling characters, especially its lead, leaves Yerba Buena in a space where nothing really stands out.
Mad About Pandas delivers an original experience with Yerba Buena, one that stands out thanks to a brilliant gameplay idea like the Oscillator and an intriguing narrative. However, the execution struggles to keep up: between imprecise aiming, overly basic platforming sections, and a level design that often fails to properly support the player, the result is an adventure that alternates between good ideas and moments of frustration.
Review in Italian | Read full review