Maize Reviews
Maize has a great idea behind the game, but it failed to actually fulfill the idea behind it. For the first hour, I wandered around aimlessly suffering massive frame-rate drops on the Xbox One with no real guide telling me what I needed to do or any story actually telling me why I was there.
Maize is a weird little game that blends a bunch of genres together while defying their individual norms. It’s an adventure game, but it either hints at or blatantly tells you what items will later be used for. It’s a walking simulator, but you actually do stuff other than walking (including a bizarre dancing minigame at one point). It’s a comedy game, but there’s also an underlying sense of mystery in the early parts of the game. It’s character-driven, but you never actually meet several of the more important characters beyond reading their passive-aggressive post-it exchanges littered throughout levels. Really, it’s all of these things and none of them.
Growing up on films like Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Signs has left me with a deep distrust for farms and cornfields.
Sometimes pulled in two directions by its attempt to balance serious tension with comedy relief, Maize ends up relying heavily on the idea that you'll buy into both sides of the equation. For some, this will be a blessing, but for others it will be a curse that weakens the rest of the package.
Don't look for any challenge here, it's not that type of adventure game. It's a couple hours long experience with bizarre and silly, but great Tim Schafer-like humor.
Review in Polish | Read full review
I see most gamers enjoying Maize, but very few returning to the cornfield for another trip around the farm.
Maize is an amusing title, it's puzzles don't really require any critical thinking and it is overly linear but it kind of works as a curio with some genuinely funny jokes dotted throughout.
Maize is a different experience with an unique style that has small problems to connect and put players into an enjoyable experience. In Maize everything is spinning around a wacky story that for some people may be hard to take. And on the top of that, you got a gameplay that sometimes feels kind of unappealing and disorientating.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
We wish we had more positive things to say about Maize, but unfortunately, it just doesn't have much going for it. The story and writing are atrocious, the characters are forgettable, and the puzzles themselves are too easy. The game is honestly quite boring, despite its bizarre premise, and the attempts at humour are ham-fisted at best and excruciating at worst. If you're after something different, Maize is certainly that, but be warned that it may leave a bad taste in your mouth.
Maize is an 80's Spielberg movie on crack. That is all.
In the end Maize turned out to be kind of a boring mess. I’m pretty sure there will be people out there that absolutely adore this game and it’s comedy and puzzle solving and all that but it just wasn’t for me. I do enjoy games of this genre but this just wasn’t a well executed game. To quote my friend who was playing this with me, “I would rather be doing SAT Math.”
As of now, it feels like a single idea with a strong story connecting it all together. It doesn't live up to that brilliant trailer but if you're after a game to give you a good chuckle, you can't really go wrong here. Just be ready to walk around a hell of a lot to get to the punchline.
I've said enough about this in the body of the review. There's nothing I can put here you haven't already read. I'm already wasting my time writing this. It's a bad game.
Maize is a pretty rare kind of game. It is very unlikely it will reach cult status the way Deadly Premonition has, but this really is every bit as good and original.
I really enjoyed Maize, perhaps more than I should have. I was expecting the game to be absurd to the point where it made no sense, but in reality I found the story cohesive. Completely out there with a Russian teddy bear and walking, talking corn stalks, but still cohesive.
While certainly not the best adventure game I’ve played, there’s no doubting that Maize is filled with heart. The love that went into development shows throughout, and it’s why I found myself constantly laughing at all of the game’s silly jokes throughout. If you’re looking for three or four hours of laughs, and don’t mind some standard puzzle design, then you’ll find a lot to enjoy here.
Maize is certainly a weird first-person exploration game – a walking simulator is what some would call it – but a fun one with a dry sense of humor and visuals that get the job done (if you play on a PS4 Pro you'll notice some extra bells and whistles here and there. What really shines during your playthrough is the great voice acting in the game which elevates the overall experience. If you're looking for a walking simulator with a bizarre premise, then you should give Maize a try.
Despite a good sense of humour, Maize failed to convince either as a walking simulator and a graphic adventure. Its progression is based on a linear and recurring process which require to find new objects to solve basic puzzles that feel too much similar to each other.
Review in Italian | Read full review
If you don’t mind thinking outside your own box, then Maize is worth a try. The game’s unique flavor and style might push away some gamers, that’s ok though! They’ll be the ones missing out on this short, enjoyable treat. The game isn’t going to blow you away with its puzzle gameplay or linearity , but the enjoyment you’ll receive from the game’s craziness will reward you with some zany moments to remember
Surprisingly original but deeply unsatisfying due its difficulty and graphical issues.
Review in Spanish | Read full review