InnerSpace Reviews
There's something irresistibly relaxing about non-violently gliding around the beautiful environments of InnerSpace.
If you can make it through InnerSpace's frustrating and tedious lows, there is some degree of fun to be had. However, this game fails to hold a candle to many of the games it tries to emulate. If good, arcadey flying mechanics are all you need in a game, then this might be for you. There is little else on offer to set itself apart from the rest of the pack.
With exploration becoming less desirable the more it’s attempted, writing that shies away from going in-depth and an unsatisfactory ending, journeying through InnerSpace’s world is something that can safely be skipped.
InnerSpace manages to craft a bright, bizarre and beautiful world that is probably the best example of the phrase “eye candy” I can think of. Unfortunately, the act of exploring and navigating that serene, majestic world often times felt like a headache. The poor frame rate on Switch and no clear horizons made flying and swimming in InnerSpace far less enjoyable than the idea of those actions ever was.
The overall disorienting look made it tough to get my bearings, which naturally hurts the game's fun factor.
InnerSpace falls more than a bit short of the heights it aspires to. The levels feel hard to navigate and they aren't helped by the laggy controls and constant motion of the Cartographer. It feels poorly optimised for Nintendo Switch, with frequent camera stutters and choppy frame-rates. It's overall a very unsatisfying experience, which is made all the more frustrating by the sheer potential InnerSpace has. The beautiful environments and quietly haunting atmosphere are still enchanting, but everything else just feels empty.
InnerSpace is beautiful... and that's all there is to say about it, because, as much as exploration games go, there are far better alternatives out there - with none of them feeling as disorienting as this one.
Sits in a weird middle-ground between lazy exploration and objective-based flying, without fulfilling the accessibility of the former or the difficulty of the latter.
Perhaps not your average indie, but not quite on the same level as Little Nightmares or ABZU.
Overall, InnerSpace is a tough sell. It’s certainly not a unique game among its contemporaries and doesn’t even attempt much to try and differentiate itself. It does accomplish certain aspects of what it offers you, where it can be a tranquil and slow-paced ride, with an appropriate presentation that is pretty to look at. Its merits, however don’t out way its faults and can lead to a frustrating experience when looking at the whole package. InnerSpace doesn’t quite soar to the heights it needs to be a good game.
InnerSpace is definitely a game that earns plenty of kudos for the sheer effort and creativity put into it.