Semblance Reviews
What happens when you give players rules and powers that let them shape the world around them? Puzzles no longer need a key to solve as everything becomes a tool. Semblance is smart and satisfying and will squish its way into your heart.
Semblance is yet another Switch title that’s easy to recommend. The excellent level design, the ‘platformer-is-a-mechanic’ headline lives up to its promise and then some, with a wondrous visual style and a heartbeat throughout which pumps the blood of a revitalised genre through every vein of its code.
Semblance lets you deform your platforms to solve puzzles how you want, but it limits your tools so severely that the promise of that idea is wasted on mediocre puzzles. It has a neat look, but like its core mechanic, it wears thin even before you get to the end of your two hour trip through the game.
A level-morphing puzzle game with enough charm and ingenuity to overcome its control issues and short length.
Overall, Semblance is a decent puzzle platformer with a unique take on the platforming portion of the genre.
A charming and interesting puzzler, with a refreshingly accessible approach to level design.
Semblance is a unique platformer whose minimalistic environment is the perfect background to the satisfyingly challenging puzzles that must be solved in order to save the adorable Squish's world. It's relaxing, aesthetically pleasing, and gradually increases its difficulty in a way that is fresh each time and does not get repetitive.
Whether it was deforming surfaces or squishing the character to yield completely new physics, I was never disappointed. Some of the later platforming can be a bit frustrating, but with the option to move onto another puzzle it never bogged down the experience. With a unique hook that is constantly building upon, this is an easy recommendation and one you won't want to miss.
Semblance is an astoundingly enjoyable puzzle game that never outstays its welcome.
Semblance is an original take on the plataform genre, that allows us to mold and change the enviroment around us (floor, walls...) to pick up orbs to cure the world in little one screen puzzles. A simple but brilliant idea well executed, that often feels "limited" by the own developers. It's a shame that it last so little...
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Semblance offers an intriguingly fresh take on the age-old 2D platformer. Its story may be all visual and very much open to interpretation, but what it lacks in narrative density it more than makes up for with a generous helping of levels to explore where the platforming itself is a vital part of the puzzle to be solved. While it's lacking in long-term replay value, it's a definitely worth your time if you're looking for a new 2D challenge.
Semblance is a unique gaming experience about reshaping the world to solve puzzles and to reach new places, but it doesn't last for long and it left something to be desired.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
Semblance is a frequently delightful, innovative platformer that's all about breaking the rules. When it's at its best, it's devilishly clever, but it has a curiously stilted pacing and flow. Its subversive take on mouldable platforming is fun to play, but ultimately its underutilised core concepts will leave you wanting more.
In a year with more than a few solid platformers, Semblance still manages to stand out.
Within a sea of platformers in the indie gaming universe, Semblance attempts to offer a new twist; something that doesn’t conform to established notions, but rather conforms those notions to itself.
Overall, the handful of hours I spent getting to Semblance’s conclusion were rewarding and well-spent. Having played so many indie titles on both the PC and Switch I’m always taken aback when I run into something so fresh and new, and from its terrific visuals and music to its continuously evolving challenge this game manages to check just about every box I can think of. When you throw in its extremely reasonable price I consider Semblance to be an absolute steal and a title anyone who enjoys puzzle platforming should be looking to pick up.
Regardless of these issues, Semblance is a breath of fresh air to the platforming genre and one that is entirely welcome. Puzzle lovers will enjoy the idea of working around a problem, casual players can find enjoyment in every aspect and speedrunners are going to have a blast working out movement tech to beat the game swiftly.
Semblance is a fresh and interesting take on puzzle platformers. Players who like testing their mental fortitude will want to jump right in. Those who struggle and are easily frustrated might have more reason to be cautious though.
It's a good lesson for approaching Semblance, too; you'll need an open mind and some flexible thinking in order to overcome its ingenious (if sometimes frustrating) puzzles. Between that design creativity and the sheer stylistic beauty of it, Semblance is a game that'll stick in my mind for a long time.