NaissanceE Reviews
The world of NaissanceE is mysterious, hostile, and starkly beautiful.
With NaissanceE, Limasse Five are showing us their finished work, and it's undeniably a unique take on those familiar forms.
NaissanceE was a game that I fell in and out of love with while playing. When first introduced to the industrial architecture, it seemed like such a cool landscape.
When taking in the world around you, NaissanceE is a thing of beauty. The scenery is so bare bones that it walks a fine line between being soothing and unnerving in one fell swoop. It starts with such a care and precision, but quickly becomes less memorable once you are asked to be more precise in your own movements. A lot of that comes down to an to an innovative yet flawed respiratory design choice. With exploration touted as a hook, the disorientating nature of later sections is also frustrating, especially after a measured opening. Lucy is indeed lost, as are a number of features in NaissanceE.
When done correctly, first person platformers can be jaw-dropping experiences. If executed poorly, such games run the risk of being complicated and unplayable messes.
NaissanceE could've been a neat game but Limasse Five should've just stuck with making a cool artistic world and left the actual gameplay at home. I may have then complained that there wasn't enough game in it, but at least I would have actually enjoyed it.
It's an unusual, singular game that uses the normal tools of first-person shooter design (UDK) to make something plainly weird. I'd give it some kind of gold star for just being different.
I kept returning to NaissanceE because regardless of these issues the world it creates is so remarkably compelling.