Figment
Year: 2017
Rating: E10+
Time Played: ~5 hours
With a name like Figment, I knew I was stepping into a world filled with imaginative elements. Exploring the mind in an action-based puzzle platformer was definitely the safe choice genre-wise and allowed for plenty of creative worlds to visit. I went into this game thinking it was just going to be a pun-filled series of levels that drew heavily from Inside Out (2015). However, the twist near the end elevated this game to something deeper and darker than I expected. This was despite some of its other, more annoying flaws.
Visually, Figment looks great. Despite how everything moves, it doesn’t quite have that “Flash game” feel because all the art is so well done. Of course, it also makes navigating around the world a little challenging at times because it’s not clear if there are places where the character can go or not. Game-play wise, Figment isn’t too difficult. The combat is simple, but just challenging enough to require memorizing some attack patterns. Most of the puzzles are fairly straightforward, even if they get a little too complex and convoluted near the end of the game.
I don’t want to give away the ending, but it’s a significant tonal shift from the first 4/5ths of the game. While it’s an amazing way of looking at that part of our psyche, I almost didn’t make it to the end because earlier elements were too annoying. Don’t get me wrong, I know it takes a lot of work to do a fully voice-acted game like Figment. It’s just that its pithy dialogue overstayed its welcome by the end of the first world. I stopped playing for a while but decided to give it a second shot when I saw how short it was to complete. I’m Glad I did, just for that ending.
An artistic action-oriented look inside our minds, I give Figment 3.5 stars out of 5.
1/2
