Wandering Skies

Objectif 3D is the Publishing account of a college and the games published there are student projects.
But what does that mean? That we shouldn't judge them harshly? Student projects can be great (they can also be awful). The best version of A Midsummer Night's Dream I've ever seen came from my friends as a college producion. Maybe not to take them as the finished, fully polished article. These are examples of learning.
Wandering Skies? It's great.
No I mean it, it's great. It's not a finished, fully polished article. There's just pure 3d platforming done really really well. I mean, anyone can make a run and jump game, but what stands out are the other things. The open landscape maze that forces you to really look for and think about your next move and also give you impetus to explore without getting lost. The platforming that is right on the cusp of challenging without being frustrating. The elements that build on each other nicely and the levels that don't wear out their welcome. Double jump done in a way that I never would have thought of, that stops it being a cheat code, jump physics that have weight and finding the hidden gems that seems relatively easy and an afterthought, until I missed one in level 2 and immediately wanted to go back and hunt it down.
Wandering Skies is not a fully polished, finished game. But I've played fully polished, finished games that aren't as fun or as good as this.

Wandering Skies is the literal definition of an underrated gem. As the description of the game states, Wandering Skies is a first-person platformer where you unlock and use abilities to reach the end portal of a batch of non-linear levels. There are only two types of abilities, but they're both really fun and allow for a lot of experimentation and speedrunning potential — especially in the latter levels, as the first few are pseudo tutorials as to how you use the aforementioned abilities. That being said, the game is very short, coming in at a total of seven levels. However, every level of this game is surprisingly well-made; to some, such a game being short could be a boon, given that it doesn't overstay its welcome.
The story is nonexistant, but in a game like this, a story doesn't really serve any kind of purpose. I've now played through the game over five times, as have I acquired all the achievements, and the journey was a blast through and through. The only problems I really had with the game were that that audio feedback could afford to be better in some areas, performance can vary heavily, and, as stated before, the game itself just isn't very long (Which, if that last factor is a major problem, you know the game is fun). Being that this is a small, indie game, however, those issues can easily be overlooked; if you want a fun, short game that's made for speedrunning, I can't recommend this game enough. I'm extremely glad I found it; rest assured, the game's score would be even higher were it even a bit longer.
6/10

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