Nihilumbra

A very complete and holistic game. Beautifully designed, quite forgiving in the story mode, probably a little naive with its message... it is nonetheless shares a kind perspective and gives you something.

I was today's years old when I discovered that Nihilumbra is actually a love story. A mysterious being called the Void follows you all the way to the end of the world because it loves you so much that it never wants to let you go. It just wants to hug, kiss, and marry you until the story ends in tragedy and it suddenly doesn't want you anymore because you've run out of money. Life lesson learned: there's no house without a mortgage.

But seriously, this game is absolutely worth buying.

The Story Mode is the mode you'll play first. It teaches you the basics of the platforming gameplay. The game is divided into five areas, and in each one you unlock a new color. Every color introduces a new mechanic that helps you overcome obstacles and progress through the levels.

For many players, Story Mode might feel like a walk in the park. But don't worry, the developers have you covered with an extra mode called Void Mode. How much harder is it? Well... A lot harder.

While Story Mode focuses on teaching you the fundamentals, Void Mode expects you to master them. Unlike Story Mode, you're given access to all five colors right from the start. The levels constantly challenge you to combine them in creative ways, and sometimes even restrict the use of certain colors. This forces you to fully understand what each color does and how they can work together to solve increasingly difficult puzzles.

After beating Void Mode, you'll unlock a secret language. But because it's a secret, I'm legally forbidden from telling you anything more about it. You'll have to discover it for yourself.

So what are you waiting for? Buy the game and start with Story Mode. And if that feels too easy, dive into Void Mode. I can guarantee that the gears in your head will be working overtime. Good luck!

Nihilumbra is a musically & artistically beautiful, puzzle platformer, that has a simplistic story to tell and an equally simplistic control scheme to go along with it. While my time playing this title was short, I found it a charming and visually interesting enough experience to leave it on a positive note. But understand that positive note does come with its own caveats.

For one, all my game pad warriors out there be forewarned... this game is just straight up mouse & keyboard . While that may not be an issue for some, its a rather puzzling choice (teehee) that a puzzle platformer would opt to force the player into adjusting to its cumbersome control scheme when it doesn't really seem to add anything to the games overall experience. Especially in the "later" levels, that ramp up the difficulty EXPONENTIALLY .

It's certainly not the best in its genre, and the unnecessary increase in difficulty on the later half takes what would have been a decently casual title and teeters it slightly into the frustrating side. But if you're looking for a bit of a challenge and the KB & Mouse combo don't turn you off, then Nihilumbra is a decent way to spend an afternoon learning about the meaning of life...I think.

I would consider waiting for a sale though.

Favorite platformer, played it over many many years. Amazing music, delightful art style, truly a beauty.

more puzzle than platform because the platform aspect is actually really simple and it's the thinking/creativity that's hard. but I like those types of games so just be aware it's really a puzzle game

Alright puzzle platformer game. You get different color abilities which lets you draw on the world and create ice to move fast or make things slip, bouncy ability for yourself but also bullet, and some more. Everything is really well taught and you end up needing to combine your abilities which make for some nice puzzles. Nothing that goes too crazy though.
I found art and music ok, maybe just not my vibe. The game also has a narrator, but it wasn't too appealing to me, and the dialogue itself felt very surface level. I don't mind this because it doesn't take away from the puzzle platforming aspect of this game.
There a Void Mode after you beat the game. Now this is hardcore, but trying it a bit, I decided not to continue because it goes from nice puzzle platformer to hard puzzle platformer with precision and timing challenges amped up. I knew I wouldn't enjoy that, but I do think its a good addition. it's built on top of the existing levels but the challenges really seem to change thing up. It also breaks things down into level which and removes the voice which is smart because being able to tackle other level if your stuck and not having to hear the voice repeat itself are thoughtful changes from the more adventure story vibe the main game gives. I can't actually speak for the quality of these levels as I only briefly tried it a bit. I think its existence itself is great for those who like those precision platformer type challenges though.
In the end I enjoyed my time and it was pretty short, so nothing amazing, but also pleasant overall.

Fun experience, nice mechanics. The main story is short, but then Void mode unlocks, with much harder levels. Loved to 100% this.
Kind of buggy sometimes, but very enjoyable. If you are having physics issues or bullets acting funny, try changing your framerate. I played on 144hz but to get one of the achievements (Rebound master), I had to disable VSync which lowered the FPS to 60, because the bullets were colliding with each other on higher framerates.