Inmost

Oh this was such a good surprise! I walked in knowing basically nothing, the artstyle drew me in, I loved the "monochrome but not really" pixel art but that was it. This was very fun! Very fun puzzles, incredible story-telling imo, a good amount of foreshadowing but that still keeps you guessing, the story is very moving (I will warn you it is on the heavy side). The fighting sections as the Knight were fun to move through, I liked how throughout the game, the gameplay felt organic but didn't get in the way of the story and wasn't punishing so as to get a more streamlined experience, the cutscenes were beautiful and the music was great! This is a very solid − albeit very short − game, I'm happy I got to experience it.

I loved 90% of this game. it gives you very little direction and expects you to solve puzzles through context clues and a bit of trial and error, and 90% of the time that worked great. it made for a nice challenge and a satisfying sense of accomplishment when I figured out a puzzle with so little assistance.
then the other 10% of the time was infuriating and I had to either bash my head against a wall for an hour trying seemingly the same 3 things over and over again or i just said fuck it to my pride and looked up a solution.
that being said, it was still a really fun experience overall and the story was compelling and dark. I definitely recommend doing a lil research after you finish to understand the story better, especially reading the 3yr anniversary post in the news section from the creators bc there was a lot of cool little details that I missed and it was so cool to see the level of detail with which everything had been thought out!
definitely recommend :3

INMOST is a game about flowers.
About planting a seed, caring for it till it blossoms into a delicate flower, then protecting it, loving it, giving it all of you.
INMOST is also about pain.
Pain from watching the flower slowly wither and die. Pain of the flower being torn out from her safe environment. Pain of the vanity of your sacrifice.
But only by embracing the pain can you uncover what is INMOST truly about.
INMOST is about love.
INMOST is a puzzle platformer with three different gameplay styles. As an old man, you need to navigate through a dangerous land avoiding all enemies and overcoming different obstacles with the help of various items (touch of a metroidvania; you can't fight only run). As a little girl, you will search every nook and cranny of a big creepy house trying to uncover its dark secrets. As a lonesome knight, you will carry out the will of the vicious ruler and kill everything you see.
Their stories may seem to be independent and somewhat confusing at the beginning but they are all closely intertwined and it becomes clearer with your progression.
The game is very linear, although you can freely explore your surroundings for secrets/collectibles, and you can't get ahead of yourself as everything is closely tied to the story. Same with the characters - you don't select whom to play, it changes according to the story progression. There are a lot of cutscenes, some even steal your control, and I can understand why some players aren't fond of it (especially if the big finale is one long cutscene without any required input from us), but I wasn't bothered by it.
The overall atmosphere is very grim, heavy, sad, depressing, melancholic… so nothing you want to see if you are in need of cheering up. The pixel graphic is simple, even minimalistic yet it's full of life and emotions. I liked the use of different color tones for each location according to the mood development. Sometimes I was quite shocked by the brutality of some scenes as I wasn't exactly prepared to see them there. The soundtrack is beautiful and completes the game/the story in every aspect.
The controls are smooth without any problems. The game is saved only on the checkpoints, but there are a lot of them so no stress. The game is short and can be easily beaten in one sitting (3-6 hours depending on how much you explore or struggle in some parts). Achievements are quite straightforward but require at least two playthroughs. The biggest pain was collecting all the pain crystals (pun intended). First I tried on my own, then with a walkthrough and it still took me more time than one normal playthrough. xD Some of the crystals are visible, some are hidden behind certain actions and some are just invisible until you stumble over them - I have noticed that a few of them made small sound thus giving away their hidden position, but it didn't apply to all of them sadly, so you need to be really lucky to find them all on your own or use a small help (beware that this map missed one! - had to learn that the hard way). The next achievement I spent hours on was Slippery Slope - no hit with the knight in Slime Pit scene… this one was driving me crazy…
Anyway, INMOST is a beautiful game even if very sad. I was very touched by it and full of emotions that kept me thinking about it for days. I can only recommend it.

Usually not much into platformers, but this narrative-driven adventure kept my interest throughout. It has a nice method of switching between three characters, each with different playstyles. There is the child who explores house by moving platforms, the bearded man who uses tools to open passageways, and the knight who uses combat to advance. I thought the gameplay was surprisingly good, especially the knight-strafing with the gamepad.
So I am not sure why there were so many negative reviews. Admittedly, it is a short game for the full price - although it often goes on sale or gets put into bundles. But the game does one thing that I think many gamers find unforgivable, which is unskippable movie sequences. That forces the player to put down the controller and wait to play again. And the story is not all that great, either. Well, had they put a SKIP button, then I think there would have been less anguish.
There are so many other good parts to the game: the soundscape, the gamepad controls, and the graphics and character animations are especially terrific. I enjoyed the level designs, unusual achievements, and finding the hidden crystals when the faint ringing was heard. I can tell that a lot of time went into making this game special, so I wanted to leave a positive review to counter all the criticism.

I really enjoyed playing this game! I work in the mental health field and appreciated the narrative and supportive message at the end. Loved playing from the different perspectives too!

Amazing storytelling. The amount of feelings this game can transmit in 4 hours just confirms video games are another form of art

No, but also yes. There are a lot of dark themes in Inmost, but that doesn't mean it's not a fantastic story about love and pain. My ONE(1) complaint is that there's no way to change the key binds and that to dodge you have to hit control... but otherwise its fucking great, little confusing until the end, but great nonetheless