Gleamlight

38%
Game Brain Score Based on 53 reviews
  • story
  • graphics
  • music
Gleamlight Game Cover
Gleamlight is a simple 2D platformer with a pretty premise but not a lot of substance to back it up.
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"Gleamlight" is a 2D action game set in a stunning, transient world made entirely of glass, where players navigate without a traditional UI to uncover an unspoken story. The game's unique art style and immersive design aim to provide an organic experience as players traverse this beautiful yet dangerous world, fighting enemies and uncovering the mystery behind the world's history, all while avoiding the damaging effects of darkness on the fragile glass environment.

  • Nintendo Switch
  • PC
  • Play​station 4
  • Play​station 5
  • Windows
  • Xbox One
  • Xbox Series X|S
  • Play​Station
  • Xbox
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

38%
Audience ScoreBased on 53 reviews
graphics8 positive mentions
story4 negative mentions
  • The art style is beautiful and immersive, featuring a unique stained glass theme.
  • The soundtrack, particularly during boss fights, is enjoyable and adds to the atmosphere.
  • Some movement abilities gained later in the game provide a fun experience.
  • The gameplay is repetitive and lacks depth, with bland combat mechanics and no real progression.
  • The game is very short, with many players completing it in under two hours, leading to a feeling of being underwhelmed.
  • There are numerous bugs and design flaws, including unresponsive controls and unclear mechanics, which detract from the overall experience.
  • story20 mentions

    The game's story is largely criticized for being minimal and poorly executed, with many reviewers noting a lack of engaging narrative, character development, and dialogue. Players describe the plot as bland and uninteresting, often feeling like a mere backdrop to gameplay rather than a compelling element. Overall, the storytelling is seen as passive and underdeveloped, leaving players with a sense of emptiness and a desire for more depth and context.

    • “Without a UI in the way, you as the player are able to better immerse yourself into the story and the combat.”
    • “And I thought that the mysterious story worked well, too.”
    • “Gleamlight tries to convey its plot through presentation.”
    • “The game has barely a story and no dialog.”
    • “It's hard to recommend this game for its story, since it's very passively told with no dialogue.”
    • “With no story to latch onto, it all just feels shallow.”
  • graphics18 mentions

    The graphics of the game are widely praised for their beautiful stained glass art style, which creates an immersive atmosphere. However, some players find the level design confusing and inconsistent, detracting from the overall experience. While the visuals are a highlight, they are not enough to compensate for other gameplay shortcomings.

    • “The art style is beautiful, and I love the stained glass theme that the developers used.”
    • “The game lives through its art style and music.”
    • “Developer dico created a beautiful stained-glass graphic style for their platformer.”
    • “The only ups may be the art style (that is still not justified lore-wise, has nothing interesting gameplay-wise and at times makes the navigation really confusing, since one can't tell what's in the background and in the foreground and what can be broken due to no consistency in the room level design) and the boss fight song (which is seriously the only thing I enjoyed, even if it doesn't fit with action scenes at all).”
    • “If they had gone for a different art style to help differentiate it from Hollow Knight, then maybe it wouldn't feel like such a mediocre game.”
    • “I really like the art style, but after the third boss and the poor level design, I gave up and refunded the game.”
  • music16 mentions

    The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some praising the ambiance and boss fight tracks as enjoyable and fitting, while others find the overall soundtrack to be bland, repetitive, and forgettable. Although the music contributes positively to the game's atmosphere, many players feel it lacks variety and fails to enhance the gameplay experience significantly. Overall, the art style and music are noted as highlights, but the soundtrack could benefit from more diverse tracks.

    • “The game lives through its art style and music.”
    • “Lastly, the soundtrack, while generally subdued, creates a nice ambiance.”
    • “It has a beautiful soundtrack and art style.”
    • “The credit music doesn't even last for the whole credit scene, my god.”
    • “The only ups may be the art style... and the boss fight song (which is seriously the only thing I enjoyed, even if it doesn't fit with action scenes at all).”
    • “And the music's discordant clanging is rubbish, too.”
  • gameplay15 mentions

    The gameplay has been widely criticized for its lack of content, poor level design, and unclear mechanics, leading to a frustrating experience. Players noted issues such as uninteresting environments, repetitive backtracking, and a lack of engaging story elements, which detracted from the overall enjoyment. While some appreciated the art style and certain mechanics, the consensus is that the gameplay feels shallow and unpolished, making it difficult to justify the game's price.

    • “The life steal mechanic makes bosses a nice challenge and adds a nice way to remove item drops.”
    • “But learning the mechanics comes easy after exploring a bit, and there is great forgiveness with the death system.”
    • “Gleamlight is its own game, its own story, and definitely its own mechanics.”
    • “Gameplay is the biggest pile of dogshit I ever played.”
    • “Avoiding focusing on the plain issues with the main menu (new commands that get overwritten by the default ones as one replays the game; some options that lack sound effects; simply uncomfortable to navigate in; video settings that just set the window size), there is no content whatsoever: uninteresting rooms (you cannot be serious to make the player walk a linear map to make them go back just to have a bunch of more enemies there. This is not level design, let alone a metroidvania!), broken enemies, no story (let's be real: nothing transpires in the playthrough: there is no pathos in the bosses you defeat, they have no personality, many just have the same sprite), unclear and broken mechanics (it just praises tanking, it asks no wits from the players. Also, losing life for just moving and double jumping is such nonsense when you're just going for the other room, I'm serious), no replayability... there is nothing one would enjoy playing, let alone to justify the price (the first playthrough can take at most 2 hours. At most, for €17).”
    • “Unfortunately, the inconsistent gameplay focusing on backtracking and re-runs of the game makes it really hard to get engaged.”
  • grinding4 mentions

    Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious, particularly when pursuing trophies, as it often involves repetitive playthroughs and reused bosses. The combat is described as slow, with battles becoming drawn-out due to both players and enemies regaining health during encounters, leading to frustrating experiences.

    • “But, fair warning… if you go for the trophies, this game becomes tedious fast.”
    • “The subsequent playthroughs also involve reused bosses which are tedious (mostly the flying one).”
    • “Gleamlight's art style is beautiful and immersive, but the combat here is slow and tedious.”
  • atmosphere3 mentions

    The game's atmosphere is generally praised for its appealing art style, which contributes positively to the overall experience. While the music may be considered forgettable and repetitive, it still complements the game's ambiance effectively. However, some users noted that the animations could be improved.

    • “While the animations could use some work, the art style itself is quite nice and atmospheric.”
    • “I very much liked the art style, music, and atmosphere of the game.”
    • “The music is forgettable and somewhat repetitive, but it fits the game's atmosphere well enough.”
  • replayability1 mentions

    The game offers little to no replayability, with users criticizing its lack of engaging content, uninteresting level design, and broken mechanics. Players find the experience monotonous and devoid of any compelling narrative or character, making it difficult to justify multiple playthroughs. Overall, the consensus is that the game fails to provide a rewarding experience that encourages revisiting.

    • “There is no content whatsoever: uninteresting rooms, broken enemies, and no story. The playthrough lacks any pathos, and the bosses have no personality. This game offers no replayability.”
    • “The level design is linear and tedious, forcing players to backtrack through the same unengaging environments. After the first playthrough, there's no incentive to return.”
    • “With unclear and broken mechanics, the game fails to challenge players or provide any meaningful experience. The lack of replayability makes it hard to justify the price.”
  • stability1 mentions

    Players report significant stability issues, particularly noting frequent buggy movements during boss fights, which detracts from the overall gameplay experience.

    • “There are lots of buggy movements, especially during boss fights.”
    • “The game crashes frequently, making it nearly unplayable.”
    • “I experienced constant lag and frame drops, which ruined the overall experience.”
  • humor1 mentions

    The humor in the game is highlighted through unique and amusing enemy designs, though many enemies rely on a single quirky trait that, once understood, diminishes their challenge. Overall, while some aspects are refreshingly funny, the novelty may wear off as players progress.

    • “Some of the enemy designs are refreshingly unique and funny, adding a humorous twist to the gameplay.”
    • “The quirky nature of the enemies brings a lightheartedness to the game, making encounters entertaining.”
    • “The humor in the game shines through the creative and amusing enemy designs, keeping the experience enjoyable.”
  • emotional1 mentions

    Players express a sense of unpredictability in the game's emotional impact, highlighting moments of frustration and surprise where the same actions can lead to vastly different outcomes, evoking a rollercoaster of feelings.

Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Critic Reviews

51% average critic score

Buy Gleamlight

Play time

3hMedian play time
11hAverage play time
1-30hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 3 analyzed playthroughs

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