htoL#NiQ: The Firefly Diary

About

In htoL#NiQ: The Firefly Diary, players guide two fireflies to help a lost girl named Mion navigate through a dark and eerie world. Solutions to puzzles and obstacles often rely on clever manipulation of light and shadow. The game features a hauntingly beautiful art style and a somber, atmospheric soundtrack that adds to its intriguing, mysterious narrative.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

63%

Audience ScoreBased on 186 reviews

story48 positive mentions

grinding7 negative mentions

The game features a unique art style and atmosphere that captivates players.
The story is intriguing and unfolds through collectible memory fragments, encouraging exploration.
Puzzles offer a mix of challenge and creativity, requiring players to think critically.

Controls are clunky and unresponsive, making precise movements frustrating.
The game has a steep difficulty spike, particularly in boss encounters that rely on trial and error.
Lack of clear instructions and mechanics can lead to confusion and unnecessary deaths.

story
140 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
34%
61%
4%
The game's story is a unique blend of visual storytelling and collectible fragments that reveal a dark and intriguing narrative, though it can be confusing and vague at times. Players appreciate the artistic presentation and emotional depth, but many express frustration with the gameplay mechanics that can hinder the storytelling experience. Overall, while the story has potential and depth, it requires patience and exploration to fully appreciate, making it a mixed bag for players seeking a coherent narrative.
- “The story is quite touching and the overall presentation is very beautiful.”
- “The artwork is great, the story is interesting and well transmitted to the player via pixel-art flashback scenes, and the true ending reveals a heartbreaking twist which does this game justice.”
- “The story itself is told in small fragments hidden throughout the levels that let you relive parts of your past and try to piece it all back together.”
- “The story is honestly quite confusing and vague at times, and even after collecting every memory fragment, I'm still unsure of what exactly the story is. I can kind of tell certain points but not everything, and I'm certainly not understanding the whole story, that's for sure.”
- “The only story is found through collectibles, which are either not visible or can be locked off if the player progresses in a certain way before seeing them.”
- “It makes the incomprehensible decision to hide the story behind hidden collectibles and impossible-without-a-guide hidden mechanics.”
gameplay
119 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18%
69%
13%
The gameplay of htol#niq is widely criticized for its clunky controls, particularly when using a mouse and keyboard, leading to frustrating experiences with imprecise mechanics and trial-and-error puzzles. While some players appreciate the unique shadow mechanics and artistic presentation, many find the gameplay tedious and poorly designed, often resulting in unfair deaths and a lack of clear guidance on mechanics. Overall, the game presents an intriguing story and visuals, but these elements are overshadowed by significant gameplay flaws that detract from the overall experience.
- “A dark and gloomy yet charming fairy tale, featuring exceptional design, captivating art style, innovative mechanics, and challenging gameplay.”
- “The gameplay is quite unique.”
- “The bosses are interesting and the mechanics are always being used in new and creative ways, and there are a lot of secrets to find.”
- “The gameplay is generally frustrating and poor, with imprecise controls getting you unfairly killed, often sending you back minutes due to checkpoint scarcity and slow movement speed.”
- “The gameplay is more about fighting the controls of the character to do something you want than actually spending time on puzzles, and the game actively punishes you for it when precision and timing are called for in some areas.”
- “Absolutely amazing visuals coupled with a soundtrack with the same power are both astonishingly ruined by some of the most disappointing gameplay I've had the misfortune to suffer through.”
graphics
62 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
55%
40%
5%
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their unique and charming art style, which effectively blends cute character designs with dark, atmospheric environments. Many reviewers highlight the exceptional visual design and captivating aesthetics, although some note that the visuals can be undermined by clunky controls and frustrating gameplay mechanics. Overall, the art style and atmosphere are considered the game's strongest points, making it appealing for those who appreciate artistic visuals despite its gameplay flaws
- “A dark and gloomy yet charming fairy tale, featuring exceptional design, captivating art style, innovative mechanics, and challenging gameplay.”
- “The art style is gorgeous.”
- “The visuals are upscaled and fine details are much easier to see.”
- “Where there wasn’t a specific sprite designed, there’s just the classic pure black no-graphic wall.”
- “Don't let the charming graphics fool you.”
- “While I love the game's lore and art style, due to highly punishing level design, equally annoying puzzle design, and terrible checkpoint placement, I simply cannot recommend the game, even if it is on sale.”
music
42 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
45%
48%
7%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with many praising its beautiful and atmospheric qualities that enhance the overall experience. However, some players find the soundtrack to be basic or lacking in variety, with issues like incorrect looping and a lack of presence during gameplay. Overall, while the art and music contribute positively to the game's ambiance, they are sometimes overshadowed by gameplay frustrations and inconsistencies.
- “The atmosphere, music, and art are also top-notch, with a sweet ending, so if you're into artistic puzzle games that require timing at times.”
- “It's beautiful, the music is amazing, and some of the puzzle designs are super satisfying and fun to navigate.”
- “Soothing soundtracks that ease into your consciousness and guide you along the way into the puzzles this game has to offer.”
- “The soundtrack is bland, the gameplay is boring and/or frustrating, and the storytelling isn't really worth the time investment.”
- “The 'soundtrack' is certainly fitting to the general tone of the game, but it's really basic and really boring.”
- “The music, on the other hand, is simply lackluster all around.”
atmosphere
33 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
58%
33%
9%
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its beautiful visuals, immersive sound design, and intriguing narrative, creating a compelling yet often depressing experience. While the art style and level design contribute significantly to the overall ambiance, some players note that gameplay issues can detract from the atmosphere. Despite these shortcomings, many recommend the game for its strong atmospheric elements, which resonate deeply with fans of artistic and atmospheric puzzle games.
- “Gorgeous art, atmospheric level design, intriguing world with a mystery lying beneath.”
- “The art direction is beautiful, the atmosphere is thick and immersive, the narrative is intriguing and mysterious and incredibly engaging despite not even featuring any dialogue, the game is full of clever symbolism and foreshadowing throughout.”
- “Even after finishing the game, I'm delighted to play the whole game or at least some chapters again - not only for the achievements but simply for the experience and great atmosphere and for the very moving background story.”
- “Hotaru no nikki is a lukewarm puzzle game that doesn't ever truly shine with its atmosphere, puzzles, or story.”
- “It has many unpolished aspects and oversights within its gameplay, has an insane difficulty spike in certain places, and does not fully commit to its tone and atmosphere.”
- “The game fails as a creative or engaging puzzle game, fails at maintaining a dark atmosphere by not being committed to it, has lots of unpolished nuances that result in frustrating waiting segments on the player's behalf.”
emotional
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is praised for its touching and beautifully presented story, conveyed through pixel-art flashbacks without dialogue, culminating in a heartbreaking twist. Players find the emotional depth compelling, likening it to other narrative-driven titles, and recommend it for those seeking a unique and challenging experience that evokes strong feelings. Overall, the combination of art style and storytelling creates a profoundly emotional journey.
- “The story is quite touching and the overall presentation is very beautiful.”
- “The artwork is great, the story is interesting and well transmitted to the player via pixel-art flashback scenes (even though not a single dialogue is used in the game) and the true ending reveals a heartbreaking twist which does this game justice.”
- “The art style is fantastic, the story is mysterious yet extremely tragic and emotional, and it's an extremely challenging game.”
grinding
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players generally find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and monotonous, often feeling that it detracts from the overall enjoyment. While some appreciate the art and clever design, many express frustration with the difficulty and the need for guides to uncover hidden secrets, leading to a sense of tedium rather than fun. Overall, the grinding experience is seen as a mixed bag, with some players enjoying the challenge while others find it unnecessarily frustrating.
- “I wish it were 'fun' rather than tedious.”
- “Rooms are built specifically to kill you, be a danger to you specifically, and slow you down with tedious and monotonous platform design.”
- “So you will miss most of the potential lore, and have to tediously work just to get scraps of it; and if you don't then you don't get any lore at all and the whole game is just puzzle solving.”
stability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
67%
Overall, the game demonstrates strong stability with no significant bugs or glitches reported, and it runs smoothly on SteamOS. However, some players find the slow movement speed frustrating, especially when facing unreasonable losing conditions. Checkpoints are plentiful, which helps mitigate regression issues.
- “It runs great, and I haven't had any technical issues yet.”
- “The game is incredibly stable; I've experienced no crashes or bugs.”
- “I've played for hours without any performance drops or glitches.”
- “The checkpoints are plentiful, but the incredibly slow pace at which Mion moves still makes regression very frustrating, particularly when the losing condition was something unreasonable or buggy.”
character development
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
150%
Character development is praised for its appealing and cute design, showcasing a strong pixel-art style reminiscent of the developer's previous successful franchises like Disgaea and Yomawari. Overall, the character designs meet expectations and contribute positively to the game's aesthetic.
- “The character designs are what you would expect from the company that gave you the likes of the Disgaea franchise, the Yomawari franchise, and A Rose in the Twilight.”
- “Everything looks good; the character design is cute, and the pixel art, where present, is also great.”
- “The character development feels shallow and lacks depth, making it hard to connect with the protagonists.”
- “I was disappointed by how predictable the character arcs were; they didn't offer any surprises or growth.”
- “The characters seem one-dimensional, and their motivations are often unclear, which detracts from the overall experience.”
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
Overall, the game's performance is solid with no noticeable frame drops, though some users feel that the menu navigation could benefit from further optimization.
- “Performance doesn't have any frame drops.”
- “Menus could be optimized a little better.”