SOLITUNE
- April 25, 2017
- Rat King
"SOLITUNE is a single-player musical game where you step into the escapist fantasy of being a shepherd, set in a beautifully designed world with unique songs by Ludwig Hanisch. As you move from space to space, helping others, you'll discover surprising elements while finding peace in the beautiful landscapes. The game is about wanting to leave and experience something new, making it delightfully strange and satisfying for players."
Reviews
- The game features beautiful visuals and a calming soundtrack that enhances the overall experience.
- Solitune offers a unique and philosophical narrative about escapism and self-discovery, making it a thought-provoking experience.
- Despite its short length, the game provides a relaxing and enjoyable experience, ideal for players looking for a quick, low-pressure game.
- The game is extremely short, taking only about 15-20 minutes to complete, which many players feel does not justify its price.
- Gameplay is overly simplistic, with minimal interaction and shallow puzzles that may leave players wanting more depth and challenge.
- Technical issues, such as lack of resolution options and a mobile-like interface, detract from the overall experience and make it feel less polished.
- graphics50 mentions
- 60 % positive mentions
- 34 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some praising its beautiful art style, colorful visuals, and calming aesthetic, while others criticize the lack of resolution options and the use of low-polygon, untextured assets that evoke a retro feel. Many players appreciate the immersive experience and the visuals' contribution to storytelling, but some feel that the simplistic graphics reflect a lack of effort from the developers. Overall, the game's visuals are often highlighted as its most appealing aspect, despite concerns about their execution and the game's overall depth.
“The game provides an incredibly immersive experience as you move from space to space and explore the stunning visuals.”
“The game has a great aesthetic, and a neat abstract sense of style, as does its fabulous protagonist.”
“This game's art style and colorful visuals are its most appealing aspects.”
“There's no option to change the resolution and no useful graphics tweaks.”
“The lack of textures is a method that lazy devs often use to disguise their lack of talent or interest in doing the graphics properly, trying to disguise it under the name of 'art' or 'we made it look bad on purpose', which really isn't something gamers should have to put up with.”
“Simply a story about how to be a good shepherd, but it's short with bad graphics and does not entertain me.”
- music40 mentions
- 75 % positive mentions
- 20 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its beauty and ability to create a sense of peaceful escapism, with many reviewers highlighting the stunning soundtrack composed by Ludwig Hanisch. While some found the sound design to be somewhat generic, the overall consensus is that the music enhances the immersive experience and complements the game's beautiful visuals. The short length of the game prevents the music from becoming repetitive, making it a standout feature for many players.
“What really makes this game stand out is the stunning soundtrack composed by Ludwig Hanisch.”
“His music helps to create a sense of peaceful escapism and allows you to really immerse yourself in the game.”
“It has a gorgeous art style, quirky music, and is generally a pleasant experience.”
“The music is decent.”
“*rants about dot matrix printers and the sound they made* whatever that sound was, the sound design in this game gets the job done throughout — as well as the music.”
- story34 mentions
- 29 % positive mentions
- 59 % neutral mentions
- 12 % negative mentions
The game's story is described as a simple yet philosophical narrative about escapism and personal growth, often reflecting on life's unpredictability. While some players appreciate the beautiful art and music that enhance the storytelling, others find the plot to be short and lacking in depth, with limited replay value due to its straightforward nature. Overall, it serves as a visual story experience rather than a complex narrative, appealing to those looking for a brief, thought-provoking journey.
“Aside from that, the art is beautiful and the story is great.”
“Each room offers another piece of the story told by the people you meet.”
“It's a relatively short game with a beautiful art style, fantastic music, and a story that I feel a lot of people can relate to.”
“An 'indie' short game proposing a story of 'escapism' from a boring office life...”
“It’s a game for when you want to get a bit of story and think about life a little, but not too hard or for too long.”
“And there is no story.”
- gameplay14 mentions
- 21 % positive mentions
- 57 % neutral mentions
- 21 % negative mentions
The gameplay in Solitune is described as fluid and functional, but notably minimalistic and shallow, offering only about 15 to 30 minutes of experience. While some players appreciate its artistic value and relaxing nature, others find the brevity and lack of depth insufficient for the price, leading to mixed feelings about its overall worth.
“No apparent bugs, gameplay is quite fluid.”
“There's only about 30 minutes of gameplay, but that's exactly what I needed now.”
“Solitune is a very short (15 minutes total) surreal, relaxing experience with very minimalistic gameplay.”
“I do not mind art and games intersecting, but this is too short and the gameplay is too shallow to be worth the money.”
“Solitune is a very short (15 minutes total, you see almost every single environment you will experience in the game in the 1:00 minute trailer) surreal, relaxing experience with very minimalistic gameplay.”
“I did enjoy seeing what random, surreal moments would occur in the environments, and I didn't expect this game to have complex gameplay, but even when taking those into consideration, I feel like Solitune was pretty to look at with not much else going for it.”
- humor4 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game features a lighthearted and humorous atmosphere, enhanced by charming artwork and soothing music, making for an enjoyable experience without being overly challenging.
“It has pretty artwork, soothing and pleasant music, humor -- and it's not terribly difficult.”
- emotional4 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is driven by interactive elements that prompt characters to reveal their feelings, but many players feel that these moments lack depth and fail to create a significant emotional impact. Overall, while the mechanics encourage emotional exploration, the execution leaves some players feeling disconnected.
“You click on stuff, and after enough environmental interaction (it's not random though), people spill the beans about their emotional whereabouts.”
- replayability2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The game has very limited replayability due to a lack of variations in the storyline, making repeated playthroughs uninteresting.
“Replay value is extremely limited; there are no variations in the storyline that would make it interesting.”
- atmosphere2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game is praised for its beautiful visuals and a calming, zen atmosphere, contributing to an overall pleasant experience despite its short length.
“A nice, very short game with beautiful visuals and a good zen atmosphere.”