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The Basilisk

69%Game Brain Score
story, music
gameplay, graphics
76% User Score Based on 42 reviews

Platforms

PCPCWindowsWindowsMac OSMac OS
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About

"The Basilisk" is a genre-swapping platformer where you, a supercomputer, must save mankind from a deadly virus by solving RNA puzzles. With 50 levels, choice-based decisions, and multiple endings, this psychological journey explores dangerous ideas and offers a thought-provoking experience. This game is the sequel to the award-winning "Archimedes."

Genres & Tags
Play Modes
The Basilisk screenshot
The Basilisk screenshot
The Basilisk screenshot
The Basilisk screenshot
The Basilisk screenshot

76%
Audience ScoreBased on 42 reviews
story8 positive mentions
gameplay3 negative mentions
  • The gameplay is varied and introduces new mechanics at a steady pace, keeping it interesting throughout.
  • The atmosphere created by the sound design and music enhances the experience, making it suspenseful and engaging.
  • At its low price point, the game offers a worthwhile experience, especially for fans of indie platformers with unique concepts.
  • The game suffers from a lack of polish, with rough graphics and a distracting retro filter that can be hard to look at.
  • There are significant difficulty spikes and frustrating mechanics, particularly in later levels, which can lead to a negative experience.
  • The absence of a save system and achievements detracts from the overall enjoyment and replay value of the game.
  • story
    16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's story is a mix of horror and psychological elements that initially captivates players with its intriguing themes and high-quality visuals. However, opinions are divided, as some feel the narrative deteriorates over time and lacks depth, while others appreciate the voice acting and the potential for a richer storyline, especially for fans of the previous game. Overall, the story enhances the gameplay experience but leaves some players wanting more development.

    • “Horror and story elements sprinkled liberally throughout enhance the experience in a major way.”
    • “Simple and varied gameplay with a thrilling story and high-production visuals.”
    • “The story is great, though I would have loved to have seen it fleshed out a bit more as I was hooked on the ideas that the previous game Archimedes and the Basilisk created.”
    • “Playing that before playing the basilisk adds nothing to your comprehension of the story.”
  • gameplay
    12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay is characterized by its variety and the introduction of new mechanics at a steady pace, keeping the experience fresh and engaging. Players navigate cleverly designed levels using a core mechanic that involves jumping over obstacles while managing a unique color-matching challenge. Overall, the combination of simple yet dynamic gameplay, along with high-production visuals and a compelling story, ensures that the game remains interesting and avoids monotony.

    • “The gameplay is pretty varied with new mechanics added at a steady pace.”
    • “The level design itself is quite clever and the mechanics are solid; at its core, the game is about jumping over and across obstacles in an attempt to reach the 'spark' at the end of each level, but the twist is that your square has four different coloured sides, and you can't touch any coloured object with a side of a different colour or you die.”
    • “While the mechanics were fairly simple, the change of style really kept it interesting from start to finish, and it never felt boring or repetitive at any point.”
    • “Simple and varied gameplay with a thrilling story and high-production visuals.”
  • graphics
    12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's graphics are generally described as basic and minimalist, which some players find acceptable given the game's context. However, a pervasive and unremovable retro screen filter has been criticized for making the visuals difficult to enjoy. While the graphics evoke a sense of thematic coherence, the filter detracts significantly from the overall experience.

    • “Simple and varied gameplay with a thrilling story and high-production visuals.”
    • “The game's graphics and sound are perfect for what it is; both are simplistic and evoke a wonderful sense of war games-y supercomputering, which is exactly what they should do.”
    • “Simple and varied gameplay with a thrilling story and high-production visuals.”
    • “Couple this with lazy minimalist graphics and a really awful 'retro' screen filter that the developers decided you can't turn off.”
    • “The graphics are basic, which is completely fine given the game, but it has this god awful filter that makes it very hard to look at.”
    • “That's not me saying anything about aesthetics, just that the filter literally makes it hard to look at the screen for very long.”
  • music
    6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in the game is initially described as beautiful and atmospheric, enhancing a lightweight psychological and philosophical experience. However, as the story progresses, the overall quality diminishes, despite a final music minigame that ties into the narrative. The sound design effectively creates tension and unease, contributing significantly to the game's atmosphere.

    • “The atmosphere created throughout from the use of music and sound effects was done so well, and there were a lot of moments where I felt on edge and creeped because of this.”
    • “At the beginning, the game carries itself in a lightweight psychological and philosophical spirit in the company of beautiful music, making it a very nice game to unwind.”
    • “In the end, you have one final music minigame and then a choice.”
  • replayability
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Players express frustration with the game's replayability, noting that the addition of new content after each completion does not enhance the experience, particularly due to the inability to skip most dialogue. This limits the incentive to replay the game, as the repetitive nature of the dialogue detracts from the overall enjoyment.

    • “I really don't understand how they thought adding additional content every time you finish the game would add to this game's replay value, especially since the first dialogue is the only one that can be skipped.”
  • atmosphere
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's atmosphere is highly praised for its effective use of music and sound effects, which successfully create tension and evoke feelings of unease, keeping players on edge throughout their experience.

    • “The atmosphere created throughout the game, from the use of music and sound effects, was done so well. There were many moments where I felt on edge and creeped out because of this.”

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