The Way

About

In The Way, play as a space explorer seeking to bring back your loved one by discovering the secrets of a distant planet. Solve mind-bending puzzles and delve into a rich, immersive sci-fi story, all while exploring a unique alien world. With retro-style animation and influences from classic games, prepare for a thought-provoking adventure.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

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

80%

Audience ScoreBased on 600 reviews

story208 positive mentions

grinding30 negative mentions

The game features beautiful pixel art and animations that create an immersive atmosphere.
The story is emotional and engaging, drawing players into the protagonist's quest to revive his wife.
The puzzles are clever and challenging, providing a satisfying sense of accomplishment when solved.

The controls can be clunky and imprecise, leading to frustrating platforming sections.
Checkpoints are often poorly placed, requiring players to repeat long sections after dying.
Some puzzles can feel obtuse or overly complicated, leading to confusion and frustration.

story
418 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
49%
1%
The game's story is often described as emotional and engaging, focusing on themes of love, loss, and the quest for immortality, with a narrative that unfolds through minimal dialogue and atmospheric visuals. While many players appreciate the beautiful pixel art and the depth of the story, some feel it lacks complexity and can be overshadowed by frustrating gameplay mechanics. Overall, the story is a significant draw for players, providing a compelling backdrop that enhances the puzzle-solving experience.
- “The story is beautiful, emotional, and strung through every moment of the game.”
- “A deep emotionally touching story yet it is minimalistic as there are very few characters, it gives you a feeling of solitude letting you have deep empathy towards the protagonist and his quest.”
- “The story is fantastic, with outstanding visuals and a soundtrack that you'll want to listen to on its own.”
- “The story has ups and downs, but is mostly killed by repetition and lack of engagement.”
- “The story is not very strong but the storytelling upholds it.”
- “The plot is kept very minimal with only a few cutscenes to explain the backstory, and this hurts the overall game.”
graphics
175 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
66%
32%
2%
The graphics of the game have received widespread praise for their beautiful pixel art style, vibrant colors, and atmospheric design, effectively creating a unique and engaging alien world. Many reviewers noted the art direction's strong resemblance to classic titles like "Another World" and "Flashback," highlighting the game's ability to evoke nostalgia while delivering high-quality visuals. However, some critiques mention inconsistencies in animation fluidity and a disconnect between the pixel graphics and gameplay mechanics, which can detract from the overall experience.
- “The graphics are cool and reminiscent of 'Heart of Darkness', detailed and beautiful, but a bit more low-res.”
- “The art style is used masterfully alongside some really good designs for an alien world that is completely unique.”
- “The graphics, music, and story come together perfectly to create a hauntingly beautiful world to explore and understand.”
- “Ugly, outdated retro pixel graphics, that's why.”
- “Sure, the developers will insist it's 'art' because they saved a lot of money on hiring an artist or doing 3D graphics, but this is all really a tacit admission that they know it looks bad; they made it look bad on purpose because they simply weren't capable of making such a game with up-to-date graphics.”
- “Infact, even a few of the logic puzzles seem random because the graphics are so poorly thought out that you can barely see the connections.”
music
168 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
61%
38%
2%
The music in the game has been widely praised for its atmospheric and immersive qualities, effectively enhancing the sci-fi setting and emotional depth of the story. Many reviewers noted the soundtrack's ability to evoke nostalgia, drawing comparisons to iconic works like Blade Runner, and described it as beautifully composed, fitting seamlessly with the game's visuals and themes. While some found the music occasionally repetitive, the overall consensus is that it significantly elevates the gaming experience, making it a standout feature.
- “The music is incredible and really does well to set the tone.”
- “The visuals are stunning, most of the puzzles have just enough difficulty to make me rack my brain, and I could listen to the music all day.”
- “The soundtrack is a great cyberpunk/ambient mix that lends a lot of gravity to each moment.”
- “The music is passable, but not remarkable, and unfortunately it is non-stop.”
- “A few areas dragged on so long I was forced to go into the menu and lower the music audio because it was starting to get on my nerves.”
- “Completely boring, the music is uninspired, and I've been stuck on the same jump for 20 minutes.”
gameplay
167 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
68%
7%
The gameplay of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it clunky and frustrating due to its reliance on pixel-perfect platforming and trial-and-error mechanics. While some appreciate the variety of puzzles and the nostalgic homage to classic platformers, others criticize the repetitive nature and abrupt difficulty spikes that detract from the overall experience. Overall, the game features a blend of engaging mechanics and challenging puzzles, but suffers from inconsistent controls and pacing issues that can lead to player frustration.
- “The story, music, gameplay, puzzles... everything is very well designed and thoughtfully put into a game :)”
- “The gameplay is really interesting, taking a break from just firing and having to work through puzzles was really cool.”
- “This game has challenging puzzles, a gripping story, incredible locations, a bazillion ways to die, and hours of gameplay.”
- “Unfortunately, the gameplay is where the game lost me.”
- “The big problem for me is that so far, the gameplay has been extremely repetitive, even forcing you to watch cutscenes of doors opening that you have to perform at least three times.”
- “But while the gameplay was alright in the beginning, it declined to frustrating at the end.”
atmosphere
87 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
68%
29%
3%
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its immersive sci-fi setting, stunning pixel art, and atmospheric music that enhances the overall experience. Reviewers highlight the compelling narrative and emotional depth conveyed through the visuals and sound design, creating a sense of urgency and mystery that keeps players engaged. Despite some criticisms regarding gameplay mechanics, the atmospheric elements are consistently noted as a standout feature that draws players into the adventure.
- “The graphics and the music create an amazing, alien, sci-fi atmosphere, and the plot keeps you always on your toes and wanting to move forward, with a real sense of urgency.”
- “The artwork is beautiful as anyone can see, the atmospheric music sets the stage, and a compelling, emotional narrative keeps nudging you forward until the end.”
- “A stunningly beautiful game, where vibrant pixel graphics meet one of the most atmospheric soundtracks I can remember!”
- “The atmosphere felt so sad, lifeless, overall pretty good for this kind of a story.”
- “It's rather good to say the least and does well to preserve the atmosphere of its inspiration.”
- “The right atmosphere is created using the appropriate music and text description of objects (even the non-interactive ones).”
emotional
40 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is widely praised for its touching and beautifully crafted narrative, which resonates deeply with players, often evoking strong feelings and empathy towards the protagonist. While the story is compelling and atmospheric, some players find that frustrating gameplay mechanics detract from the overall emotional experience. Despite these challenges, the combination of stunning visuals, evocative music, and a minimalist yet impactful storyline creates a memorable emotional journey for many.
- “The story is beautiful, emotional, and strung through every moment of the game.”
- “A deep, emotionally touching story yet it is minimalistic as there are very few characters, giving you a feeling of solitude and deep empathy towards the protagonist and his quest.”
- “The artwork is beautiful, the atmospheric music sets the stage, and a compelling, emotional narrative keeps nudging you forward until the end.”
grinding
31 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
10%
97%
The reviews highlight a pervasive sense of tedium associated with grinding in the game, particularly in platforming and puzzle-solving elements. Many players find the gameplay repetitive and frustrating, often requiring excessive retries and backtracking, which detracts from the overall enjoyment. While some aspects of the game are engaging, the overwhelming consensus is that the tedious design significantly hampers the experience.
- “Grinding in this game feels rewarding and keeps me engaged for hours.”
- “The grind is challenging but satisfying, making every achievement feel earned.”
- “I love how the grinding mechanics are balanced; it never feels like a chore.”
- “Playing a game shouldn't feel like a tedious chore.”
- “The game is just tedious; the gameplay is very dull and boring. Buy this if you have an immense amount of patience.”
- “Slow, tedious puzzles and frustrating platforming replace the normal gameplay and sink playability.”
replayability
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
29%
43%
Overall, the game offers limited replayability, with most players completing it in around 10-11 hours. While some find value in revisiting locales and optimizing puzzle completion, the general consensus is that it lacks significant incentives for multiple playthroughs.
- “Replayability is decent.”
- “To me, the appeal for replayability comes from visiting the locales and trying to finish the puzzles as efficiently as possible.”
- “It was 11 hours for me, and there's very limited replayability.”
- “There's not much replay value, but it's well worth a playthrough if you have the patience.”
- “Tldr; awesome game with about 10 hours of gameplay and little replayability.”
stability
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
71%
The game's stability has received mixed reviews, with players reporting frequent crashes, glitches, and unresponsive controls, particularly with the Steam version. While some minor bugs and graphical issues exist, many users find the overall experience enjoyable enough to overlook these problems, hoping for future patches to improve stability.
- “The game is not really buggy, but the one bug I encountered nearly soft-locked me midway through the game.”
- “Puzzles are great, smart, and have no glitches.”
- “This was a lovely game, but the version here on Steam is unmanageable for some reason: crashes, glitches, the resolution setting has a mind of its own, and the controls are very strangely unresponsive.”
- “This game crashed multiple times for me, and there were multiple save slot glitches that I faced. This is without mentioning the annoying checkpoints during platforming sections.”
- “Some keyboard glitches here and there (keys get stuck and you continue walking even without pressing the keys) and some minor graphical nuisances like a ladder that isn't obviously usable on a wall that you bypass easily will occasionally make you angry.”
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
150%
50%
While the developers have made some efforts in optimization, players have noted significant issues, such as characters dying from minimal falls and a poorly optimized progress system at various levels.
- “The developers have clearly put significant effort into optimization.”
- “I appreciate the attention to detail in the game's optimization.”
- “The optimization in this game really enhances the overall experience.”
- “Your character dies from falling an inch down; the progress system is very poorly optimized at various levels.”
humor
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
The humor in the game is characterized by classic one-liners that draw inspiration from other games and movies, providing a nostalgic and comedic touch that resonates with players.
- “The game is packed with classic funny one-liners that had me laughing out loud, reminiscent of my favorite movies and other games.”
- “I love how the humor is woven into the gameplay, with clever jokes and references that keep the experience light-hearted.”
- “The witty dialogue and hilarious situations make every moment enjoyable, proving that laughter truly is the best part of gaming.”
character development
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
Character development in the game is perceived as somewhat lacking, with critiques highlighting underwhelming story and dialogue that fail to fully engage players or enhance immersion in the setting.
- “The story, dialogue, and character development are a little lackluster, and the setting could have been explored more thoroughly to help immerse the players into the game and story.”
- “Character development feels shallow and unengaging, making it hard to connect with the protagonists.”
- “The lack of meaningful choices in character development leaves the narrative feeling flat and uninspired.”