Transparent Black

About

"Transparent Black" is a first-person puzzle-platformer game where players manipulate light and shadow to solve intricate puzzles and navigate through a mysterious, monochromatic world. As the game progresses, players uncover the story of a missing scientist and the repercussions of their groundbreaking research. Each level introduces new mechanics, requiring creativity, quick thinking, and careful planning to overcome.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

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

90%

Audience ScoreBased on 80 reviews

story14 positive mentions

gameplay5 negative mentions

The game offers a captivating and dark story that expands on the events of its predecessor, 'Confess My Love', providing depth and emotional impact.
The art style and music are well-crafted, enhancing the overall atmosphere and experience of the game.
Multiple endings and the ability to unlock additional content through achievements add replayability and engagement for players.

The translation quality is poor, leading to confusion and detracting from the narrative experience.
Gameplay can feel repetitive and tedious, with unskippable dialogue and frustrating item interactions that slow down progress.
The game is relatively short, which may leave some players wanting more content and depth compared to its predecessor.

story
61 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
23%
72%
5%
The game's story is described as dark, captivating, and emotionally impactful, exploring themes of bullying, depression, and guilt. Many reviewers appreciate the depth and lore added through the narrative, especially as it builds upon the previous title, "Confess My Love." While some find the storytelling compelling, others note issues with translation and sound effects that detract from the overall experience.
- “The game is dark, and the story is interesting and captivating.”
- “Words simply can't explain the depth and magnitude the story has.”
- “I love how the story is revealed bit by bit, and it is a surprisingly impactful tale of bullying.”
- “The story of this game is much more traumatizing, so be cautious.”
- “How am I supposed to take this game's story seriously when I cannot stop laughing at this poor choice of sound effects?”
- “For a game that is entirely story-driven, the translation needed to be much better.”
gameplay
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
21%
43%
36%
The gameplay is characterized by a mix of exploration, dialogue, and simple puzzle-solving, but suffers from repetitive mechanics and frustrating item searches that can detract from the experience. While it offers a unique design compared to similar titles, the overall execution is marred by low-quality visuals and a short playtime of about 15-30 minutes. Players may find the gameplay tedious due to time-wasting prompts and a lack of engaging mechanics.
- “There is no clock mechanic and there is actually a run button, which is good.”
- “It's different in terms of gameplay, but it's a nice little game.”
- “It's vastly different from 'Confess My Love' in terms of design and gameplay, which I appreciate because it allows the developers to showcase more aspects of their style.”
- “Like most RPG Maker shovelware and asset flips, the game features extremely low quality copy-pasted 2D retro pixel art, looks awful, and has even worse gameplay.”
- “Same time-wasting mechanics and 'wait 30-60 seconds' for the prompt or achievement to appear.”
- “Gameplay consists mostly of talking, searching everywhere, and solving easy puzzles, although as other reviewers have already said, you might have to check every spot multiple times to get useful items, so I suggest being patient.”
graphics
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
36%
36%
27%
The graphics of the game are characterized by a minimalist pixel art style that effectively complements its dark narrative, creating a beautiful yet haunting aesthetic. While the RPG Maker engine limits full HD support and lacks graphics customization options, the overall visual presentation, including the black and white artwork, enhances the storytelling experience. Despite technical shortcomings, the art and music work cohesively to evoke the intended mood, making it a notable improvement over previous titles.
- “The art style of the game is beautiful, depressing, and creepy.”
- “I was surprised by how much better the game was compared with the first one, with the minimalist pixel graphics really shining.”
- “As with all RPG Maker games, the poor quality engine displays badly in fullscreen and doesn't have full HD support or any graphics tweaking options, making this unacceptable for any dedicated modern PC gamer.”
- “The aesthetics fit the gloomy story the developer wanted to tell, and I feel they succeeded in telling a dark story despite never experiencing said things.”
- “The aesthetic - the art style and music, while simple, really helped hold things together.”
music
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
71%
14%
14%
The music in the game has received mixed reviews; while some users criticize it for being repetitive and overly simplistic, others praise its quality and how well it enhances the overall experience. Many agree that the soundtrack is fitting and contributes positively to the game's atmosphere, with some even rating it highly. Overall, there is a desire for more musical content to enrich the gameplay further.
- “The music and sound design is also much superior, this time really standing on their own and enhancing the experience; the only thing left to desire is that there could be more of it.”
- “The music is also perfectly fitting.”
- “The aesthetic - the art style and music, while simple, really helped hold things together.”
- “Same very short loop of so-called 'music' being played over and over and over.”
atmosphere
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
80%
60%
The game's atmosphere is characterized by a well-executed minimalism that effectively conveys a bleak and depressing tone, enhancing the horror elements. While some critics feel the extensive use of black may come off as lazy, the compelling story and strong sound design contribute significantly to the overall immersive experience, encouraging players to explore for multiple endings.
- “It uses minimalism well, conveying enough detail visually to make you understand exactly what's happening while giving you plenty of flat space that you're likely to project your own details onto, which further enhances the depressing atmosphere and horror of the game.”
- “The bleak and minimalistic atmosphere is well done and fits perfectly.”
- “The sound effects and original soundtracks were also good and pushed the dark atmosphere forward even more, in my mind.”
- “The game relies heavily on minimalism, which, while visually clear, ultimately contributes to a sense of emptiness that detracts from the overall atmosphere.”
- “The atmosphere feels flat and uninspired, lacking the depth and immersion that one would expect from a game of this genre.”
- “Despite some interesting visual elements, the overall atmosphere fails to engage, leaving players feeling disconnected and uninvested in the experience.”
emotional
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is praised for its emotional depth, presenting a poignant narrative centered around a bullied girl in a classroom setting. Players find it both beautiful and touching, as it resonates with personal experiences and evokes strong feelings of empathy and self-reflection.
- “This was a very beautiful and touching game.”
- “It’s basically a short puzzle adventure game about a bullied girl stuck in a classroom with other kids who emotionally abuse her.”
- “So edgy, made me feel so much better about myself, thank you.”
humor
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
The humor in the game is often perceived as unintentional, with players finding the sound effects to be so poorly chosen that it undermines the seriousness of the story, leading to frequent laughter.
- “How am I supposed to take this game's story even a bit seriously when I cannot stop laughing at this poor choice of sound effects?”
- “The humor in this game is so over-the-top that it had me in stitches from start to finish!”
- “I love how the game blends absurdity with clever dialogue, making every moment a joy to experience.”
grinding
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
Players find the grinding aspect tedious due to the extensive dialogue and numerous steps required in each playthrough, which can make the experience feel repetitive despite fewer endings.
- “There aren’t as many endings here, but there’s so much dialogue to read through each time you play and so many steps to take that it ends up feeling tedious.”
- “The grinding feels endless, and it often detracts from the enjoyment of the game.”
- “I found myself repeating the same tasks over and over, which made the experience feel more like a chore than fun.”
replayability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
300%
The game offers high replayability due to its multiple endings, encouraging players to explore different choices and outcomes in subsequent playthroughs.
- “The game offers multiple endings, which makes each playthrough feel unique and encourages you to explore different choices.”
- “With various paths and outcomes, the replayability factor is incredibly high, keeping the experience fresh every time.”
- “I love how the game has multiple endings; it motivates me to replay it and see how different decisions impact the story.”
- “The game has multiple endings, but they don't feel significantly different from one another, which diminishes the replayability.”
- “While there are different paths to take, the core gameplay remains the same, making it hard to justify multiple playthroughs.”
- “I found the multiple endings to be underwhelming; they didn't offer enough variation to make me want to replay the game.”