Veritas
- February 12, 2020
- Glitch Games
- 7h median play time
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Get on Apple Store"Veritas" is a single-player mystery point-and-click game offering around 7 hours of playtime. As the player, you awaken in a mysterious facility with no memory of the previous day, and must solve puzzles and gather clues to discover the truth and escape. Using the Glitch Camera, you'll document your surroundings and use the photos to help solve puzzles and uncover the facility's dark secrets.
Reviews
- Clever and engaging puzzles that are well-designed, providing a satisfying challenge for players.
- The built-in camera feature allows players to take notes and keep track of clues, enhancing the gameplay experience.
- Strong atmosphere with a mix of humor and horror elements, along with a decent hint system that aids players without being overly intrusive.
- The game suffers from significant performance issues, including laggy controls and unresponsive UI, making navigation frustrating.
- Many players experienced game-breaking bugs, including lost progress and disappearing items, which detracted from the overall experience.
- The story is criticized for being cliché and poorly executed, with an unsatisfying ending that leaves players feeling disappointed.
- story20 mentions
- 30 % positive mentions
- 55 % neutral mentions
- 15 % negative mentions
The story in the game has received mixed reviews, with some players appreciating its intriguing elements and potential for expansion, while others criticize it for being clichéd and ultimately unsatisfying, often feeling disjointed due to its genre shifts and a lackluster ending. While the narrative includes engaging horror themes and humorous references, many found that it detracted from the overall experience, leading to a sense of futility in the lore. Overall, the story seems to serve as a backdrop for the puzzles, which are generally well-received, but may not satisfy those seeking a compelling narrative.
“Very well executed with an interesting storyline.”
“This story concept offers a lot of opportunity for sequels or parallel stories.”
“While a lot of the individual puzzles in Veritas are still very fun, with answers hidden in the environment in interesting ways, the game itself is bogged down by a bizarre genre-hopping story with a lame ending and frankly awful performance for the PC.”
“The story presents itself as a horror story - filled with diaries to find, blood trails, and bodies - but it also includes humorous pop culture references which clash with that theme immensely.”
“The story itself is incredibly cliché, and I quickly found myself disregarding the more detailed logs on the computers throughout the game when it became clear the story would likely lead to nothing. Indeed, it does; the whole thing amounts to something similar to 'it was all a dream', making all the lore pointless and the stakes next to zero.”
- grinding5 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and frustrating, particularly due to the cumbersome navigation across a large map and the repetitive nature of fetch quests. While some puzzles offer satisfying moments, the overall experience is marred by slow interfaces and a lack of meaningful story progression, leading to a sense of prolonged gameplay without substantial reward.
“Moving between screens in order to navigate the massive map is tedious and frustrating, and makes the normally satisfying process of returning to an earlier area to solve a puzzle take ages.”
“I am at a loss as to how something basic like this gets into the final product of a game, unless it was a genius trick by the developers to make it feel like the game you just played was longer than you thought (which isn't necessary, because this game was so tedious it already felt like it took longer than 3 hours to finish).”
“The few good moments you'll have with this game - both with the story and puzzles - are bogged down by the foreknowledge that the story won't amount to anything substantial, and the slow, tedious interfaces you need to interact with to play the game.”
- graphics5 mentions
- 60 % positive mentions
- 40 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have received high praise from users, with many expressing their love for the visual style and smooth performance. The appealing graphics are highlighted as a primary reason for purchasing the game, indicating a strong positive reception in this aspect.
“The audio and graphics are just fine and run smooth as silk, and just about everything is mouse controlled, which is a plus.”
“My main reason for buying the game was the graphics; I'm in love with those types of graphics.”
“Love the graphics.”
- stability4 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game has been reported to have significant stability issues, with players experiencing frequent bugs and glitches, particularly towards the latter stages, leading to lost progress and the need for workarounds. While some issues have been addressed, many users still find the overall experience too unstable to justify the purchase.
“The full game is way too buggy!”
“For me, it glitches three-fourths of the way through the game, and I lost all my Steam saves. This was fixed, but I had to play until that point with a walkthrough.”
“The simulation portion was a little buggy for a few days, as each new screen would freeze.”
- gameplay4 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The gameplay features an innovative camera mechanic that allows players to capture game elements for note-taking, enhancing the overall experience. However, the game is relatively short at around seven hours, and some players have encountered significant bugs that hinder progress, leading to frustration despite enjoying the mechanics and puzzles.
“Their staple game mechanic - the camera which lets you screenshot various game elements - is a brilliant way of providing the player with the tools necessary to take notes without having to grab a pen and paper (or commit long codes to memory).”
“I like the mechanics and the puzzles, but it just wasn't worth the aggravation and I don't see how I could have ever progressed to the end anyway.”
“Only 7 hours of gameplay, and that was with dozing off during the last chapter.”
“I had one game-breaking bug early in my gameplay and lost all my progress.”
- music3 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The music in the game is highly praised for its delightful soundtrack and immersive ambiance, enhancing the dark and mysterious atmosphere. Players enjoy the engaging soundscapes that accompany interactions and exploration, contributing significantly to the overall experience.
“Once in the game, you're treated to a delightful soundtrack and sounds as you interact with things or even just hang around listening to the ambiance of each room.”
“The atmosphere is dark and mysterious with a solid soundtrack.”
“Love the music.”
- atmosphere3 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 67 % negative mentions
The atmosphere is characterized as relaxing yet occasionally spooky, creating a dark and mysterious environment enhanced by a solid soundtrack. However, some users feel that the execution of this atmosphere falls short, despite appreciating the individual elements of puzzles and ambiance.
“The atmosphere I found was very relaxing and a bit spooky at times.”
“The atmosphere is dark and mysterious with a solid soundtrack.”
- humor2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is highlighted by the main character's witty remarks and the juxtaposition of comedic pop culture references against a horror backdrop, creating a unique and entertaining contrast. Players appreciate this blend, which adds a lighthearted touch to the otherwise dark narrative.
“I love the funny things the main character says.”
“The story presents itself as a horror narrative filled with diaries to find, blood trails, and bodies, but it also includes humorous pop culture references that clash with that theme immensely.”
- optimization2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The optimization of Veritas has been criticized for poor performance on PC, with players experiencing significant issues despite the engaging puzzles. The game's technical shortcomings detract from the overall experience, leaving users frustrated with its lack of polish.
“While a lot of the individual puzzles in Veritas are still very fun, with answers hidden in the environment in interesting ways, the game itself is bogged down by a bizarre genre-hopping story with a lame ending and frankly awful performance for the PC.”
“It's been a long time since Myst pioneered this kind of game, and yet with all this time, my modern gaming PC can't seem to run this poorly optimized point-and-click romp in any way I'd call satisfying.”
