TheDarkPhantom
Gold Member
I don't know if it's still too early for a LTTP thread but the OT for this game is dead and 'Humanity' deserves so much more attention. Released in May of this year it sat unplayed in my Library until yesterday evening, buried under the cavalcade of 2023 releases. I needed something to tide me over until Lords of the Fallen releases this Friday and some of the other stuff in my backlog just wasn't grabbing me so I thought I'd take the glowing Shiba Inu for a walk and...
Humanity is nothing short of *brilliant*. I'm still relatively early on (middle of ch. 2) but it already has it's hooks deep and charmed me to no end. It made me think about some of my favourite puzzlers over the years and whether I could pinpoint some unifying element. Going all the way back to the NES and The Adventures of Lolo (earliest puzzler I can remember playing/loving) to stuff like Braid, Portal 1&2, Fez, The Witness, Catherine, Myst. All these games have a mystical/narrative element to them, Humanity fits right in. I won't go into detail but what's here is compelling and aptly "human".
Of course, no underlying story would be worth a god damn without the essential puzzling that makes this genre worth exploring in the first place. Humanity has sequences that are head-scratching, hypnotic and beyond satisfying to clear once the gears in your mind fall into place and you "get it". The game slowly layers on multiple mechanics with some of the most genius level design I've ever seen in a puzzle game.
Make your humans lightweight and they can soar through the air when combined with Longjump (or fan vents) but it also allows them to survive otherwise deadly falls. Have them push blocks to form platforms, direct them to a specific route to swim through the water so they tag that special Goldy, figure out how to unify multiple groups with Goldy's so you can get a full clear of the stage. One technique I discovered early on is creating a "closed loop" with a handful of humans to keep certain switches active. There are multiple ways to clear a stage, all it takes is engaging your gray matter.
EDM soundtrack - at times pared down, at times pumping - works perfectly when combined with the aesthetic and visual grandeur many of these sequences present. One stage yesterday required 3 separate streams of humans to enter 3 different goals. By the end you had 3 lengthy streams of humanity soaring through the air, literally *hundreds* of tiny humans arcing across the sky, the image was nothing short of *mesmerizing*. Almost every stage has something to make you say "wow", I'm thoroughly impressed.
I don't like the idea of providing solutions in-game, defeats the entire purpose of this genre. I've picked up every single Goldy so far and don't plan on ever looking anything up, maybe if I'm stuck on a puzzle for more than an hour lol. That's really the only negative (which I'm sure some will see as a positive...). It looks beautiful, sounds wonderful, feels fantastic (great DualSense implementation!), easy to play in short bursts or longer sessions, has a level creator and access to other user creations, it's the total package!
I've went on long enough, the game deserves more love, if anyone feels the same sound off and for those who haven't played it but generally like puzzlers it's an absolute must play/buy, you won't regret it.
Edit: forgot to mention it brings to mind the PlayStation that used to make stuff like Vib Ribbon, Tokyo Jungle, Ape Escape, Patapon etc, love it.
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