Humanity is a unique game that captivates players with its distinctive presentation and keeps them invested by connecting to something profound within them – even if it’s difficult to articulate what that is after completing the game. Throughout its 90-stage story, Humanity uses its puzzles, visual motifs, and moments of exposition to explore the abstract nature of spirituality, mortality, and the different ways people connect and guide each other through life. It’s a title full of surprises, fulfilling puzzles, stunning visuals, and resonant story beats, placing it alongside some of the best puzzle games available.
Developed by tha ltd. and Enhance (which also published the game), Humanity is a 3D puzzle platformer that tasks players with guiding a group of humans through obstacle-filled stages until they reach the light. This title is the first venture into game development from tha ltd. and its creative director, Yugo Nakamura, which is surprising given the title’s level of depth and polish. Overall, Humanity offers challenging and rewarding gameplay that shines through its creativity and variety.
One of the key components of telling a good story is “show, don’t tell,” and Humanity found a way to do that through its silent puzzles. Players take control of a glowing Shiba Inu that is following the orders of sentient orbs of light, each one having their own personalities and thematic representations. The spiritual and religious implications immediately become clear, as players are literally guiding masses of humans to “the light” in the form of a dog, akin to shepherds guiding a flock of sheep.
To guide said flock, players have access to sets to powers and commands that vary from stage to stage. Commands are the most important part of the game because they are what dictates the movement of the flock, whereas the powers allow players to fast-forward the movement and stop time to plot out the best path. Commands start simple, with players being able to dictate the direction the masses will go and where they should jump. More commands are made available as the game progresses, and some commands will build off previous ones, such as the standard jump making way for long jumps and high jumps.
When plotting a path, players will come across a large floating person called a “Goldy,” which provides rewards like cosmetic changes and new powers when collected. Some stages have multiple Goldies and while players don’t have to collect every Goldy in every stage, a certain amount must be collected to progress. Collecting Goldies will also lead players to engage in more challenging solutions that often involve interacting with obstacles or being creative in their path making. These elements get more complex as time goes on, such as certain stages providing limitations to how many commands can be used, but these changes don’t just keep things varied, they are integral to the game’s storytelling.
2023-05-15 15:30:04
Article from screenrant.com