Shining Edge

yt playthrough:

ohh this was REALLY gosh darn creative and creepy.

(SPOILERS)

i absolutely love the atmosphere here; the incredibly dark levels, the monochromatic color palette, the twisted and super creative designs that lie around... much like the main character says, this game feels like a twisted dream. but at the same time, it's not overwhelmingly dark; the sense of confidence and tranquility the protagonist gives off and the seemingly friendly conversations you have with the NPCs do a great job in balancing the disturbingly strange with a sense of security. like yeah, this is all super weird and creepy, but the characters being so chill and the game being divided into straightforward puzzles does give you a certain sense of safety... like when you're having a nightmare, but you realize it's a dream so nothing can happen to you :> until... well, the end of the game, where suddenly everything comes crashing down (that was sooo creepy). i'll fully admit that i'm not a diehard fan of games based on dreams/the subconscious, but the way everything was executed here was really effective :D

in terms of art, this is probably your best game yet!! (i still have to play GOTH though, its artstyle really peaks my interest :>) i loooved the use of black & white and lighting, and the designs of the creatures were really strange and dreamlike. and even aside from those, there are so many images here that are just beautiful (that title screen is goddamn gorgeous). and the music!! extremely effective and expertly captures the feeling of how a dream's "music" should sound like haha (this jam seems to be full of amazing soundtracks :D). the presentation is just really great, definitely felt like you brought your A-game here.

(also! didn't know where to put this but i loved the moth motif, and how it plays a part in the ending)

the puzzles were also really creative! the abilities and what they do? sooo cool. the first time i used the reverser my jaw actually DROPPED haha. i love how they're really simple, but at the same time fit really well with dream logic if that makes sense? and the way you have to combine them at the end was super cool. i did find a few bugs with them though; in the second stage i tried to use the reverser, but the mc said something like "i shouldn't use this here", and i was stuck in a messed up reversed version of the map without being able to reverse it back. and in the moon level, if i used the jumper too close to the low part of the screen, i'd get stuck outside the map. not huge deals since i could just load a previous save, but i thought i should mention it.

and that ending!! man i try my best when i interpret themes and storylines but sometimes i don't think i'm smart enough haha. so the main character was actually a dream from the moth king? instead of the other way around? that'd be really cool if true, and the scene itself was super disturbing haha. overall this was a great experience!! and i've never wanted to lucid dream less in my entire life :D

the puzzles were fun surprise but sensible for lucid dreams, the creatures (let’s say) there were friendly charming in their own ways,​ though felt bad and shocked for the mc that they had to go through a rude awakening,

also found some small bugs/actions i shouldn’t have done but realized late that kinda broke the game and I had to reload (like using the reverser in second area, and using the jumper too close to the bottom it threw you disappear off the map) so always couldn’t be too careful by saving in every new area/map.

Well that ending was terrifying. No way you just left us with that. Loved the game!

That was great! I love the art, totally has a nice creepy vibe to it. :)

Truly amazing games. So happy I was able to play them! Such creativity. 

Very unique and trippy puzzles. I liked it!