Inmost may seem like an ordinary 15 dollars indie game that you can kill in a few hours, but it is actually a unique tale full of secrets that will make you play it over and over again to fully discover its creepy world.
Inmost took me by surprise as I wasn’t prepared for the incredible story it has to tell. Its gameplay and puzzle elements are perfectly symmetrical, making it easy to immerse yourself in this dark world for an evening and come out feeling satisfied, if not, a little melancholic. Load times and lack of direction do very little to hinder this adventure that I think is well worth your time.
BEAUTIFUL COLOURS OF DARKNESS:
It was clear, how the main theme of Inmost is dark and depressive. Even though, the colour palette is absolutely beautiful, having huge variation of shades, it was still sad-esque to look at without other primary colours. I personally love these colours, they’re my favourite, and it’s always diffcult try to explain them to others, because this theme doesn’t have name.
I played Inmost with conneced to TV and Handheld mode. The positive side with the colours was how gentle it was to eyes, when playing in dark. The overall art style was basic pixelated 2D with twist of effects. Lighting, glowing and shining -effects were used brilliantly. Deep dark shadows hid everything else.
I mostly used headphones (when on Handheld mode), because the sound design was as amazing as the visuals. Seriously, this is meant to be played with headphones, because the sound desing was realistic and scary. There was something uneasy about this mixture of gloomy pixelated graphics and movie-like sound effects.
THE STORY AND GAMEPLAY:
The story is told very metaphorically. Inmost is played with three different characters (one of them was a little girl and one was assassin-like ninja, but mostly played with a middle-aged man between all of this maddenss) and piece by piece it becomes clear what have happened and what these characters are all about. It’s deeply sad story about loss and hope, the game even having a warning of its possible effect on player.
The game is about 3-5 hours long and it should be played in a one sitting, but I played this with two or three. Inmost is played using three characters, one at a time, and each of them having skill or move the other character didn’t have. Puzzles weren’t overly complex or anything I couldn’t solve. The platforming part got me sometimes, meaning, I mostly died on enemies and traps.
THE END:
I don’t have much else to tell about Inmost. It’s well-thought out game, idea and story. The theme is sinister and dark. It did feel odd game at the beginning, because the way all was told and shown in this hauntingly colourless world.
I do urge you to play this, if you’re mentally fine with it. This is one-of-a-kind indie title, giving players something unique for once.
“There was something uneasy about this mixture of gloomy pixelated graphics and movie-like sound effects”
Dark and obscure, Inmost is maybe one of the saddest game we've seen in recent years but its gloom is mostly concealed in a strange and complex storytelling that make this game very interesting and deep.
Inmost could be the very definition of a hidden gem. It is probably too niche and maudlin to connect with a wider audience, but one would suspect that those it does connect with will find it to be a unique and affecting experience. It's short and not a difficult undertaking to get through, but it does do just enough to get the grey matter moving, and rewards consistently with those congratulatory "aha!" moments or aforementioned set-pieces. This really defines itself with a dark atmosphere and filmic quality, even if that's hard to imagine a 2D aesthetic doing. It has an auteur's mark on it, which leaves an impression, and makes Hidden Layers Games, Alexey Testov and Andriy Vinchovskiy ones to watch out for in future.
Inmost is a fascinating adventure full of symbolism, which is not afraid to face - albeit in a way a little too hermetic and at times sincerely confused - undoubtedly strong themes and in general not exactly recurring in the videogame field.
That sense of place makes Inmost a guarded recommendation, even if portions of it can feel slow and the story is less profound than it wishes it was. Scrambling around the castle in the platformer sections always leads to a curious mechanism, encounter, or vista, and the puzzles are simple enough to rarely prompt any outside assistance. It’s a unique, short, and probably over-priced game for what it offers, but Inmost's terrific presentation still makes it worth a look.
Best Game............................................................................................................................................................
Despite the beautiful pixel game and the emotional storytelling. Inmost has some bugs and controlling improvements. You can tell that's not a high end pixel game like others in switch. I hope to get a inmost 2 with all good and all improvements.
The game is mainly story driven and definitely has some emotional heft throughout. Like Limbo or Inside, the story is mostly implied and that's where it's strongest. There is some narration, but it is vague and metaphorical so it fits nicely. That is until the end, which explicitly tells you what happened. It's not a bad ending, but would have been better told visually with a little ambiguity.
The actual gameplay is really just there to keep you moving through the story. It's not particularly clever or challenging, but it does the job. Unfortunately, it's not always clear what you should be doing and it's VERY slow.
Overall, Inmost does a good job of evoking emotion, but it doesn't quite leave that lasting impression of similar games.
Inmost is a quasi-metroidvania with beautiful graphics and a grim story of pain and loss. Unfortunately, it's also unplayable in its current state on the Switch.
Pros:
- Brilliant art: Striking graphics that mixes lo-bit pixel art with modern lighting effects. Very good sound effects.
- Gut-wrenching story: The backstory only becomes clear in the end, but it's possibly the most intensely dramatic series of events I've ever seen in a game.
- Constant sense of dread: Even with its overabundant allegories, Inmost maintains an uncanny feeling of impending doom throughout.
Cons:
- Crippling bugs: Six months after release, the game is essentially unplayable on the Switch. My playthrough was disrupted by a dozen bugs, including a blocking one that forced me to replay a long stretch of the game multiple times. An even more ridiculous bug blanked out the game's emotional final sequence, spoiling it completely.
- Terrible controls: The game is a mobile conversion, but that's not a valid excuse for its clunky controls that confuse you and frustrate you at every turn.
- A missed opportunity: Inmost could have been a good game–but that fact only makes its absurd bugs and control issues more painful. The game should never have been released in this half-done state, especially at its price point.
I was very excited about this game because the presentation looked very good and I'm intrigued by emotional narrative-driven games. I saw the demo and I was sold on buying this as soon as it came out on PC.
My first red flag should have been recognizing this is a port of a mobile game that already came out a year ago. After rewatching the trailers and rereading the descriptions here, I feel mislead. The trailers and demo showcase all the best parts; it doesn't get better.
The atmosphere and art are both good. Simple and effective. The effects such as lighting and rain are very well done and I wish there were more instances of them.
The music is very repetitive. Sometimes it does not smoothly transition between pieces.
The technical issues are very bad. From the game's credits, this game had 52 people involved with its testing. 23 of those were direct QA testors. This is a 3-4 hour mobile game. The length of time it took to release on PC and the amount of bugs I encountered are shockingly unacceptable. Immediately, the game had consistent trouble scrolling right smoothly. I can run things like Skyrim and Hyper Light Drifter pefectly fine so I know it's not my desktop. I was able to clip through a roof. Animations would stutter or disappear entirely. There are pointless paper collectibles that vanished from my inventory when I picked another up.
Gameplay is almost nonexistent. Puzzles are obvious. If you die, you'll respawn nearly exactly how you left it when you died. This means that, in combat, the enemies don't respawn and they retain how much damage you did to them.
Tonally, the game is not consistent. The game is not so much horror as it is eerie. There is no gameplay climax and many things are pointless. There are 2 exposition-metaphor-dump NPCs.
I have significant problems with the story and its extreme over-reliance on Metaphor. I'm out of characters.
SummaryEscape the depths of an otherworldly labyrinth in this cinematic puzzle platformer. Explore a hauntingly beautiful world, with three playable characters, in one dark, interconnected story.