Iris.Fall only takes a few hours to complete, and this feels just right. From start to finish it’s an engaging and well-polished experience that finishes on a high, before the demands of its tricky puzzling take too much of a toll. While the easily frustrated may wish to steer clear, this is a stylish brain-teasing trip worth taking.
It’s a pity that this magical, beautiful journey inspired by Contrast comes to an end after merely two, three hours tops, and gives no incentive to relive it. [02/2019, p.58]
Drawing from a pool of the classics – things like Rubik’s cubes, complementary rotation, circuit building – Iris.Fall has a puzzle for for everyone. Unfortunately, this has the corollary of ensuring that players with a weakness for a particular kind of puzzle will end up absolutely stuck at least once in the game. I personally found myself banging my head on a task involving building a bridge for the better part of a half hour, and it’s entirely possible that were I not reviewing the game, I might have quit there and then. I’m glad I didn’t, though, since the story deserves to be seen through to the end.
Iris. Fall is an indie game that offers a good variety of puzzles and a design that hits the mark. Its communicative power is demonstrated by an intriguing story told without a single line of dialogue, matched with an effective soundtrack.
Iris.Fall emerges from the shadows with challenging puzzles and beautiful art direction. Its streamlined gameplay may not always match the impeccable quality of its presentation, but this is unquestionably an adventure that deserves to be undertaken by puzzle fanatics.
Iris.Fall is a deliberately bite-sized experience and could easily be completed in a single sitting. Whether this amounts to value for money obviously depends on your perspective, but given the relative cost compared to a DVD or Blu-ray I think it is worth picking up to experience the artistry at hand here. The visual design is exemplary and the narrative is pleasing enough. Definitely a game that is worth a look if you like the art style and the idea of the puzzles, but be prepared for a couple of frustrating moments. Iris.Fall shouldn’t be left in the shadows.
It’s beautiful, it has great music, it shows promise in its themes, but that’s about it. The game is frustratingly lacking in polish and originality, with things as critical as movement falling sub-par. I should say that, if you’re patient, not especially critical, and you’re desperate for a pretty puzzle game to play for a few hours (it took me about three hours to finish), Iris.Fall will not hurt you to play. Just don’t go in expecting a gem. As I said, it’s unpolished at best.