Fans of platformers might find Seed of Life to be a smidge more fun than puzzle game fanatics, but the overall experience in this beautiful, dying world is worth the time and price point, especially as a relatively short game that can be completed over a lazy weekend. Much like Cora's quest, the seeds of this game are high quality, and with some fine tuning and care, Seed of Life could blossom into something incredible.
All in all, Seed of Life has all the tools it needs to sprout a lovely little flower, but it’ll need to take special care to groom and care for itself to get there. There’s a good number of thorns in this garden, so you should approach with caution, knowing this. But you can see where Seed of Life tried its best to shine, so if you’re itching to take a hike through alien lands, Seed of Life is a charming enough indie gem to keep you well-watered for a few hours.
The Hero’s Journey does yeoman’s work as a structure for Seed of Life, and the game boasts some imaginative environments and challenging puzzles in service of a classic tale of discovery. Where action, platforming and precise input are called for, Seed of Life shows its mechanical limitations and wonder is sometimes replaced by frustration, but fans of puzzle adventure games with a sci-fi twist might find something to appreciate about Seed of Life despite its issues.
The interesting concept in a pleasing graphic jacket is not, unfortunately, reaching its full potential. A clever design is damaged by technical problems and the puzzles deserve a better balance of difficulty. Even so, the journey to save the planet is a pleasant experience.
Seed of Life features weak production values, questionable design decisions and repetitive play. Online research tells me it’s the work of only two people, but the hard truth is that despite their efforts there are dozens of similar, better titles available. Still, the devs seem to be constantly patching it up and trying to fix things, so I commend them for at least trying. I wish I could give it my seal of approval, but from any perspective this is an extremely hard one to recommend.
Seed of Life had a ton of potential and surprised me in so many ways for what just two developers came together to create. The foundation of the story was interesting, and the world was truly stunning to walk through, but it unfortunately just couldn't grab hold of me and fell apart when it came to gameplay. It has been a year since the game was released, and I would be seriously interested in seeing what MadLight developers have been working on in the meantime. I genuinely hope that the negative reviews haven't pushed them away from making games, because, despite Seed of Life's hiccups, they have a tremendous amount of talent. While it wasn't the game for me, you can certainly try out Seed of Life on Steam for yourself, and you might even luck up and catch it on sale.
Overall, Seed of Life is a game with unique ideas and wonderful worldbuilding, but it needs to heavily refine the parts that matter most. In its current form, Seed of Life is a fantastic proof of concept prototype but an easy to skip final product. While it doesn't take long to beat, due in part to the ability to navigate the world in unintended ways thanks to easily exploitable bugs, it leaves a lasting negative impression that could have been avoided with a little more time spent developing out from its early promise.
SummarySeed of Life is an epic adventure game about the persistence of life. You're Cora, the last known survivor of Lumia, a dying planet. Your only hope to save your homeworld is to activate the Seed of Life and rekindle the sun once again. Will you be the light that conquers the darkness?