A visually compelling game, Pneuma: Breath of Life offers very original puzzles mechanics and an interesting background story, but lacks in length resulting in 2-3 total hours of play.
I give this a perfect ten because the puzzles are good. Some hard one some easy ones. But that’s not what you pick this game up for. You pick it up for the dialogue. It’s an elaborate commentary on life and God. The symbolism is everywhere for this being about Christianity as there are lots of biblical images scattered throughout the game. But other than the character you control is nothing to break grounds but his journey from thinking he’s god to the end is something that’s made me play this game over and over again. And the final puzzle he leaves the player with is something I think about a lot.
A game that I urge you to experience. It’s not perfect, but in a way that fits entirely with its own outlook, and its effectiveness as a story is both thought-provoking and surprising. Pre-conceptions aside, it is certainly an intriguing and unique title that explores elements of philosophy and life often left untouched by gaming.
Portraying existential quandaries as gameplay puzzles is a daring idea, but ultimately this is a more enjoyable game to watch and listen to than it is to play.
Pneuma: Breath of Life should have been the kind of game you turn to between Call of Duty sessions, but instead it's a slightly insipid, short-lived and ultimately disposable puzzler. Console gamers like us are crying out for games like these, but Pneuma really isn't it.
One of the best indie games I've ever played. Beautiful environments, with an amazing philosophical story that makes you think your whole life. The main and only character, wonderfully portrayed by Jay Britton, talks a lot, and everything he says is important for the game or relative to the current puzzle. This game definitely deserves more relevance than it has, unfairly unknown. Everyone should play it.
Pneuma is a wonderful game. It's a very simple puzzle game, not very challenging, but very beautiful (Unreal Engine 4 and those texture give this game some stunning visuals), with interesting mechanics and a good "game feeling". But Pneuma isn't just that, the funny and interesting part is brought by the character you control.
You basically play a god, or something else? Who know? Maybe you are the god?
T philosophical questions. The narration is quite amusing and at times pretty deep. This god (Pneuma?) you play as a voice, made by the "award winning voice actor 'Jay Britton', who did a pretty good performance. It's a pleasure to progress trough the (sadly not very challenging) puzzles and ear Pneuma discovering himself and the world and bringing up many philosophical and intriguing questions until the end where.
The more you progress, the more the dialogue will be deep of meaning, until the final scene.
Maybe it is a bit expensive for what it is, but it's definitely worth the try !
Intriguing, philosophical, frustrating but mostly wonderful.
Pneuma is a bit of an anomaly. Looking at it through the perspective of a 'puzzle' game, it's pretty standard (although set in a beautiful, immense temple indicative of ancient Rome), but as a whole package, this game is something special.
Some of the puzzles are fairly straight forward, but many others are extremely frustrating! But that's a good thing because the last thing you want, when playing a game like this, is to be able to walk through completely unchallenged. Another good point is the variety of puzzles, yes almost all of them are to do with looking at things and changing your perspective to adjust the puzzles, no two puzzles are the same which adds a new challenge to every single puzzle.
Throughout the game, you play as some sort of unseen thing that believes ****. This god you play as has a voice, of course, which adds a lot of interesting, occasionally humorous, subtext to the game. The voice acting is marvellously done and really does feel like he (yes, the Pneuma god 's a he... and English!) is experiencing this world for the very first time. Not only does the voice acting add a running commentary to your actions and progress through the game, it also brings up many philosophical questions for the player to ponder over.
The world of Pneuma is truly beautiful and boasts some impressive visuals. Built using Unreal Engine 4, the marble and gold that lines most rooms glimmers and shines like nothing I've seen before! The outside areas aren't quite as stunning as the inside areas, but they are still fairly impressive. The game is also exceptionally serene and calming compared to a lot of gun-in-hand, jetpack jumping and occasional tea-bagging games we see coming out at the moment, and it makes you wish you could be there in real life throughout the entire 2-4 hours play-through.
Things, however, do start to get a little weird later on in the game. Not only does your god character start saying things like '...what if my movements aren't my own? Does that mean I'm still me? Or perhaps I am merely a spectator?', but the endless idea that 'Well I AM a god, so why can't I walk through walls?' or 'Why do I have to do these puzzles if i'm the all powerful?'. However things soon become clear as you reach the final area. Suddenly, the game that was about solving problems whilst listening to and ever-talking god becomes a project that explores the meaning of humanity and the idea of existence! It all becomes very, VERY weird! But, after the final monologue, and we are returned to the title menu, it all makes a lot of sense!
I, for one, really did love this game! Yes, it may be short for a £15 game, but the visual design is spectacular I i'm a **** for these more 'philosophical' games. Even if your not into the whole 'meaning of life' stuff, the game is fun! And if your just looking for quick achievements, 8 of the 11 are achieved just by completing the game (7 100G, and 1 150G) which could give you 850G in just a couple of hours! Either way, it really is worth giving it a go!
Pneuma is a stunningly beautiful game in sight, but disappointingly ugly in play.
The game makes players control a character who constant dialogue about being a God gets annoying after the first chapter (which takes about 5 minutes to complete). As you move through the world looking at things to open doors, and pushing buttons, solving brainless puzzles you realize what this game is. An easy 1000 G. The main game play can be completed in about 2 hours without a walk through, leaving only 3 achievements worth 150G combined remaining which may take additional help to complete since there is very little mention of them in the actual game. Of all the chapters the only 2 offering an actual challenge or any longevity are the final 2 chapters before the epilogue. The game is so simple up to that point that you almost feel sad for the developer who put such effort into the visuals, then cut short on sound and play. Overall this game is not worth the price for it's entertainment value, however for the month of November it is free on Xbox One with "Games With Gold" and may be worth the 2 hours for those of you who want some simple achievements.
Visuals: 8/10 Very nicely put together. Mildly repetitive.
Sound: 2/10 Infuriating, annoying, empty but mildly comical
Difficulty: 4/10 Very little challenge at all aside from the near end point.
Story: 2/10 Bland, interesting at points, but mostly straight line.
Replay: 1/10 Other then a possible 3 missed achievements, 0 replay value.
Total: 17/50 (3.4/10)
SummaryPneuma: Breath of Life requires you to think outside the box via a narrated story of self-discovery, whilst exploring the ontological mystery of the breath of life.