The OPUS collection has been knocking about in 2D/2.5D house for some time now, most memorably with Echo of Starsong again in 2021. SIGONO’s newest outing, Prism Peak, ditches each the cosmic setting and the dimensional aircraft, as a substitute choosing a really earthy, 3D, first-person images journey that performs much less like a sequel of any sort and extra like an entire 180. It is a very fairly, affecting, and irritating non secular successor that journeys over its personal concepts and ambition.
You play as Eugene, a photographer from a damaged household whose grandpa handed him his first digicam and, with it, a lifelong ardour. After an accident, he’s now stranded within the Dusklands, a spirit-dwelling mirror of a Japanese mountainside, and Eugene finds himself travelling alongside a toddler who wants to achieve a distant peak earlier than she fades away. His grandpa’s previous analogue digicam is his solely instrument, and likewise the one factor preserving ‘the shade’ that is stalking them each at arm’s size.
For essentially the most half in Prism Peak, you level your digicam and click on. That is it. What’s odd, although, is that Prism Peak is not actually all in favour of whether or not your pictures are literally good. There’s an ISO dial, shutter pace, and a rotating set of filters to play about with, however so long as your topic is roughly within the body and you’ve got not blown the publicity, the sport nods and strikes on. Whereas some folks offered on the images facet could also be let down, the shortage of talent wanted is deliberate. This is not a images simulator; it is a sport about images as a metaphor for reminiscence.
The place Prism Peak actually shines for me is its journal system. It acts as a dwelling file of each dialog you’ve got had, each reminiscence you’ve got recalled, and each dialogue selection you’ve got made, along with your phrase picks highlighted so you possibly can look again and see precisely the place you landed on issues. Eugene’s inside monologue decisions normally have you ever choosing one among two paths. A cynical learn or a extra beneficiant one, and people small decisions stack up over time. Every now and then the sport pulls you again into this headspace and prompts you to finish sections with what feels true to you, somewhat than what’s factually correct. I discovered myself pausing on these for longer than I assumed I’d. Most video games with narrative or dialogue decisions lean towards the reality or put you beneath a timer, however right here? It is quiet; it is calm. I prefer it.
Outdoors the digicam mechanic itself, interacting with the world round you rewards you with seeds, which act as a sort of non secular foreign money. You possibly can money them in at varied factors to choose up digicam upgrades, equipment, and images ideas. Accumulating these is simple, so choosing up the digicam upgrades and such feels much less like a process and extra of a pure course inside the sport.
Scattered all through are Sacred Firebowl shrines, and right here is the place many of the puzzle work lives. These totem-style altars demand particular pictures in trade for insights and development. After a short or obscure clue, you discover the suitable topic out on the earth, snap it, deliver the image again, and drop it into the hearth. The loop works properly in isolation. Whether or not it really works on the tempo the remainder of the sport needs is one other query (extra on that under).
Regardless of exploration being rewarded, Prism Peak is basically a linear journey with semi-open zones, and it needs you to take your time. A run clocks in round 10 hours relying on how deep you go into the lore and exploration. It is undoubtedly a sport higher savoured than sprinted by.
Whereas the story was decently written and had me engaged at occasions, the puzzle components grew to become a little bit of a problem. Each new space throws extra totems at you, extra reminiscences to unlock, extra ash to search out, and the primary plot nearly begins to really feel like a side-story whereas the puzzles take centre stage. t’s a fairly vital pacing drawback that does not really feel extreme rapidly; it wears on you as you progress deeper into the sport.
As a lead, Eugene is a well-crafted character: he is quiet and run down, carrying the load of a household that by no means fairly labored. His relationship together with his grandpa, dripped in through flashbacks by the digicam, offers the entire thing its emotional backbone. The shade chasing him and the kid is an efficient if wholly underused antagonist. When it seems, it turns the sport on its head, inviting chase scenes, and the same old vibrant colors and lightweight instantly change into darkish and purple. Regardless of the situation or setting, although, Prism Peak is a delight to take a look at.
It is a sport constructed round stopping and searching, and handheld is a fully professional technique to expertise it, particularly should you’ve obtained a quiet night with headphones on.
Being good to take a look at is nice; nonetheless, it isn’t sufficient to hold a few of the narrative points it has. There appears to be this incessant want to pile metaphors on metaphors with out all the time cashing them in. By the ultimate stretch, there have been so many motifs like spirit-animals standing in for what I assume represents folks from Eugene’s previous, and carved glyphs instead of “necessary” names that by no means fairly resolved. A few of that is intentional, and the ending does pull all of it collectively, however the haze of metaphors will get in the way in which of a handful of emotional beats really touchdown.
Whereas trying prefer it was ripped out of a cute, slice-of-life anime, you get a selection of English, Chinese language, or Japanese dubs. Given the sport’s aforementioned, unmistakably anime type, Japanese might be the “appropriate” vibe selection should you decide this up, however I performed in English for evaluate functions and did not really feel short-changed both approach. The voice appearing is stable, and the soundtrack is wispy and ambient. It matches the world fantastically.
Prism Peak is a sport I favored being part of, even after I was annoyed with its odd pacing and metaphors. It is fairly, considerate, and extra emotionally trustworthy than most video games that put on their hearts this visibly. Nevertheless it’s additionally a sport that crams an excessive amount of right into a single body. Too many puzzles, too many metaphors, too many programs and concepts layered on high of a core loop that did not want them. Trim a few of the fats, and it is a standout. Because it stands, although, it is a flawed gem.
