GEM I have no idea but I'll go grab that.For San Francisco studio Graceful Decay, it’s the product of a notably long development. RAD Hey Gem, if we were in a model, do you think we'd know? I'm giving it 3.5 out of 5 rubber chickens. And while it's definitely not meaty enough to satisfy those puzzler lovers, it's such a beautiful game with a really cool idea at its core that I think works well. Is it super artsy and takes itself too seriously sometimes? Absolutely. GEM This is one of those annoying instances where I know what you're saying is right and what you're saying makes sense and I can't logic my way around it but at the end of the day I liked Maquette. I'm giving Maquette 2 out of 5 rubber chickens. Without that engaging gameplay you're just left with some pretty scenery and a story you've heard a thousand times before. To me Maquette, while beautiful looking, lacks substance and fails to make the most of the world it tries to create. RAD That's fair enough, I've experienced that with games before as well, just not with this one. GEM I really did! Because I found enough good things about it to keep my interest. RAD Yeah but did you actually enjoy it, even with all the issues we've mentioned? I'm a big fan of show don't tell and Maquette nails that for me. Bright, colourful, romantaised locations turn into dreary dark versions of themselves, a normal stretch of road feels like an endless inescapable maze after a fight and at the end of their relationship it all breaks away to reveal the cold expanse of space. Throughout the story the world around you changes to reflect the state of Kenzie and Michael's shared world. GEM I actually didn't mind them being more hollow side because it left room for what I consider to be the star of Maquette to shine- its environments. Now, Gem, I know you like story games so what did you think? Which made the whole experience feel more like a slog through the story beats. And while the voice acting for Kenzie and Michael is good, their characters feel deliberately vague so that anyone could fit themselves into their story and I didn't feel any real emotional connection to them. RAD Which would be fine in the beginning to get you started but the bar is never raised any higher than that. They feel more like breaks between the story rather than they do actual challenges. For instance I was trying to find a big brain solution for how to get across this gap, thinking maybe I was looking at it wrong and needed to somehow balance this brick or scale the wall edges- but no the answer was 'make key you forgot existed big and walk over the top'. GEM I think this was one of the first games where I've gotten stuck because I overestimated the complexity of a puzzle. That's bad design in my mind and it happened a lot. Checkpoints are also too few and far between so when you do have to restart you need to replay big chunks of the game just to get back to where you were. My biggest pet peeve though is that it's possible to lock yourself out of a solution. The most difficult part was wrangling the objects into place as they tended to bug out if I wasn't holding or putting them down at just the right angle. The puzzles themselves aren't challenging enough to be interesting to me and don't take enough advantage of the cool concept. RAD I like to think so! Which is also how I know that we're going to have very different feelings about Maquette. RAD With great power comes great responsibility and the possibility of giant cheese toasties. It's a great concept and one of those cool video game magic tricks I'd love to have in real life. Vice versa: can't get that crystal through a tight spot, pop it down on your side and you can grab the miniaturised version from the model world. Need to get a door open but the key is too small? Not a worry, drop it in the miniature diorama a it'll appear in a larger form on your side. GEM By manipulating objects on one side, you can change how they appear on the other. The actual game part of this puzzle game takes place within two spaces, the main world and a smaller model version of the space you're in. RAD Maquette is a first person puzzler that explores the life cycle of couple Kenzie and Michael's relationship as they meet, fall in love, and grow apart over the course of their time together.
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