There is one visual effect that would have effected the gameplay in a neat way, but the player character doesn’t impact the light. Environments have a lot of detail, though there’s not a lot of environmental storytelling. Lightmatter goes for a cell-shaded art style that reminds me a lot of Void Bastards. This mode tracks not only how long you have been playing, but also how many times you interacted with the environment. As for replayability, there’s a bunch of optional achievements to go for and secrets to find, however the meat of the replay value comes from the speedrunning mode.

There is a disappointingly simple finale that boils down to simple but fun chase sequence that fails to utilise the tools we spent the last few hours getting used to. I wish there was just a little more here, with a few more mechanics to make the last few levels more of a challeng e. My time came out as around four hours including restarts, though your time will vary depending on how good you are at puzzles. Unfortunately, Lightmatter comes up just a bit too short.

Often times you will need to manage multiple reflectors in some of the game’s more interesting puzzles. Breaking line of sight means the light fades and the shadows will take you away. The photon beams are the most interesting of the game’s tools, requiring a line of sight with the photon crystal or another beam to create a line of light. It gets a lot more complicated when you have to carefully manage where you need to get your lamps or photon beams from one side to the room to another using moving platforms in a specific way.

Starting off simply, we have a lamp that does exactly what you would expect. Before too long obstacles are put in your path and you need to creatively use the tools given to you to pass them. Things start of simply enough just avoid the shadows and make it to the exit. Though that is getting into very nit picky territory. A lot of the rooms in the facility feel like they were specifically designed to be puzzles even though it doesn’t make much sense. Unfortunately, the gameplay and the story don’t tie together nicely. There were a few good head-scratchers that kept me busy for longer than I would like to admit. There’s a specific strategy you need to use for each level and there was very little wiggle room to “cheat” the puzzles. The level design for the most part is excellent, teaching you the mechanics like all good puzzle games should and eventually letting you figure out everything on your own. There’s a good amount of humour here that made me chuckle, especially when Virgil reacts to the player’s actions and occasionally breaking the fourth wall. If you haven’t played Portal before (what are you doing? Go play it.), a lot of references and dialogue will go way over your head. It doesn’t just wear its inspirations on its sleeves, it shouts them out. I t’s not entirely the copying of Portal with a different story that was enjoyable, even if its major revelations were predictable.įans of Portal will have a lot to see here with little secrets, Easter Eggs, and references in almost every chapter. Sound familiar? Well, the basic premise is basically ripped from Portal 2, which isn’t a bad thing. Guided by a disembodied voice, you try and find your way out of the facility, but get thrust into a deeper conspiracy. Y ou wake up in a mysterious facility with no memory of your past and who you are. You need to use the titular Lightmatter to survive. Sound simple? Well not quite, you can’t just turn on the lights and call it a day. The ba sic gameplay concept boils down to avoiding the shadows.

Void bastards crashes too much