Recent reviews by Knot Lizard

Everything is time-based. It just doesn't fit with a game about investigation and experimentation. It wouldn't be so bad, if not for the fact the days pass very quickly, too. So every second waiting is a second lost.

A very fun take on the metroidvania genre, this game will feel really great to play, once you learn the mechanics.

There are a few difficulty spikes here and there, that can frustrate you, so be prepared for those.

Game good.

A great game, but...

The puzzles are mostly great. A lot of fun to get lost, wander around, and solve things at your own pace. However...there is a heavy late-game ARG element integrated into the game. This meant I spent several hours contemplating the answers to puzzles that were quite literally impossible on my own. I feel this really harms the experience of a game that gives you so little direction. You have no idea you're wasting your time, contemplating a puzzle that has no solution.

An unpolished Gem.

Heaven's Vault has a very deep lore and language to discover. It even has a very robust new game+ to enjoy.

However, the game's style of slow, methodical dialogue becomes frustrating when you try to play a second play-through. Additionally, the base game has a number of QOL issues that mar even a single play-through.

Overall, however, it is a very enjoyable experience. I just wish the dialogue wasn't such a barrier to a second play-through.

Do you want to play Solitaire? This is the best Solitaire game. That's all you need to know.

Very cool

A very strange, wonderful game. Most will find the puzzle difficulty just perfect, though I would have liked some end-game extra hard puzzles. Or maybe a post-game challenge mode. Right when the concept really starts to bend your brain, it's over. But I enjoyed every moment of it, none the less.

Solid game with an interesting mechanic that turns out to be deeper than it first appears. I really enjoyed my entire play-through, without any of the sticking points an experience like this usually has.

I do think the game is a bit too easy to brute force, I restrained myself from doing so, but I would have appreciated the game not offering it so frequently. Near the end of the game especially, it felt as though the game was just giving me the answers for free. The stealth sections also feel very tacked on, but they're not especially difficult or punishing, so I can't complain too much.

Recycling phase was changed from Demo to require you to keep all your buildings near a river to properly recycle and end the map. What this means is having to carve artificial looking, single tile rivers across your finished map to clean up everything, even on the easy difficulty. Really kills the mood of the game.

I've heard later levels may or may not require similar concessions, but it communicates a fundamental misunderstanding between the dev team and what a certain kind of player would want from this game.