Figment

Genre: Graphic Adventure / Top-Down Action

Players: 1

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Review:

(Note: Included in Figment 1 + Figment 2, along with Figment: Creed Valley.)

Figment is a Graphic Adventure that takes place within the human mind as the residents of that abstract dreamland find themselves confronted with harmful thoughts that threaten their peaceful existence.

The imagery in this game is extremely imaginative, like something that combines the likes of Pixar’s Inside-Out with the animated Yellow Submarine film, with imagery that kinda makes sense, but in a weird “dream logic” kinda’ way. Bridges made of pencils, houses built out of a giant apple, trees made out of trumpets, and all in a whimsical art style. Visually, this game looks delightful, though I imagine those who partake in recreational substances before playing might get even more out of it.

Adding to the game’s charm while grounding it in a sorta’-reality is the game’s characters, who are endearing right from the get-go. Players take the role of Dusty, the mind’s designated hero who would really rather not bother with any of that “hero” crap. However, events drag him into things, with him griping, moaning, and snarking every step of the way. With him is Piper, a birdlike creature that’s endlessly cheerful, which of course constantly annoys Dusty, but as she’s the one pushing him forward on this quest, the two are stuck together as they take on the demonic-looking creatures plaguing the mind.

The game’s puzzles make use of the bizarre imagery, with everything having a logic that makes as much sense as anything could in such a place. One of the more common puzzles involves elevator platforms that can be partly disassembled, but you can’t lower them remotely, and you can’t ride a platform that doesn’t have the disc attached, so you need to find the proper order to ride platforms to proceed. In one section, clouds of pollution bar your progress, but windmills can push them away, so you need to find the right order and direction to turn them to pass. Shortly afterward, you encounter a creature that bashes anything that gets too close, and to get what you need to fight it, you need to take a hard nut, extract the seed from it, plant it, and water it, but the process of how to do each step is left to the player to figure out.

The puzzles do an excellent job of riding that fine line between too simple on one side and obscure and difficult on the other that many games in this genre have trouble with. I don’t recall ever feeling stuck, but nor did I ever feel like I was just “going through the motions”, and in fact at multiple points I found myself chuckling over how clever the game’s puzzles were – this is a very good example of Graphic Adventure gameplay done right.

Well, at least when it sticks to that genre, it is. The game does occasionally switch to combat with enemies, and this is the game’s weakest point. Combat is simple and tedious and really detracts from the imagination that is present in every other aspect from the game. It’s not bad combat, it just isn’t very good.

The boring and unnecessary combat aside, Figment is a game flowing with imagination, with lovable characters, an interesting premise, and puzzles that strike just the right balance of being interesting without making you reach for a playthrough guide. Fans of the genre should definitely give it a look.

tl;dr – Figment is a Graphic Adventure that puts you in the role of a resident of a mind under attack by inner demons. The game has some delightfully inventive visuals, memorable characters, and clever puzzles that are just the right amount of tricky. The game’s big flaw is its boring, tedious combat, which is really unnecessary, but also thankfully uncommon through the game.

Grade: B+

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