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Somerville
Released On: Nov 15, 2022
71
5.1
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 44 Critic Reviews
71
34% Positive
15 Reviews
15 Reviews
52% Mixed
23 Reviews
23 Reviews
5% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 44 Critic Reviews
71
34% Positive
15 Reviews
15 Reviews
52% Mixed
23 Reviews
23 Reviews
5% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
In truth, I’m not the biggest thinker when it comes to media. I watch a film, read a book, play a game, and take what’s happened at face value. If meaning is hidden behind a 10k-post Reddit thread, then, well, maybe it wasn’t conveyed well enough. Somerville doesn’t have this problem. It’s affecting in all the right ways, and a game I really can’t recommend strongly enough.
When the journey was over, with the credits rolling, I found myself left deep in thought, reflecting on what I had just seen unfold and the meaning of the journey I had embarked on. In this way, Somerville does succeed in delivering that punchy, thought-provoking crescendo and conclusion it was always building towards. I just wish it hadn’t been such a slog to get there.
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 76 User Ratings
5.1
26% Positive
20 Ratings
20 Ratings
37% Mixed
28 Ratings
28 Ratings
37% Negative
28 Ratings
28 Ratings
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 76 User Ratings
5.1
26% Positive
20 Ratings
20 Ratings
37% Mixed
28 Ratings
28 Ratings
37% Negative
28 Ratings
28 Ratings
Somerville has some rough edges to iron out, and in both puzzle mechanics and atmosphere, it doesn’t stand quite as tall as some of its contemporaries. Also, while the family dynamic is a key part of the narrative, it feels like there’s more gameplay potential there that could have been explored. That said, Somerville still offers a worthwhile and moody sci-fi journey with a few fun tricks up its sleeve and secrets to unravel.
A remarkable science fiction adventure that shines more for its tone, its context and its stimulating ending, than for the story of its characters. Despite this, it has narrative maneuvers that raise the interest in its text, and with a powerful staging that takes advantage of both its aesthetics and its fixed cameras. A concise and direct videogame that succeeds in almost everything it tries, and manages to leave an interesting aftertaste.
While not reaching the expressive heights of Limbo or Inside, Somerville is placed in the wake of Playdead's videogame experiments. Jumpship's first work offers intriguing suggestions on the artistic and thematic front, but fails to translate the amount of stimuli proposed into a truly concrete narrative message. An unsettled contrast between level design, direction and game mechanics is unfortunately the background to the entire experience, which thus fails to fully express its potential. With a total duration of about 4-6 hours and several endings - all equally hermetic - to be gutted, Somerville could still conquer fans of the reference genre, even without representing one of the best exponents.
Somerville takes inspiration from 2 great modern classics, Limbo and Inside, however, it falls short to offer a deep contemplative experience. Despite some technical difficulties, it offers great value as a visually compelling puzzle adventure.
Somerville relies on its fantastic animations and settings to tell a story of a father trying to reunite with his family. But without important story fundamentals such as exposition, you have no idea what is going on. Coupled with the fact that the adventure consists of simply solving puzzles while walking around, it is hard to immerse yourself in the story or even care about what will happen. Solving puzzles can also be difficult because you are expected to fumble around and discover what can be interacted with. There’s no guidance or assistance, which leads to frustration when you have no idea what to do next. There’s a good attempt at telling a story here, but it’s difficult to find yourself wanting to reach the end.
I have so many questions after first playthrough. Magic sound design and music in the game. Interesting world, challenging puzzles.
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PC
Somerville is weird. Much like Limbo and Inside, I don't like those games and Somerville is exactly the same as those games. Somerville is a third person puzzle adventure game where you're trying to find your family after aliens attack and you get alien powers that can be used for solving puzzles. No puzzle you solve in Somerville is ever that engaging and the game falls flat on the gameplay side. The story as always in these games is weird and is intentionally vague as to what is really happening at the end of the game. There are multiple endings, some which required some secrets to uncover, and this is the most engaging part of the game. But 90% of the game is just walking through solving puzzles until you get to the end. Overall the game is just meh but it was quick enough that it didn't feel I wasn't going to finish it.
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PC
Few games really capture that feeling from Inside and Limbo, this is one of those.
Nice storytelling and subtle narrative, have some strange bugs for PC on Game Pass, such as it only working with joystick (even if you change in the settings to use keyboard) and I had one bug that would not let me interact with an item mandatory to proceed (had to restart the game to be able to do it)
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PC
O jogo tem cenários bonitos, mas o resto dessa bastante a desejar. A história é confusa e sem sentido, e os personagens são bem apáticos. O jogo carece de mecânicas novas e é bastante enjoativo em vários momentos.
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PC
Summary Jumpship’s debut title immersse players in a hand-crafted narrative set across a vivid and rural landscape. Set in the wake of a catastrophe and grounded in the intimate repercussions of large-scale conflict, players navigate through perilous terrain as they unravel the mysteries of Earth’s visitors.
Platforms:
- Xbox Series X
- PC
- Xbox One
- PlayStation 5
- PlayStation 4
Initial Release Date: Nov 15, 2022
Developer:
- Jumpship
Publisher: Jumpship
Genres:
