Some games wow through their gameplay choices, while others carry a message and impress that upon the player while working through each moment. One of my favourite games,Celeste, is both a brilliant platformer, requiring precision and patience, and a message to those who feel a little lost in the dark. There are many sensitive moments built on emotion and a shared human experience.
Conversations just happen inCeleste. They take place between various characters and nearly always have an undercurrent of emotional tension. Hell, the whole story is about not feeling like you belong, battling dysphoria, and ensuring that you accept yourself for who you are.
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Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure - Furniture & Mattress LLC
Conversations are similar inArranger, though it’s more of a take on society as a whole, I can’t help but feel a connective thread toCelestedespite the differences in gameplay.
At the time of playingArranger, it had been a month after I moved into a new place. I moved from a shared accommodation, with a flatmate, into a flat on my own. While living on my own is a joy, it does sometimes come with feelings of loneliness, especially after always having someone else in the building, just there. Though loneliness is something I’ve struggled with over many years, for one reason or another.
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In the conversation with Shrub, he commented something that affected me, “It’s hard to feel lonely when you’re at peace with yourself.” I was just as stopped in my tracks here as I was whenCelesteput the player in the moments of a panic attack so well, showing something that many of us suffer with so deftly.
Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure - Furniture & Mattress LLC
Jemma has the unique power of being able to control the environment around her. She walks into the edge of the gridded map, let’s say on the left side, she’ll appear on the right side and everything on that row will move along with her, kind of like a conveyer belt. If she shuffles one square up, anything in that column also moves one square up. What comes from this is a fiendish puzzle game with a lot of heart.
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As I made my way through the various areas, meeting the often funny characters throughout, these conversations carried on, nearly always with an eye on the greater landscape of society. It’s not a decisive skewering of anything in particular, but a look at some of the parts of society that have us constricted and isolated from others.
Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure - Furniture & Mattress LLC
Across the varied lands, you explore once Jemma is out in the wild, discovering what actually makes the world tick, and meeting people who expand her world, there’s a huge uptick in the comedy. Arranger is a remarkably funny game, often using humour to soften the frustration you might feel at being stuck on a puzzle for ages.
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Pros: Charming story, lots of humour, constantly evolving puzzles
Cons: Mileage may vary on tougher puzzles
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For fans of: Unpacking, Braid, Tetris
8/10: Excellent
Topics:PlayStation 5,Nintendo Switch,PC,Steam
