The first Figment boasts some great puzzle gameplay, an interesting narrative, and some truly impressive visuals that made it a great puzzle adventure. Now, Bedtime Digital Games looks to do it again with their next outing — Figment 2: Creed Valley. Though I gotta say, this demo didn't do the greatest job of showing it off. That's not stopped me from finding some fun in this short offering.
Figment 2: Creed Valley is set to be quite literally a mind-bending adventure. This puzzle adventure game sees players take control of Dusty, the representation of the mind's courage. Along with his sidekick Piper, players must journey through the human mind into Creed Valley, the place where the mind's ideals are created. You'll solve mind-boggling puzzles, explore unique environments, and battle beastly creatures as you journey to restore the mind's moral compass.
It goes without saying, but I will say it anyway; Figment 2 looks stunning. Even the small amount shown off in the demo boasts some seriously impressive visuals. The hand-drawn art and environments are full of colour and detail that are teeming with style, and the setting allows for some weird and wonderful quirks that make it all the more unique, like an orange hot air balloon. Not the colour, the fruit. Wacky.
I would have loved to see some more of this on display, but sadly there was only one area in this demo. That aside, what was here was impressive, and from everything else I've seen so far, it looks like the full game will boast an even more creative and impressive landscape to explore.
Most of the time I spent playing was exploring, with a few bits of combat and some puzzles sprinkled throughout the fairly large area. However, compared to the visuals, the gameplay shown off in this demo wasn't quite as impressive.
The combat was pretty straightforward which I had expected, mainly consisting of mashing a button to swing your sword and dodging the occasional projectile, with the singular boss being the exception. The puzzles, however, I had expected to be a bit more robust and shown off, especially given how integral they are to the gameplay. The only puzzles I solved involved picking up and placing coloured orbs in machines to clear shadows blocking my path. It wasn't exactly difficult or very rewarding.
The state of mind mechanic, which shifts and changes the environment, wasn't in this demo and the variety on display was… well lacking, to put it bluntly, and it was overall a bit bland for my liking. Given the full game looks to have robust, interesting puzzles, I was a bit disappointed they weren't on full display here.
Music seems to be quite important for the world of Figment 2, especially since it's used in almost every element of the game. Whilst exploring, I was treated to a jazzy, lounge styled instrumentation that I soon realised was accompanied by the environment itself. Everything from water droplets to flickering lights kept in rhythm to the music, giving little bits of flavour to the soundtrack as I wandered past objects and environments.
The few NPCs I met also shared some musical quirks, speaking in rhythm to the music or with a bit of variety to their voices that gave more character to both them and the world. On top of that, you have the environments themselves, which have musically themed objects and foliage littered throughout the level, all seemingly revolving around the narrative, which was pretty bare for the demo, but eludes to a love of music for our mind's host, maybe even a lifelong dream?
Even the boss fight revolves around music, feeling more like a rhythm game rather than an action one. Tempos changed as the big hog boss sped up and attacked, the environment would react in kind, and he had some lyrics to sing whilst I battled it out with him. It's a definite highlight of my time with the demo and showcased a great mixture of the style and gameplay melding together. Now I just wish I saw more of it.
There were a few things of my time with this Figment 2 demo that really stood out. Great visuals, an interesting boss fight, and tons of charm being the main ones. However, I do wish they had shown off a teeny bit more of the puzzle elements and more unique gameplay we have seen from trailers and gameplay, as here it just seemed a bit barer than I'd have liked.
That said, playing this demo has put Figment 2 on my radar, and with what looks to be a host of incredible environments and interesting puzzle mechanics, it could be quite the adventure. But I guess we'll have to wait and see.
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