Inside

Playdead - 2016 - XboxOne/PC/PS4

Inside is the follow up to Playdead studio's 2010 critical success Limbo. Playing Inside will feel very familiar if you've played Limbo previously. Even though their gameplay is nearly identical, the two game's universes are not related in any way that is expressed explicitly by the game and you don't need to have played Limbo before Inside or anything like that. Inside begins, like its predecessor, with no narrative or explanation as you control a boy in a highly stylized world who runs to the right and tries to avoid the many dangers along the path of right-running. Inside never really deviates from the formula laid out by Limbo. Instead, Inside seems more interested in being the most highly polished version of what Limbo was.

Immediately noticeable is Inside's distinct art style. It's not strictly the same style as Limbo's, but I had the same response to gorgeous and striking visuals as I did when playing Playdead's first title. Not only is the art style highly polished, but the animations are noticeably very smooth. Every animation seamlessly flows into the next in a way that is both very impressive and also makes me wonder exactly how much time it took the animators and programmers to accomplish what they did.

If you haven't played Limbo, Inside is a puzzle platformer at its core. Most puzzles involve manipulating background physics objects or buttons or switches in such a way that will open a blocked path and allow you to progress. There is death in the game, but your character immediately respawns in nearly the same location you were before, except maybe the puzzle room is reset. Dying is included in the game for the most part to just serve the functional purpose of informing the player that they got the solution to the puzzle wrong. It's more about puzzles than platforming and I'd even say, especially in the case of Inside, it's more about experiencing the strange game world and the story than it is about solving puzzles

It's a little difficult to talk about the story and themes of Inside without spoiling anything, but there is absolutely no dialogue and no cutscenes. All of the story is communicated through the gameplay, the background elements and artwork and also through environmental storytelling. This is something I really appreciate since it's so much more difficult to tell an interesting story in a non-traditional fashion such as this one.

Summary

Just like Limbo, Inside is a short-ish puzzle platformer in a visually striking world. Your opinion of Inside will likely be the same as Limbo, but if you've never experienced a Playdead game before, I'd recommend giving Inside a shot. It's a dark and beautiful game world that's worth checking out