Semispheres (Nintendo Switch) Review

As a meditative puzzler, Semispheres has one main goal to prove: that it can offer a relaxing meditation session while also providing engaging puzzle solving. Puzzles are inherently therapeutic to an extent, but a puzzle video game should present a degree of challenge - and with challenge can come frustration.

Thankfully, the difficulty never reaches aggravating levels. Some puzzles do come off harder than others, but a focus on a key few mechanics means that the answer is never too out of reach. Though that isn't to say the answer is always easy to find.

Puzzle solving consists of utilizing two spheres, one blue and one yellow, to reach their individual goals. At the beginning of each puzzle, the stage splits off into identical halves. In theory, this would simply mean each puzzle would need to be solved twice to proceed but is far more gripping.

While each sphere is typically locked into their designated zone, they can interact with one another through the use of portals. These portals allow the sphere to exist in the other's stage so long as they remain within its small radius. As there are guards that occasionally patrol the stage and block paths, the sphere in the portal can use a sound-emitting technique that they pick up in order to distract the guards and allow the other sphere to pass.

The spheres can also manually create their own portals if they're out of reach of the guards and need to emit sound to distract them. Since each sphere can only hold one item at a time, some of puzzle solving boils down to figuring out how to drop the portal while also backtracking to the sound emission without alerting the guards and losing progress.

Not every puzzle requires an intense level of foresight, but the best ones do promote strategic manoeuvres. While the campaign falls on the shorter side of games, the level of stealth present in each stage extends the length through legitimate difficulty. Along with that, since the main control scheme revolves around controlling both spheres with opposing analogue sticks, cooperative play is as simple as splitting the Joy-Con, adding some extra replay value.

Semispheres is one of the few multiplayer titles on the Switch where a lack of online play is not only a problem, it's for the best. Due to the warm colours and ambient soundtrack, it's easy to get lost in a trance while playing. For as hard as it gets, it does retain a meditative and relaxing quality. Since online multiplayer would require an outside source of communication, it would be easy to take these qualities for granted. The economy of the game expects a level of immersion, and it does a fantastic job creating a welcoming setting.