Epitasis (PC) Review

From the very beginning, it’s easy to see that Epitasis is a labour of love of someone who is not really that experienced with game development. Case in point, the relatively bad use of the Unreal Engine, in the sense that this is a bit too system hoggish for what’s on offer, the lack of a key-mapping mode, and, generally, an amateurish feel all over. For some strange reason, though, once you begin your adventure, you’ll soon forget about all these flaws, and get immersed in the beautiful alien planet you seem to have end up on.

This looks good. It’s not perfect, sure, and the simplistic art style is maybe too simplistic, with most surfaces having no texture, feeling more like plastic objects rather than rocks or metal walls, but this succeeds in achieving what it wants with its visuals. What’s that? Epitasis mainly wants to be a casual-friendly, relaxing game. You aren’t meant to feel like a survivor who is under threat here, but an explorer. This is more like vacation which includes puzzles. Just make sure to turn off the yoga music, and have some of your own tunes to bop along - chill synthwave works like a dream.

...Maybe it’s too relaxing, though? This begins similar to Myst, and other similar adventures. You are thrown into an open-ended world, with no explanation of what needs to be done, which is great and all, yet you’ll soon realise that there’s not actually much to do here. The whole thing revolves around a variation of the same kind of puzzle: place a box on a pressure pad, so that a laser beam and/or portal activates, in order to open up the road to one of the many key items that need to be collected.

The issue here isn't just the lack of variety, but mostly the lack of challenge. The solution to most puzzles is somewhat obvious, therefore it all tends to feel more like busy work. Those experienced in the genre will find this to be a depressingly non-thought-provoking journey. Yes, this helps with this title's need to provide a relaxing vibe, but that's probably taken too far, as it damages the believability of the game world, since you don't really feel like an explorer of an alien world who must try find a way out, but someone who entered a three hour-long funfair with a puzzle theme.

This emptiness becomes even more obvious when you try to go far from the clearly-defined puzzle areas, and discover what's out there - and there's nothing. As mentioned before, this is beautiful. The lifeless grasslands, autumn-esque forests, beaches, hills, and ancient temples, look pretty inviting, but those who'll make the mistake of venturing away from the puzzles will just waste a couple of precious minutes for no reason - a few invisible walls would actually be of great help here.

In conclusion, those looking for a carefully crafted world and background story, as well as some challenging puzzles, won't find any of that here. That relaxing bit is really the only thing of any worth. Wait for Sunday to arrive, wear something comfy, grab a cup of hot-chocolate or ice tea, and just enjoy some chill adventuring. So, despite all its flaws, Epitasis is actually a recommendation? Not exactly. For the amount of content on offer, and its tiny length, this should be way cheaper than what it currently is, so try it out only after it receives a descent discount.