Cool simple game, atmosphere really well made

I got this game a while back and playing it off the back of INSIDE, it left no impression on me. I uninstalled and got sidetracked with another game. Black the Fall is a very decent 2.5D game. I am really glad I did not just push through it as I would have been far less interested in it than I am now having been starved of a decent game from this genre for a while.

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+ stylish. this game is oozing style. The black and red communist colours, the backdrops, the stereotypical dystopia is nailed bang on.

+ out of the box. A lot of the puzzles will require you to do some lateral thinking and I love it when a game takes old classic puzzles and flips them so hard that even though they are still the same thing, they appear completely different to us.

+ sense of world without language. As with all of the best 2.5D games the lack of dialogue or written notes doesn't seem to stop them from being extremely efficient storytelling machines. This is what really draws me into this genre. I love the whole show don't tell aspect.

+ evolving. The game doesn't stick with the same thing for too long. It switches stuff up as if it knew I was getting bored with a mechanic or something.

+ credit where credits are due. The final credits was a pretty cool way how to do it. I must admit I was not expecting that.

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- platforming can be a bit clumsy at times.

- unintuitive puzzles. There are a few puzzles where you will know EXACTLY what you need to do but you didn't place an object in the perfect spot or you didn't hold a button for long enough. Some failures lead to self-doubt and the lack of scaffolding or tutorials could make this a rough experience for rookie puzzle platformers.

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This hardcore take on communism and revolution is a tad overpriced for my wallet considering the playtime and quality. It is good but its not the kind of thing I'd say to my friends like "holy moley have you played Black the Fall?" More the kind of thing I'd say "Oh, you have Black the Fall in your backlog? You should definitely give that a shot if you liked Monochrome."

Or pick it up on a deep sale if you are just curious.

1st of all I'll start by saying that I'm Romanian, so I'm biased about the feeling and atmosphere of the game. I've bought the game because I loved Inside and Limbo and wanted to support our fellow devs. What I got was a good sidescroller puzzle if you're not familiar with comunist history of Romania, and a piece of art if you were born and raised under the regime.

Technical stuff is pretty straightforward, nice minimalistic graphics and very well done atmosphere, decent and "opressive" music and sounds, polished and good controls. The overall game is very good, especially if you liked abovementioned Limbo/Inside titles.

Now, for the feeling, this is really something that will bring back memories. There are many references to our history and in the end of the game you'll have a nice surprise ( Spoiler alert: some real pictures from our history, past and more recent)
The stores in the game are actual name of stores from our comunist era, but written in reverse. The names are actual foods like Lapte = Milk or Carne = Meat, those were considered very high valuable commodities in the last years of communist regime, and very scarce and hard to find. Most of the people were real hungy and I remember dreaming of a chicken steak sometimes.
There's a silhouette of a fairy wheel at some point which reminds me of the one of the few entertainments we had as kids, back in the days.
The workers looking at a VCR in the underground, the crowded bus, the "Export" labeled boxes ...all are part of our painful history, and most of the people playing the game, won't get it. :)
And those are just several of the many many references across all chapters. It brings back memories, melancoly and sadness, but I guess we, romanians, are well versed in living with those feelings.
10/10 from me, probably an 6-7-8/10 for a foreigner.

#rezist ma bucur pentru joc, ma bucur ca apar si eu undeva la final fiind unul din piata atat la revolutie in 89 cat si recent in 2017. Felicitari, asteptam urmatorul joc.
Un roman necajit.

In a bundle = Thumbs up
Full Price = Thumbs down

Whilst other reviewers are comparing it to Limbo, it's not really in the same league.

It plays more like an old Amiga game than a modern platform puzzler - It has a disatopian touch of Abe's Oddysee, the pace of Another World (if it's your kinda thing). It's short, it's ok. Go into it with low expectations and you might be pleasantly surprised.

For non-Romanians: more than decent platformer, atmospheric and clever, rigorously checking all dystopian tropes and clichés, perhaps a tad too derivative and uniform; frustration is a given, but eventually puzzles unfold in a logical way; story may be a bit obscure.

For Romanians: sometimes it hits too uncomfortably close: a basement in which gray people watch a black and white VCR Bruce Lee movie, comforting a secret police (Securitate) tortured victim, a demolition crane near a crumbling church, a bus late at night overflowing with sardine-like stashed passengers, a roomfull of corpses; it's brilliant at times, it's actual and, especially in its depiction of a city at night, opens a frightening window of what might have been; even so, as a science fictional extrapolation it's neither convinvicing, nor plausible, given that communism in 80's Romania was a rather perfect illustration of Hannah Arendt's banality of evil and its bankrupt economy simply had no way of birthing what is shown in the game.

The only real problems I had with BlackThe Fall was a bit too much going over the top and more than a little lack of subtlety. Too many communist symbols forcefully thrown, too much horror and misery piled in don't really enforce the dystopian aspects, they kinda cancel them, because there's no contrast, no positive aspects to oppose the negative ones. Or, if I may be permitted a pun, when there's no white, it's kinda hard to see the black.

But still, recommended game, very much so. (And its closest counterpart is not Inside, but Monochroma.)

#muiepsd

It's essentialy a Romanian game. You need someone to explain some things to you if you're not Romanian and want to fully enjoy this. It's also somewhat tied to the political climate at it's release, during a period of intense protests against the Social Democrat party (who is the direct continuation of the communist party after the revolution).

It's a decent enough puzzle game simillar to Limbo. The athmosphere is great, it's oppresive, disgusting and stupid. People who lived in Romania before 1989 will attest that that is how the regime was. It's somewhat short for it's pricetag, but it's made by an indie developer, so I say it's worth giving a few extra bucks to support them.

#muiepsd

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If you're familiar with the game 'Inside' then you can sum up this game as like that, but not as kooky or quite as effortlessly enthralling.

If you're not familiar - this is basically a 2d side scrolling puzzle game, with some very mild platforming elements.

There isn't really a story as such. The devs say there is a story, but in all honesty unless you read the plot synopsis you'd only get the barest outline of it from playing. The games theme seems to be about escaping from oppression. It's all rather bleak: a workforce being treated like slaves whilst guards abuse them, and you're someone who decides to break free.

There's no dialogue, no cutscenes, and not too surprisingly given what it seems to be aiming to say - no levity. It's a very dour game beyond even the subject matter, as everything is rather drab and bland to behold. Presumably this is all very personal to the developers, but as a game it's just not that interesting.

(EDIT: It's also a bit incongruous with it's message. Humans abusing humans is bad, m'kay? But your character callously exploiting a helpful robot, that the plot synopsis refers to as a "friend", is okay?

The one brief bit of light, and humanity, the game has, comes from a machine. This robot seems to have a personality, and sort of acts like a dog. It doesn't have to help you, but it does for some reason.

You as a character are then an obnoxious piece of sh*t to your "friend".

Either electrocuting it, using it as a mine-sweeper, and all too happy to let it get crushed in machinery, if it advances your escape. I never got a sense of my character giving a damn if it got destroyed. That might be your definition of a "friend".....if you happen to be a sociopath.

Hmmm, maybe that is their message after-all. You are scum too)

Some of the puzzles are rather tedious cases of trial and error, and most of the actual platforming bits are badly judged - with elements like leaps of faith to platforms out of sight, and instant death falls in pitch black area's.

However, most of the puzzles are enjoyable to solve - not too easy, but not too difficult either. It's pretty much par for the course with games like this: it takes a few hours to finish, is moderately enjoyable to play and slightly impenetrable when it comes to the story.

Just like 'Inside', 'Limbo ' and 'Albert & Otto' - though if you haven't played those I would recommend them over this. 'Inside' is a 10 out of 10 game for me, whereas this is a 6 out of 10. Good (ish), but not great.

If you'd like to see more reviews of titles in this genre, my curators page is here: https://steamcommunity.com/groups/The_dull_games_reviewer

Genre: Puzzle Platformer

The Good:

Black the Fall has fantastic artwork, atmosphere and scenery taking place in a futuristic oppressive regime where your goal is to escape. The puzzles and platforming are good and integrated nicely into the environments. The puzzles find the right balance of challenge, although a few gave me some problems. The game is heavily focused on trial and error, repeatedly dying to figure things out is a main part of the gameplay, luckily the checkpoint system is very generous so trying new things is never a problem.

The Bad:
A very short game, only taking me around 2 hours to complete the entire thing.

Conclusion:
A love these types of games, and if you’re a fan then I highly recommend you check this game out.

Short version:
Pros:
+ Stylish visuals
+ Subtle storytelling and world building
+ Some inventive puzzles/sections later on

Cons:
- Controls are messy
- Too short

“Long” version:
Black The Fall is a 2.5D puzzle platformer developed by Sand Sailor Studio and published by Square Enix. You play as an old machinist who decides to escape a totalitarian regime.

The game features a subtle approach to its story – at a first glance, it is nothing more than a story of an average Joe escaping but the world building suggests otherwise. Throughout your adventure, you get to meet other individuals who have also escaped or are just hiding from the regime. You see dilapidated structures and the remains of a hopeless society.
Black The Fall definitely tries to present a complex story while taking inspiration from real world politics. While this usually is not my cup of tea, I can appreciate its inclusion here, as it can be ignored if the player chooses to do so.

Gameplay is a mixed bag.
The controls feel a bit stiff and unresponsive at times. There is barely anything truly innovative about the platforming and puzzle solving.
On the other hand, you get some pretty stellar sections that are, unfortunately, too short – being in complete darkness and having to rely on sound cues to move was really cool and a welcome change of pace, for example.
You get to run, climb and jump to solve puzzles, as you do in many other games, but you also have the option to control other “things” (I am being vague here) with a gadget and interact with levers and switches. Puzzles are usually straight-forward and there are only some frustrating ones because they require precise positioning of objects or barely visible platforms.


Sound is also average.
There is a minimalistic soundtrack in this game but I found it unremarkable. It gets muffled my everything else. Sound effects are serviceable for the most part but your character’s footsteps are too loud and get obnoxious during the quieter moments.

Graphics and presentation are surprisingly good.
You do get to see some pretty bland, colorless areas but they sell the oppressive atmosphere they were going for. Some more colorful areas are introduced later on and those look great.

The game is absurdly short. You can complete everything in 2-2.5 hours (achievements included).
It takes clear inspiration from other games like Limbo and Pandemonium but I still feel like it lacks an identity of its own. The story and the world building are remarkable but everything else floats around averageness. It might resonate with others a bit more but I do not think it is worth full price.
Worth getting when it is dirt-cheap.

Final score: 6.5 out of 10.

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Black the Fall feels like a baby brother to Limbo. You play as a solitary human factory worker, attempting to escape a gigantic communist facility (robo-murder-gulag-communist technically) and make it back home. While visually appealing, it just lacks the punch needed to make it's emotional message meaningful.

As you may or may not know, Black the Fall is based around the Romanian Revolution of 1989, and the unrest and fear that existed then. And as such almost the entire game is alluding to the horrors of communism, corruption, the working class getting crushe, etc. but it never goes the full mile. You see suffering, but not *enough*. You see terror, but not *enough*. Every "scary" point or scene the game makes has little impact due to there being little to no actual violence. It's all implied, and where that sometimes works, it just doesn't here.

The gameplay is rather dull and confusing. While it has Limbo's simple "move and touch" controls, it doesn't feel consistant. Some ledges you can grab, others you can't, some you can hold on to, some you can drop from. And the movement is "hidden tile based", meaning running jumps move you a set distance, normal jumps move you a set distance, there's no mid-air correction, etc. Also, the game is hard to see at some points. I understand it's literally called "Black the Fall", but playing on recommended gamma there were some sections I could barely make out.

This game comes so close to being good, but it just misses, and that's such a disappointment. I can understand why someone would love this game, but for me personally it's just shy of a recommendation. And you don't get much for your money either. I one hundred percented this game in about 4 hours, and there's almost no replayability.