This is a difficult game for me to review.

Unfinished is an interesting short game. You play as an unfinished drawing who wants to be complete.
The game serves as an effective metaphor for the creative process in general: everyone who has tried to create something, be it art, writing, a game, or whatever, can recognise the story this game tries to tell.

The art style is great. All hand-drawn, and it stays this throughout. The art is accompanied by soothing music.
The narrative is told through voice over -- sadly no subtitles -- that is clear, if at a little low volume compared to the music.

Gameplay wise, you walk through white, empty environments to find body parts (different legs, different bodies, different heads), all of which give you enhanced abilities. As you progress the levels become more... drawn.

Unfortunately Unfinished is hard to get in to. I was stuck at the first real puzzle for far too long, since the game didn't make it clear at all that I could swap abilities in mid-air, and I only found this by chance.
It is also short. Too short perhaps for Steam refunds. If I hadn't gotten stuck at the beginning I could've finished it within 30 minutes.

While a bit rough the game is mechanically sound and the story resonates with me, as a fellow (want to be?) creator.

As for the price point, €5 is perhaps steep for such a short game, and (disclaimer) I didn't buy it for that price: I had a 50% off coupon. At that price level (€2,50 or less) I can recommend it to everyone.

Just don't be a ♥♥♥♥ and refund it after you've finished your speed run, okay?

A short preface: I had received a free copy of the game for submitting my artwork in for the game before release, but that does not affect my overall opinion of the game.


I was very impressed with this games message, and how well it conveyed the story of a character you never see. You play as one of the narrators unfinished sketches who becomes self aware and goes on a journey to figure himself out. Along the way, you gain powerups that help you finish the levels and make the travel easier.

While this game was short, I enjoyed my time playing this.

You can view a gallery of all the entries here:
http://www.fromdustscratch.com/2015/08/unfinished-an-artists-lament-unfinished-sketches-from-other-artists/

• Great narration
  
• Decent graphics
  
• Great Story
  
• Has Steam Trading Cards
  
• Great music
  
• Features artwork from 25 unknown artists (including myself)

• One of my pieces was featured and credited in this game.
  
• Came out of Steam Greenlight

• Very short story
  
• Short soundtrack
  
• A few minor physic errors
  
• Game crashed once before the ending, making me have to redo level 5
  
• Few minor graphical errors on level 4.
  
• Narration can get repetitive if you do not finish levels fast
  
• Controls take a little bit to get used to.

6/10

You're an unfinished sketch and must try to reach the pencil of your creator to finally know who you were meant to be: to do this you'll gather a few powers (such as helicopter cap, running or jumping shoes etc) and use them to traverse the few levels that make up the game.
While a surely interesting concept Unfinished sadly offers a very bland and short gameplay experience, one that not even its few memorable moments can save.

PROS:

-simple but effective art style

-one level (pictured in the screenshot) is truly gorgeout to look at, original in its design and serves as the game's most enjoyable point

NEUTRAL:

-story is a bit of a mixed bag as a few genuinely interesting ideas are brought down by an equal amount of dull exposition

CONS:

-platforming sections are generally dull, some can get quite frustrating aswell

-movement and camera controls feel awkward

-most levels feel a bit too barren as they lack any kind of detail

-at times it can be hard to understand where you're supposed to go

-standard movement speed is fairly slow

-just as its Store pages say it's quite short (I'd say 45 minutes)

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=572725244

I took a few days off before finally reviewing this game as I had conflicting feelings about it...I see it's been created as a work of love and the theme is plainly dear to the dev, some of the art is also truly nice. Sadly as an actual game Unfinished really falls flat as the bland levels and barebones gameplay take their toll on the player: I just didn't have much fun using the awkward controls to switch powers at the right time or to try and aim my jumps correctly to move through a few platforms.

The gameplay simply isn't refined enough to be engaging and there's not enough to do to make up for its problems: most levels look and feel the same and the new powers you'll unlock don't do much to mix things up, you'll just be moving forward, jump and/or float a bit until you reach a new zone, rinse and repeat.

It's a real shame as the game can be quite enjoyable when it drops the dull platforming and leaves you to explore a bit while giving some narration, the fact it does so while introducing some vibrant colours into a mostly black and white world also helps tremendously in making these moments shine. Sadly this happens basically only once and it simply isn't enough to make up for the rest of the game.

Well, it sounded different, and I hoped I could look past some of the negative things some people had to say in reviews. Nope. The controls are bad bordering on awful, and while I made it as far as nearly finishing the third level (out of five I saw in the menu), I still hadn't found anything particularly interesting or thought-provoking by that point, or any gameplay that wasn't a chore.

Before anything else, let me say that I wanted to like this game. I'm an artist myself and have studied both illustration and animation. I was honestly expecting to connect with this concept. Sadly, my artistic senses were offended more than anything. I feel bad for saying this about any other artist's work, but this is also one of the few Steam purchases I deeply regret.

Like the title says, it's unfinished. Not even in any artsy way. The only lament I experienced from this game was that of my wasted money.

Maybe the idea was good at some point, but the mechanics feel broken, and navigating the world is terrible, which really just killed the experience (hence my very short playtime on record). I went into this hoping for a short, thoughtful, story driven experience, but instead I was apalled by bad coding and environment design. Simplicity can be great; I knew what the game looked like from screenshots, and I was still expecting to like it. Instead, it felt uninviting and badly planned out. This is an example of an indie game where simplicity and idea doesn't win me over.

The 2D animation and the video of the artist drawing are easily the best parts of this game, but I found myself mostly looking at the equivalent of Google SketchUp blocks without textures, meshing badly with the hand drawn art. Those who are finding deep artistic meaning in this probably have far more going on in their head than what's going on in this game.

Bottom line is, I feel like the creator of this game had ideas that they couldn't properly convey in this format.

Simple but effective, and pretty much aimed at artists.

If you're in the business of creating things, it's quite easy to relate to the story being told. There's a few "I know that feeling" moments, and that's really what the game is designed for I think.

It's not going to blow your mind with indepth mechanics. Not a Hardcore platformer etc. But if you're having an artblock, feeling a little down on your skills or whatever?
Yeah why not, it's cheap, give it a go.

Unfinished: An Artist's Lament is a heavily story driven game. You play as a sketched out sort of stick figure who's chasing down the pencil that drew him, in an attempt to become "complete". It must be understood that this is not an action packed game and if you try to play it as such, you will not enjoy yourself. You're tasked with solving puzzles to make your way through each level while chasing down the aforementioned pencil by using tools that you find along you way. Each tool is applied to your stick figure's head, torso, or feet with some puzzles requiring you to use a combination of your different pieces of attire. The puzzle solving, while simple, is unique and entertaining, but not enough to keep someone captivated. However, the game makes up for its simplicity with its story. The narrator, and evidently the man who drew the stick figure in the first place, can be heard dictating different key moments in his life as an artist. The artist, struggling to look for work, faces the same struggles his stick figure creation does in the sense that neither of them are complete. As someone with experience in the field of art, the story struck a very emotional chord with me and was that much more meaningful. If you are looking for solid gameplay and replayability, this is not the game for you. But if you're looking for some quick and cheap fun, with what I think is a rather amazing story, then I would definitely suggest Unfinished for you. To enjoy this, you have to be able to appreciate the game for what it is: the story of the struggles of an artist, plagued by how he could never finish his work, only to feel lost and never truly complete himself. Unfinished is a unique and fun experince, perfect for the average puzzle solver, and relates to everyone in one way or another. On the other hand, if you think this is the kind of game you'd rather watch someone play, then you can check out my walkthrough on my channel (shameless self promotion): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwLyqMS5caU

This game is short... about 30 minutes long, possibly pushed to an hour if you have a difficult time with the mechanics. It is not really even a game. It is a walking (and bouncing) simulator where you hear an artist complain that he is out of ideas and that people do not like his work, all while you try to wander over to a pencil. That's it. There is no story, there are no enemies, and there are just a couple of puzzles (if you count stacking blocks as puzzles). You do get a few power-ups, but they are difficult and clunky at best.

I will say this though: I did enjoy the music.

What if your dreams, ideas, and creations all had a life of their own? One of man's most greatest abilities is to create, rather that be life, tools, or art. Sometimes though, creation isn't easy, sometimes things are left undone, inspiration is a valuable commodity that doesn't come easy. You will explore these concepts and more in this interesting and entertaining puzzle game. You play an unfinished doodle, who seeks identity in a world of art and chaos. The story is shared between Artist and Doodle as they both go through a journey of discovering themselves and purpose. While Unfinished - An Artist's Lament is a rather short game, what it does have to offer is extremely enjoyable aesthetically and gameplay follows suit. Finding unfinished drawings, you add abilities to your own drawing, such as spring boots, helicopter hat and other whimsical powers. The puzzles in Unfinsihed are rather simple, the game never draws focus away from what matters, the story. This leads the game to feeling like its full of good ideas but ends rather suddenly. While this was obviously intended, a part of me couldn't help but wonder what else could've been had the ideas and powers/levels been expanded upon. Nevertheless Unfinished - An Artist's Lament is a journey of self actualization that is fun, pleasant, and makes you ponder your own creations and goals that you never quite completed. This game is a fine example of Gamer Art and should be treated and enjoyed as such.

I made a video review to show off some of the features and gameplay of this game!
https://youtu.be/MPM95T3SuEc
I hope you enjoy!
Martyr

A neat little game with a fun premise. I'd love to see a fully fleshed out version that really explored the design space. Really wish there was a tutorial or something, just a bit more guidance, and a less awkward/unintuitive control scheme (especially when playing with an xbox controller). Little more than what I might have been inclined to spend on a game of this length, but I think I got the same amount of enjoyment out of it as an equivalent fast food purchase.

Make of that what you will. Tentative recommendation.