It's hard to write a review for Black the fall without drawing parallels to Playdead's INSIDE because they're both of the same genre and share a lot of subject matter. It comes as no suprise that INSIDE, being the masterpiece that it is, is in fact the better game. But that does not mean Black the fall is a bad game, far from it. Black the fall pleasantly suprised me in a few ways but mostly with its absolutely gorgeous art style. It has a very similar art style to INSIDE, with a sparse selection of muted colours that contrast brilliantly. The shaders and lighting effects further increase the contrast creating jaw dropping vistas that can easily stand next to INSIDE.

However the staging and setpieces are more grounded in reality making them less memorable but equally dystopian. I actually prefer my dystopian settings to be more surreal as it feels more immersive that way, somehow. Seeing the communist imagery and depictions of Stalin, Lenin and some other hystorical figures pulled me out of the experience in a way that INSIDE did not. That game held my attention right untill it's iconic finale and while this game also held my attention untill the end, said ending felt a bit out of place. Without spoiling anything there's events close to the end that had no build up or foreshadowing, feeling very hamfisted as a result.

Regardless the visuals and setting were top notch and provided an experience worthy of your time if you love the genre like i do. However a crucial aspect of cinematic puzzle platformers that does not get as much attention is the sound design. In this area Black the fall was hit or miss with some sfx feeling very appropriate and weighty while others fell flat. This is one of the biggest areas where Black the fall pales in comparison to INSIDE, which featured some of the most amazing sound design i've ever heard in a game. Still though Black the fall did well enough to not detract from the experience too much.

What did detract though were the at times clunky controls and inconsistent checkpoints. Some jumps require more precise timing than others and sometimes it feels as if the game doesn't do what you want it to do. This is mostly because sprint jumping has more height to it than regular jumping. Which is opposite of what you'd expect. This leads to quite a few deaths that sometimes send you back quite a bit, leading to some moderate frustration. Nothing that ruins the experience, but enough to be worth noting. Luckily performance and polish don't share this frustration as i did not encounter any lag, stutters or crashes and only one bug that a quick quit to menu quickly alleviated.

Lastly then there's the puzzle designs and pacing and while the later is excellent the former is also a bit inconsistent. Where INSIDE's puzzles never felt obtuse or confusing, Black the fall sometimes borders on annoyance with how some things are signposted. Small details that are crucial aren't as obvious as they should be so sometimes you feel like you're not making any progress. Luckily the pacing doesn't suffer from it as the game varies things enough to keep you engaged through its 3 to 4 hour runtime. A game of this quality that's this short for the asking price is about average. So wether or not it's worth it to you depends on how much of a fan you are of the genre. It is however EASILY worth it on a sale so don't miss out on this.