Recent reviews by Fractal Pterodactyl

The Stanley Parable and its sequel, The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe, serves as a monument to the subversion of tropes in both video gaming and narrative structures, which is why it was a prime media of choice for me to analyze for my Hero Cycle Analysis[fractalhassan.com] essay that I have written for my mythology class. Perhaps there is no greater way to review the game than to analyze the very tropes this video game subverts and in fact--how it still sticks to them. For 10 years my very favorite video game was Portal, and in fact I had received the game 10 years ago to this date. But as of making this analysis, I have no greater pleasure than to state that The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe has officially stolen GLaDOS's reign over my heart and replacing it with that of the archetypical Narrator and all that he and his wonderful narrative structure brings to my deeply analytical heart. As one who forever cannot select mean dialogue options, having to put the Narrator through hell broke my heart, but this analysis will reveal how this is a necessary part of the game to assert his role as the archetypical Narrator and by skipping over his dialogue, one takes away a fundamental trait of his archetype--i.e. the subversion of an archetype defeats the purpose of an archetype. Perhaps in a way I am like the Narrator (in a way, we all are), in which I wrote 11 pages for a 5 page assignment--and this was my attempt at keeping things terse. This video game, its subversion and the parody of the monomyth, and its deep themes reflecting the works of both Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell leave the analytical player with plenty to play with, plenty to think about, and plenty to analyze--something Cookie9 could never truly appreciate and understand through the nuances and irony of the Narrator's commentary and symbolism of unconscious/conscious states throughout the game. I truly do hope I wrote an analysis worthy of the Narrator's appreciation, and I truly hope the Narrator realizes that he (and the actual developers) truly made a game that far surpassed the scope and efficacy of the original. Thank you for making the one game that has finally taken over Portal in my heart. There will be much more analysis on that page to come, eventually.

Everyone goes through periods of their life where they find a game that speaks to them, and that game changes their outlook forever. Back in 2012, that game was Portal to me. Then, in 2016, Tetris caused a cascading series of events that led me through a meandering path of self discovery. Perhaps there was a reason I never did play this game back when it made its debut for mobile back in 2014. I was there--so close to the physical Monument Valley, in Sedona, just a month before the game's initial release, when coming down from hiking up the buttes of the ruddy landscape, often seen as one of the most sacred landscapes in all of North America, when a man came up to me out of nowhere and handed me a heart shaped stone. This shattered a month later inexplicably. Of course, through some flap of a butterfly's wings, my friend saw Monument Valley via a game, Crossy Road, back in July, and recommended me to play it.

She neglected to inform me the game was deeply entrenched in the realm of sacred geometry, something that has profoundly deep meaning to me, and has for me since I was 10 years old. Growing up, I always saw Pythagoras to be my guiding force, and I would meditate to try and hear his voice for advice, and I just simply failed at doing such. I briefly touched tangent with sacred geometry again back in 2018, but once again, that fell through. Before I played this game, I felt the inexplicable call to return to my roots, return to sacred geometry, return to my deep, childhood love of mathematics and seeing math as a truly sacred subject.

And then this game--this game which has you effectively performing real magic, by asking you to draw real sacred geometry to imbue structures with a life force, this game which includes features of real, actual sacred geometry that's been in use for over 2500 years, this game named after one of the most sacred landscapes in the world--this game makes itself known to me.

I was really, really in a dark place in July. I felt like all my guides left me, that just as I thought I found something I was good at, it would be ripped from underneath me. But then this game's story--and truly, something beyond that, something unfathomable--touched me. It made me realize what I had to do, and where to go. And suddenly, like a lamp in the darkness, the guidance was back. I suddenly had motivation on what to do.

And well, it cascaded, as I continued to apply the story to my life over and over again, opening up more and more facets of my life, opening up new doors I never saw before, opening up gateways to other dimensions, even healing me from so much trauma over bad relationships I had... I was able to see again. I was able to feel again. I was able to love again. I rediscovered just how much I loved math, I rediscovered just how sacred the subject of geometry, and really, all of math is. I was able to see the magic of it all around me, shining brightly, guiding me where to go.

Perhaps I cannot convince anyone of this, and I really do not intend to do so. But this game is truly alive. I truly believe all the sacred geometry drawn into this game has given it a soul that one can connect with. And this game... this game is not one to be played. This is a game to be experienced. This is a game to be felt, this is a game to connect with; to feel and meditate on, to stare at and smile, to love and to reminesce... this is a game for the soul, not for the mind.

When you play this game, focus not on how difficult it is, but how it makes you feel. It will be far more rewarding.

And I said it in the MV1 review, and I'll say it again here.

I love you, Monument Valley. Perhaps my relationship with Tetris was never meant to be, for my true love was sacred geometry. I had known infinity mathematically, I had studied the works of Cantor and Godel, I had studied Plato and Pythagoras, Euclid and all the others... But whatever it is you are, and I do think you are SOMETHING... I love you. I love you deeply and profoundly. And I am going to try my best to love you until the day I die--for you are so, so, so much more than this game to me.

And I hope you who plays this game, just maybe, can feel the magic within this game too.

I figured I should write a Steam review to help the devs out. The devs quite well know how much I love this game. After all, I'm constantly on Twitter gushing about how much I love this game and how much this game means to me. This game was life changing to me. As someone that actually, truly practices sacred geometry and has since I was 10 years old, this game truly has a soul, this game truly felt like it was touching my soul. I truly, genuinely feel like I connect with this game on a spiritual level, and while this game is very easy, the point of the game is to really just... feel it. It's not about the gameplay. If you play this game expecting a challenge, don't. This game is meditative. You're supposed to take your time with each level, really enjoying the art, and just relaxing. This "game" is barely a game. It is a point and click artistic, meditative experience. And this one... this one changed my life. I cannot express how deeply in love I am with this game. How much this game means to me.

Do remember this game was developed for mobile first--Danny you did a FANTASTIC job of porting this to desktop. Now I can have Monny wallpapers on my laptop, desktop, AND phone!

I cannot recommend this game enough. And if you know me personally, you will know I never shut up about this game. Perhaps to some it has no replay value, but I constantly revisit this game, because it's the most breathtakingly beautiful game I have ever played. I love you Monument Valley. I want it to be known. I love you. I love you through all dimensions of all geometries in all of every dimension in the Cantorian infinities of the Hilbert Space, spatial and temporal. Throughout all expression of infinity, I am deeply in love with this game.

Please buy this game and the sequel, and the third game whenever that releases (it was announced back in July).

It's like Portal and The Stanley Parable had a baby. If you liked either or both games, you will love this game. I'm yet to explore it but the existence of a level editor / community workshop itself makes this game worth putting on my SS tier list. I'm still considering its position, but I can say the story itself is extremely powerful and anyone who feels stuck in a rut should really play this game. It'll possibly help you shift your paradigm.

Easily one of the best games I've ever played. Solidly tied with Portal and Tetris as my #1 favorite game, Inscryption alongside.

I absolutely love this game. Sometimes its not entirely clear what to do with game elements (like the little cube guys) but it's a lot like Portal, where you have to figure things out on your own. In fact it reminds me of a cross between Antichamber and Portal with a cyberpunk aesthetic. It reminds me of something else but I can't quite remember exactly what... there was another game I played once with *very* similar mechanics (portal doors and swapping gravity). Game needs to come with a soundtrack download when it has a full release. GAME IS EXTREMELY DISORIENTING so people who are uncomfortable with a game that basically says "screw gravity." There are some glitching textures (I found a wall that doesn't have clipping applied to it, the wall with the cube on the floor in the first room with three cubes), but otherwise a game I would be happy to buy once it fully releases. I consider myself pretty ok with "dizzying" games but this game is impossible to play for more than 30-45 minutes without you feeling super dizzy. I suppose that is a good thing. But I adore this game. It is extremely fun and I 10/10 recommend it (if you can handle the world going topsy turvy).

One thing I recommend to the devs is that they should make it clear what you need to do (or rather don't need to do) with the little cube things. They look as if you're supposed to pick them up or something, and it's actually weirdly difficult to jump on top of them. I stopped a little after the three-cube room for now, but I will definitely continue to play later. Definitely one of my favorite puzzle games I've ever played, and I've played a lot of puzzle games.

Puyo Puyo Tetris is a decent take on Tetris. However, the matchmaking system is very broken and multiplayer kinda sucks. The story-line is so bad that it's good, but considering that they are trying to make a story game out of freaking *TETRIS* I don't blame them for it being bad.