The MISSING is a side scrolling puzzle game with the unique mechanic of being able to break your bones or mutilate yourself using the environment. You can then chuck your limbs away to solve puzzles, all to find your best friend who suddenly went missing during your vacation on an island that is filled to the brim with things that want you dead.

It's much, much better than it sounds.

The gameplay is pretty much consistent and reliable. The infinite regeneration mechanic allows for puzzles that would've been frustrating in other games of this type to feel a lot more forgiving, as well as a source of black comedy at times. You can regenerate pretty much anytime you gain a foothold, and provided you have enough space for your whole body to pop back in - which allows experimentation and creativity when trying to understand how to solve certain areas. There's at least one bug I encountered in the clock tower level, where I went out of bounds while operating an elevator for some reason. But other than that, the game is pretty solid.

Graphics are mid-tier, but it doesn't detract too much from the experience. The art style takes certain liberties when it comes to common pathways and hidden areas, but still allows for beautiful sceneries to shine when it comes to story-progressing events/cinematics. A very good looking game.

Sound/music for this game is pretty minimalistic, which is pretty understandable considering that the game relies and ambience and silence for it's puzzle areas. The voiceovers for the conversations sounds really good. The voice-acting as well when J.J. is hurt gets really harrowing at times that I can't help but feel a little bit of her pain every time a puzzle forces her to get sliced up to move forward, and coupled with the sickening crunch when she breaks her bones - it just made me root for her as she persevered to move forward, all to find her friend.

For the characters and the supporting cast (and pretty much EVERYTHING on the phone), as much as I'd like to sing praises about that, I'm afraid I can't think of a way to talk about them without spoiling key elements in the story. Just take my word for it when I say that J.J. and the people around her are pretty likable.

Now for the story, I don't want to say anything about it. But I will say that if you fear that this is a depressing game, let me clear that up for you: The ending is incredible, so much that I had a number of my own speculations on what this game is about while I was playing it, but the ending still blew my expectations out of the water. The takeaway message is very positive, and it kept me up the night I finished it. It's awesome.

*Mild* spoilers regarding the ending:
I also like that the themes explored in the ending loops back to it's core game mechanic. As J.J. herself puts it: You must "accept the pain".

The MISSING is a side scrolling puzzle game with the unique mechanic of being able to break your bones or mutilate yourself using the environment. You can then chuck your limbs away to solve puzzles, all to find your best friend who suddenly went missing during your vacation on an island that is filled to the brim with things that want you dead. It's much, [i]much[/i] better than it sounds. The gameplay is pretty much consistent and reliable. The infinite regeneration mechanic allows for puzzles that would've been frustrating in other games of this type to feel a lot more forgiving, as well as a source of black comedy at times. You can regenerate pretty much anytime you gain a foothold, and provided you have enough space for your whole body to pop back in - which allows experimentation and creativity when trying to understand how to solve certain areas. There's at least one bug I encountered in the clock tower level, where I went out of bounds while operating an elevator for some reason. But other than that, the game is pretty solid. Graphics are mid-tier, but it doesn't detract too much from the experience. The art style takes certain liberties when it comes to common pathways and hidden areas, but still allows for beautiful sceneries to shine when it comes to story-progressing events/cinematics. A very good looking game. Sound/music for this game is pretty minimalistic, which is pretty understandable considering that the game relies and ambience and silence for it's puzzle areas. The voiceovers for the conversations sounds really good. The voice-acting as well when J.J. is hurt gets really harrowing at times that I can't help but feel a little bit of her pain every time a puzzle forces her to get sliced up to move forward, and coupled with the sickening crunch when she breaks her bones - it just made me root for her as she persevered to move forward, all to find her friend. For the characters and the supporting cast (and pretty much [i]EVERYTHING[/i] on the phone), as much as I'd like to sing praises about that, I'm afraid I can't think of a way to talk about them without spoiling key elements in the story. Just take my word for it when I say that J.J. and the people around her are pretty likable. Now for the story, I don't want to say [i]anything[/i] about it. But I will say that if you fear that this is a depressing game, let me clear that up for you: The ending is [i]incredible[/i], so much that I had a number of my own speculations on what this game is about while I was playing it, but the ending still blew my expectations out of the water. The takeaway message is very positive, and it kept me up the night I finished it. It's awesome. *Mild* spoilers regarding the ending: [spoiler]I also like that the themes explored in the ending loops back to it's core game mechanic. As J.J. herself puts it: You must [i]"accept the pain"[/i].[/spoiler]