Firmament

 PC
Metascore
68

Mixed or average reviews - based on 14 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 14
  3. Negative: 0 out of 14
  1. Adventure Game Hotspot
    Jun 16, 2023
    82
    With a gorgeous setting full of incredible architecture and nicely varied puzzles, Firmament is another confident and cerebral showcase from the legendary artists at Cyan.
  2. Adventure Gamers
    Aug 4, 2023
    80
    As you wander Firmament’s splendid landscapes, the narrative builds to a heartening finale—but be prepared to strenuously exercise your brain along the way.
  3. Inverse
    May 29, 2023
    80
    Firmament is a magnificent achievement in visual worldbuilding that I’m still thinking about weeks later. I’m already back in the Realms, looking for Easter eggs I may have missed the first time. My desire to learn more about Firmament’s story is a testament to Cyan’s ability to make players care about fictional worlds, and its shorter runtime and smoother puzzle mechanics make it the most approachable game in the company’s history, as well as a perfect primer for the puzzle adventure genre at large. I truly hope Cyan keeps making worlds like this for decades to come.
  5. Softpedia
    May 24, 2023
    80
    Firmament is clearly designed to appeal to players who loved the concept of Myst, showing them how impressive such a narrative-driven puzzle experience can be when built using modern tech. Stepping out into the three realms creates a powerful sense of wonder and there are plenty of moments when the world impresses with its scale and beauty. But these feelings do not last forever and the core gameplay loop struggles to keep players pushing forward. There’s some clever puzzle design to wrap one’s head around but there’s too much friction when it comes to the implementation of the solutions. I wanted Firmament to be more ambitious, with more twists to its narrative and puzzles that require less grunt work and more exploration of its gorgeous levels.
  6. Shacknews
    May 18, 2023
    80
    Firmament was an extremely meditative puzzle solving experience. I applaud Cyan Worlds for continuing to design these games without flashy ruckus, time limits, or deaths to speak of. It’s a peaceful journey through vast and mysterious lands full of wild and interesting machinery built into beautiful natural surroundings. However, as is often the case with Cyan Worlds games, Firmament is also a test of patience and sheer experimentation. You could spend extremely long periods of time stuck on a spot in this game and the only thing you can do is either quit and come back later or figure it out. Nonetheless, it presents another mystery I felt compelled to solve and I feel that other puzzle-minded players will thoroughly enjoy the variety of ways you can use the Adjunct and unlock Firmament’s secrets.
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  1. UploadVR
    Jun 6, 2023
    If you're seeking a new VR puzzle adventure, Firmament can certainly fit the bill and long-term Cyan fans will likely find plenty to enjoy here. I wanted to like it more but with all above caveats, I can't outright recommend it.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.0

Mixed or average reviews- based on 10 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 10
  3. Negative: 1 out of 10
  1. dr_zoidberg590
    May 31, 2023
    6
    Too much 'friction' (hard puzzles) too early on, the flying adjunct in the demo that everyone was funding in kickstarter did not make theToo much 'friction' (hard puzzles) too early on, the flying adjunct in the demo that everyone was funding in kickstarter did not make the final game. There was not enough reward for solving extremely hard puzzles, you just walk intstantly into another hard puzzle. This might be fine if the worlds were astonishingly beautiful, but they are not. In comparison to the Myst series and even obduction, the worlds are bland. Expect to be looking at barren colourless craggy grey rocks for many hours both in Curievale and Juleston. Story poorly told with almost no interactable items besides adjunct sockets, you get so used to there being nothing but sockets to interact with, that when a interactable document finally appears, you are likely to miss it. The inane honking announcements are experience-destroyingly annoying. 'Engaging the embrace' in each realm is the largest anti-climax I've encountered in a game. This is doubly sad when we know what cyan is capable of or has been in the past. Sound score is barely there, minimal and bland - poor compared to the Myst sountracks which are some of the greatest videogame music ever made. This review comes from a lifelong supporter of Cyan, the Myst franchise, and a kickstarter backer of both Obduction and Firmament.… Full Review »
  2. Night_Thastus
    May 23, 2023
    7
    Firmament is a sometimes stunningly beautiful and overall good, if somewhat short and easy puzzle game.

    I was consistently impressed with    Firmament is a sometimes stunningly beautiful and overall good, if somewhat short and easy puzzle game.

    I was consistently impressed with how it looked, and kept thinking back on how individual stills of it look *just* like something I would have expected from Myst or Riven. The art style is remarkably consistent with their previous work. If nothing else - Firmament is very easy on the eyes.

    The sound design and music are similarly great. They don't take center stage for the most part, but they fit in very well thematically. The main tool used by the player is also very satisfying to control and snaps into place just right.

    To contrast, I think that the ease of the puzzles is by far its largest weak point. Players of Firmament are likely experienced puzzle game enjoyers, many skewing older from the days of the original Myst. None of the puzzles really required breaking out a pen and paper, or approaching from multiple angles, making deductions based on hints in the environment, going back and try again while working on another puzzle, considering the problem again and again, maybe sleeping on it a day or two. Those things make the "Ah-hah!" moment so very satisfying, and it's just not here in Firmament for the most part. Almost everything is straightforward and many are more or less just brute force.

    That low difficulty also compounds to make this a very short game - about 7-8 hours for most. A bit of a shame for the price tag.

    There are some complaints about the technical state, but for *most* players these are minor and they will be resolved in the coming weeks, so I think it's not particularly worth dwelling on.

    There are other nagging smaller issues - like a couple times where a third-person camera was really required and the forced first-person-only hurt it, as well as awkward controls. And sometimes the game doesn't communicate great with the player. But those are relatively minor in the grand scheme.

    I truly love Cyan games, and I want to see more. I just hope that if they make another, it offers a bit more meat on these absolutely gorgeous bones.    … Full Review »
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