Nihilumbra

 PC
User Score
6.7

Mixed or average reviews- based on 74 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 40 out of 74
  2. Mixed: 18 out of 74
  3. Negative: 16 out of 74

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  1. DeyvsonCaliman
    Jul 25, 2016
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is a side-scrolling indie puzzle game. At the beginning the game seemed too simple, but it grew on me and I advanced. You character is a piece of the void, running from it as the void is trying to reclaim your character to itself, making you will lose your individuality and your conscience, although your character find it hard even to get a reason to be alive as he is “nothing”.

    The game have a narrator throughout your journey, which explains the basics and talk a lot about existential questions. I have to say that in some occasions I thought what the narrator said to be silly, it is too melodramatic. As you advance you find colors used to help you solve puzzles posed by the game.

    You paint those colors using your mouse, modifying the terrain. The first one you get is the blue one, that make the terrain slippery, making you run faster as you slide above it or making enemies slide into traps, than the green one, which makes you bounce and so on. Each place have it’s own color, like the volcano have the red one for fire and the city have yellow for electricity. You have to use those colors to solve puzzles, kill or avoid enemies or advance in difficult terrain.

    The game looks very easy, and when you finish the first stages the credits roll up, in an incredibly short game. But then you have to win the Void Mode, as the void was trying to get you it destroyed everything in its path and you have to reclaim it, or else it will “burden your conscience”, as the narrator explained.

    The Void Mode is far harder, and only then the game seems to really begin. After you revisit every place, solving some hard puzzles, you finally end the game as the first time, rolling the credits again. The game do not look like much, but is very original and can get your attention if you give it a chance. It’s difficulty gives us a real sense of achievement after every puzzle, but at the same time it’s not so hard to the point of making the player angry, being very balanced.    … Expand
  2. matteda
    Dec 13, 2013
    9
    Just what I like Prince of Persia & Limbo
    ;its clever,intelligent puzzle
    dark, atmospheric platform game
    beautiful..definitely hidden gem
    glad I found it
    its one of my all time best games
  3. kezzyhko
    Aug 4, 2020
    7
    ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍
  4. Matseb2611
    May 6, 2015
    8
    This was a fun little game. Nihilumbra is a 2D platformer that focuses on puzzle solving and spans 5 main areas, each of which consists of several stages. Each area introduces a new colour, which then becomes important for the solutions of puzzles in that area. For example, blue colour makes you slide along as though on ice, making you travel faster and jump further, green makes youThis was a fun little game. Nihilumbra is a 2D platformer that focuses on puzzle solving and spans 5 main areas, each of which consists of several stages. Each area introduces a new colour, which then becomes important for the solutions of puzzles in that area. For example, blue colour makes you slide along as though on ice, making you travel faster and jump further, green makes you bounce, brown makes you stick to walls, and so on.

    I found the use of unique effects of each colour for puzzle solving to be a pretty cool mechanic that made puzzles interesting. Some colours even had multiple uses. For example, the red could burn the enemies, but it could also make fireflies glow brighter, hence illuminating darker areas.

    The overall execution is very nice. The art and the music are especially stunning. Though the narrator's voice was a bit offputting at times and seemed a tad repetitive. Worse yet, if you died and returned to a checkpoint, the narrator would say the same quote again, even if he already said it earlier. And having to redo the puzzles you've done already just to get to the one you died on was also frustrating.

    The game in general is worth playing if you like puzzle games, though the story mode is pretty short (took me about 3 hours to complete). After the story mode, you unlock the void mode, which is significantly harder and might not be for everyone, as you go through the same areas except with much more complex puzzles and more enemies, often pitting you in very vulnerable situations where you're bound to fail or die dozens of times before you succeed. So if you're on the fence and unsure, best to get the game when it's on sale. The story mode is worth it alone.

    I would certainly like to see more similar games from the developers, because this one definitely had the right idea.    … Expand
  5. VeIdrin
    Mar 1, 2018
    8
    Nihilumbra ist ein 2D-Jump-and-Run mit Knobelelementen. Es setzt sich dahingehend von anderen 2D-Puzzleplatformern ab, indem es narrativ stets von einem Erzähler begleitet wird.
  6. Voyou
    May 27, 2021
    4
    Platformers are so old and simple a genre that they must be visually distinct and attractive to sell. Nihilumbra succeeds there. But it commits 2 capital sins: It forces you to use both keyboard and mouse at the same time. Which means it's meant for gamepads. It doesn't support gamepads. Also, the game doesn't show the terrain when it should. Usually the scrolling occurs when you get veryPlatformers are so old and simple a genre that they must be visually distinct and attractive to sell. Nihilumbra succeeds there. But it commits 2 capital sins: It forces you to use both keyboard and mouse at the same time. Which means it's meant for gamepads. It doesn't support gamepads. Also, the game doesn't show the terrain when it should. Usually the scrolling occurs when you get very close to the screen edge; way too late. Worse yet, when on the clock, when chased by instant death, the scrolling occurs on said clock. When you are at the edge, you can't see the traps. You have to wait while being chased. This is too stupid to even bother.… Expand
  7. zer0asnumber
    Dec 28, 2015
    10
    Juego de puzle y plataformas aunque predomina más lo primero que lo segundo.Manejas un personaje y a medida que avanzas te van saliendo puzles en pantalla que tienes que ir resolviendo.El juego está muy bien,la jugabilidad es buena aunque hay que decir que se juega con teclado y ratón.La música y el colorido es muy bueno.A medida que vas jugando se va narrando una serie de cosasJuego de puzle y plataformas aunque predomina más lo primero que lo segundo.Manejas un personaje y a medida que avanzas te van saliendo puzles en pantalla que tienes que ir resolviendo.El juego está muy bien,la jugabilidad es buena aunque hay que decir que se juega con teclado y ratón.La música y el colorido es muy bueno.A medida que vas jugando se va narrando una serie de cosas relacionadas con el mundo en el que estás y el personaje.Dificultad justa y ascendente aún para los que no jueguen mucho a este tipo de juegos.Es rejugable pues al terminártelo tienes la oportunidad de volver y hacer las fases de nuevo con algunos cambios,por lo que se hace un juego con una duración notable… Expand
  8. SirKineon
    Sep 10, 2016
    10
    Con este juego no tengo palabras. Este tipo de historia no la he encontrado en ningún otro juego. La jugabilidad es excelente y la forma de la que te exprime el cerebro algunas veces te hace engancharte mas a uno de los mejores juegos que he jugado nunca. El ambiente oscuro te pone en situción de forma perfecta para amar al juego aún más si cabe. Muy infravalorada esta creacion deCon este juego no tengo palabras. Este tipo de historia no la he encontrado en ningún otro juego. La jugabilidad es excelente y la forma de la que te exprime el cerebro algunas veces te hace engancharte mas a uno de los mejores juegos que he jugado nunca. El ambiente oscuro te pone en situción de forma perfecta para amar al juego aún más si cabe. Muy infravalorada esta creacion de Beautifun Games… Expand
  9. Krzych
    Aug 12, 2017
    9
    Beautiful and deep game. It is short and simple, but everything works very well. Always good looking and climatic hand drawn alike graphics combined with very good soundtrack create great atmosphere, enhanced by deep story provided with very well done narration. Game mechanics are very solid, you regularly get something new to play with. Difficulty is well balanced, you can't just pressBeautiful and deep game. It is short and simple, but everything works very well. Always good looking and climatic hand drawn alike graphics combined with very good soundtrack create great atmosphere, enhanced by deep story provided with very well done narration. Game mechanics are very solid, you regularly get something new to play with. Difficulty is well balanced, you can't just press forward mindlessly but also the game is not difficult so your progression with story is not getting interrupted. Not much more to wish from small game of this kind. Certainly not a mainstream game for soulless materialists, hence why conflicting scores, but it has very good scores on steam and sold 200,000 copies, so glad to see such small lovely games being successful. Just about perfect for one night playthrough. Certainly one of those hidden gems that you are lucky to encounter by some fortunate accident.… Expand
  10. adamflame7
    May 2, 2023
    4
    A short and simple platformer that is very easy that isn't doing anything new or unique. Little to no replayability with a 2 hour completion time. A "deep" story that is painfully basic.

    Played this on the Steam Deck and it was a bit clunky with the requirement for mouse controls. In addition while the game has Steam OS/Linux support, I was not given any achievements during my playthrough.
  11. LT_Gruber
    Dec 20, 2022
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Amazing little puzzle game with gorgeous artwork.

    Nihilumbra is a great puzzle and platform game with a really original and fun way of playing.

    You are Born, an shadow entity that needs to escape from the Void that is chasing you and threatens to banish you to eternal emptiness. You need to find your way out of the wicked, Void tainted world and find redemption.

    In this game, instead of killing enemies and beating bosses, you need to avoid your enemies at all costs and use your magic colors, with different effects to make your way through to safety.

    You can paint the environments with the different colors in order to block, avoid or mislead your enemies and the way this mechanic is implemented is done excellent.

    The different magic colors all have their on special ability. You got a blue color that makes surfaces slippery, green color that makes stuff bounce off the surface, brown color to make the environment sticky and slows objects and enemies, a red color that burns enemies when walked over and a yellow color to conduct electricity to objects and enemies.

    The way that you use the different colors, and where to use them, requires some good thinking on your part. You know soon enough of your plan worked, but if it didn’t, then you try again with a different approach.

    The artwork in this game is stunning. It is simple in a way, but looks really beautiful. The atmosphere this game creates with this artwork works really well and enhances your feeling of vulnerability. You are dependent on the perfect outcome of your magic painting of the environment with nothing else to defend yourself if it goes wrong.

    The ambient sound and music of this game is glorious. It makes this game even stronger, and although it gives a vibe of sadness, this is perfectly fitting for this specific game.

    Nihilumbra is hard, really hard. The normal stages are doable and with some practice, you will beat them.

    But then there is Void Mode. This is basically the same stages in order, but with some “added challenge”. This mode is one of the hardest things I ever completed in a video game and the feeling of satisfaction when I finally did it, was overwhelming.

    It is said that not even the developers of this game could beat their own creation, it is that frustratingly, and brutally hard. But you get rewarded with a nice ending, an achievement and the feeling of eternal glory.

    Although an Indie game, and thus, not that long, it still is a very good puzzle platformer and I had so much fun with it. It is a nice change after all the killing in other video games and still a unique concept that (as far as I know) has not been matched yet.

    Definitely recommend it.    … Expand

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
75

Generally favorable reviews - based on 11 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 11
  3. Negative: 0 out of 11
  1. Everyeye.it
    Feb 11, 2014
    70
    Better try before buy. It's a classic platform, but split in two, between a too easy beginning and a hardcore second half.
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  2. DarkZero
    Feb 10, 2014
    90
    With a story that will leave thought waves pulsating to the tune of the excellent writing, intriguing gameplay that breaches boundaries of immersion, and with a Wii U version coming soon that will be much more accessible for those with physical disabilities because the controller will replace a mouse, Nihilumbra is a demonstration of how video games that immerse the player in telling stories, gameplay that challenges the forefront of perception, and having puzzles that will be remembrances at lunch can never be beaten by mainstream titles – no matter how unique the fire particles get.
    Read full review
  3. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Jan 23, 2014
    60
    Is this glass half empty or half full? Depending on your taste, Nihilumbra can go either way. [Issue#238]
See all critic reviews »