Viewfinder

 PC
User Score
7.2

Mixed or average reviews- based on 33 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 33
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 33
  3. Negative: 5 out of 33

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  1. infraRecon
    Jul 19, 2023
    8
    My mind is blown, being a beginner indi-developer and noticing all the little tricks this game does to your mind is really fun, this game is cool, Zen and if you carry on playing, about towards the middle you might be invested in the little story it offers. So far, ViewFinder for 2023 is my indie game of the year.
    While simple, it uses a mechanic that is executed in such a creative way,    My mind is blown, being a beginner indi-developer and noticing all the little tricks this game does to your mind is really fun, this game is cool, Zen and if you carry on playing, about towards the middle you might be invested in the little story it offers. So far, ViewFinder for 2023 is my indie game of the year.
    While simple, it uses a mechanic that is executed in such a creative way, while yes there aren't really any action-packed scenes, this is a game that you play and unravel with your mind, solving and exploring perspective challenges.
    If you haven't played the demo first like me then it starts strong, for those that have, the rest of the game is good, with some challenging sections that required me to just sit in my chair and review what I can do.

    Other than that The graphics are, well, Zen-like, it looks great. The devs put those extra visual details which add to the believability of the game, each hub world has something to offer to bend and twist your mind and perspective of reality. I am satisfied with this game, maybe sometimes a bit frustrated because of the challenges, I mean they are challenges so that is forgiven.
    A game like this in an industry of RPG, microtransactions, and laziness, View Find is definitely a breath of fresh air.
    Sometimes you just need to chill out and explore a world that messes around with your mind on each encounter.

    As for the length, it's really up to you how fast you finish and process puzzles, this isn't a game for everyone, especially for those that don't understand puzzle-based exploration, I mean if I gave this to my Cousin to play he will probably not be interested or let alone be able to finish a puzzle because there is simply no action involving killing, guns etc.
    What is it with gaming these days, not everything has to be RPG, Looter Shooter.

    Ratings:
    Graphics & Visuals: 10/10, Very Nice, Zen-like.
    Gameplay: 8/10, A bit lacking but enough for it to be interesting.
    Puzzles: 9/10, Good USe of Puzzles, A sequel or expansion should blow this outta the water.
    Characters: 7/10, You don't really see any characters besides Alice in Wonderland Cat (CAIT, which yes you can pet (Kinda)). hmm, CAIT, I see the world Play here.
    Dialogue: 7/10, Interesting enough.
    Music: 7/10, Inner peace, Slight depression, but Peaceful, also the audio design is passable.

    Now performance,
    I am Running a PC Rig with a
    - AMD Ryzen 5 3600
    - Nvidia Geforce RTX 3060 12G
    - 16GB RAM
    I ran this on HDD

    It performed well at 1080p, and 1440p @ 60fps, with little to no FPs dips, But at 4K, the game can dip from 60fps to 30fps or worse, I would say that this game is not optimized for 4K 60fps gaming.
    I experienced 0 Crashes, 0 Bugs, and I'm impressed. This is a simple game, so I don't expect too much from it performance-wise.
    Oh, it also has gamepad support which many games today don't have, or utilized properly. I just connect my PS5 controller to Bluetooth and I was off. These days its opens Steam overlay because the devs didn't bother to set Gamepad support for different controllers.

    Anyway, this game is an 8/10 for me, I like this.
    But why 8/10? If it did everything it could, shouldn't it be higher, well...
    It mainly has to do with some gameplay features.
    let me name a few:
    - Map (Didn't notice one, there's a small amount of backtracking sometimes when solving a puzzle or moving around a hub area)
    - Some UI Icons (The hub area needed some Icons or something)
    - A Run Button (Let me run free)
    - How about some feet (In any FPS game I look for feet or something)
    - VR mode (I'm surprised this doesn't have a VR mode, then again I've developed with Unity in VR so It's Understandable)

    If I missed some Features or didn't see them, that's on me but don't worry these are not huge problems, the game ultimately is well packaged in its presentation. (I'll update this if I missed something).

    I am a picky gamer that requires those things for 10/10, The game just needed some extra bloat that's all. Besides things not being in the game, this is a welcome entry into Puzzle based gaming. Personally, I think that people should at least play the opening level right up to the levels with optical illusions, but the rest of the levels are well thought out and great too. It's really up to you whether you'll give this a shot like I did.

    So View Finder is a game that screws with your mind with some playful mechanics, walking around while listening to music and Sometimes skipping Dialogue.
    Yeah, it's slow, calm and mind-blowing in some parts. The beginning though is a good intro into the possibilities that this type of perspective of creativity can do.

    Alright, That's my review, Devs did a good job with this one.    … Expand
  2. Almartan
    Jul 19, 2023
    9
    Viewfinder is an original indie game that I really liked. Its photo mechanics are very successful and offer a rewarding experience. Although its story does not stand out, I consider that for its price, it is a good option for those who enjoy indie experiences.

    I would choose 8.5 instead of 9 but i cannot.
  3. ChiIIaoi
    Jul 19, 2023
    10
    Review só pra lembrar a nota que eu dei pro jogo:
    Jogo mt bom, agora só escrever pra passar dos 75 caracteres.
  4. Pickle
    Jul 20, 2023
    9
    Es un juego magnifico, un tanto pretencioso y lento en ocasión, pero creativo y divertido en general.

    Similar a "Superliminal" este es un juego que te va contando una historia sencilla pero significativa en lo que vas resolviendo una serie de distintos desafios que tienen que ver con engimaticas maquinaciones que trastornan tu sentido de la perspectiva, es un juego bastante efectivo en    Es un juego magnifico, un tanto pretencioso y lento en ocasión, pero creativo y divertido en general.

    Similar a "Superliminal" este es un juego que te va contando una historia sencilla pero significativa en lo que vas resolviendo una serie de distintos desafios que tienen que ver con engimaticas maquinaciones que trastornan tu sentido de la perspectiva, es un juego bastante efectivo en este sentido y en general encontre que la mayoría de desafios es bastante bueno, aunque si me encontre con un error en uno en particular que casi me previno de seguir jugando, no fue sino hasta que reinice el nivel cuando pude completarlo.

    Recomiendo el juego, es una experiencia relativamente corta, pero es tan larga como necesita serlo, es un muy buen juego y bastante unico en como maneja toda la idea de la creación de cosas a partir de la "nada".    … Expand
  5. Skepller
    Sep 8, 2023
    10
    Amazing game!

    A really refreshing take on visual puzzles, if you like puzzle games, there's honestly nothing like it!
  6. zorranco
    Aug 2, 2023
    10
    What to say...First, in the year of bad ports and bad optimized games, this one is technically PERFECT. Graphically minimalistic, yet wonderful, and well optimized...And, for once, you can throw the obnoxious TAA and DLSS trhu the window and play in a GLORIOUS MSAA 4x (up to 8x if u want) for an exceptional image quality.
    About the gameplay, the game starts almost as a walking simulator    What to say...First, in the year of bad ports and bad optimized games, this one is technically PERFECT. Graphically minimalistic, yet wonderful, and well optimized...And, for once, you can throw the obnoxious TAA and DLSS trhu the window and play in a GLORIOUS MSAA 4x (up to 8x if u want) for an exceptional image quality.
    About the gameplay, the game starts almost as a walking simulator but it builds up to a quite challenging puzzles. The idea is absolutely original and perfectly executed. This skyrockets the game to the olympus of the best puzzle games of the last decade, along with Portal, Thalos Principle, The Entropy center and Superliminal. Buy it.    … Expand
  7. asdgasgea
    Sep 3, 2023
    9
    ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
  8. SomnolentPro
    Jul 27, 2023
    10
    Didn't take long before I was captivated by this experience.

    Viewfinder is very reminiscient of meta-level paradox in the spirit of Escher and Magritte. The quality of the implementation of its original ideas leaves little to be desired, as it transforms the core of its geometry seamlessly. As its main original idea presents itself, first introduced through a photograph, one would    Didn't take long before I was captivated by this experience.

    Viewfinder is very reminiscient of meta-level paradox in the spirit of Escher and Magritte. The quality of the implementation of its original ideas leaves little to be desired, as it transforms the core of its geometry seamlessly.

    As its main original idea presents itself, first introduced through a photograph, one would expect it to be milked ad infinitum, and it would still make for a fun experience. Instead, it keeps reinventing itself at every step, leaving no room for complacency.

    One would find themselves captivated if only to sit around the terraces and have a cup of tea while gazing into the horizon. This game, for this price, is a must have for anyone with a thirst for the most advanced ideas found only in masterclasses of artistry and conceptual exploration.    … Expand
  9. PhoneTheo
    Aug 8, 2023
    9
    Viewfinder is an original indie game that I really liked. Its photo mechanics are very successful and offer a rewarding experience. Although its story does not stand out, I consider that for its price, it is a good option for those who enjoy indie experiences.

    I would choose 8.5 instead of 9 but i cannot.

Awards & Rankings

40
#40 Best PC Game of 2023
86
#86 Most Discussed PC Game of 2023

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
84

Generally favorable reviews - based on 31 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 27 out of 31
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 31
  3. Negative: 0 out of 31
  1. Adventure Game Hotspot
    Nov 3, 2023
    87
    Viewfinder’s shining achievement is its brilliantly executed set of reality-bending mechanics that are such fun to play with that its tenuous story and relatively simple puzzles are easy to overlook.
    Read full review
  2. GameGrin
    Sep 5, 2023
    75
    Viewfinder invents an entirely new kind of puzzle, then proceeds to flip it around and explore it from every possible angle. Despite a disappointing narrative, the creativity and character packed into that simulated world is inspirational and bloody good fun.
    Read full review
  3. GameCritics
    Aug 21, 2023
    85
    While the story is pretty obvious from the jump, I still enjoyed it and the great sense of atmosphere that abounds — I was eager to dive deeper, and the flexibility of the puzzles always made me feel clever. In that sense, Viewfinder is an experience I’d readily recommend to anyone, whether they’re a puzzle aficionado or not.
    Read full review
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