Armikrog

Armikrog isn't a bad point & click adventure game, but it's so far from "The Neverhood."

It's bringing back some old school PC sensibilities and I can respect that effort, but it doesn't go far enough. The entire experience is short-lived, clocking in at just a few hours, which is only enough time to get marginally invested before the curtains close.

I do love the direction that the developers were going for, but without an entertaining storyline and exciting gameplay, there isn’t much of a reason to pick up the game at all.

I am torn on it because I absolutely loved some of the things that were done, but also came away with the distinct impression that there simply should have been more. More conversation, more depth to the existing mechanics or additional systems that come into play over time, more variety in puzzles and more game in general. I generally enjoyed my time with Armikrog, but came away with the unshakeable feeling that it also missed several opportunities to be a better, more memorable game.

There is so much squandered potential in Armikrog it hurts. The voice acting is great, but there's not enough of it; the visuals and animations are superb, but let down by repeated puzzles.

In a way Armikrog feels like a tech demo for something much bigger, a showcase of what a final build could look like, with the majority of the character dialogue and story still to be added in. The fantastic claymation and the decent music can only distract so long from the facts that Armikrog feels soulless, lacks any charm, has boring characters, and has puzzles that could have been more interesting. The story of Tzurk and Meva told on the tablets would have made for a much better game.