Lydia

 Switch
Lydia Image
Metascore
68

Mixed or average reviews - based on 11 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
6.5

Mixed or average reviews- based on 24 Ratings

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  • Summary: Lydia is a story-driven indie adventure game about substance abuse from a perspective of a small child. The story focuses on how a child processes adult’s problems through her imagination.

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 11
  3. Negative: 1 out of 11
  1. God is a Geek
    Jan 17, 2020
    85
    Lydia is an important game, not just because it broaches an important subject matter, but for how it uses its art direction, music, and storytelling to highlight the issues it's bringing to our attention.
  2. Pure Nintendo
    Jan 27, 2020
    80
    Lydia is a small game, but it sends a bigger message that sometimes we need to step in and help the ones who can’t speak for themselves. I highly recommend checking out this enthralling, interactive story about a little girl overcoming her giant “monster”.
  3. Switch Player
    Feb 21, 2020
    80
    Lydia is a point-and-click novel that allows players to glimpse the horrors of a childhood plagued by substance abuse. An uncomfortable yet important experience. But for those triggered by substance abuse issues, caution is most definitely advised.
  4. XGN
    Feb 26, 2020
    70
    Lydia is a game with two faces. One face tells you a compelling story about the heavy subject of alcoholism from the perspective of a child. The other face is a game that is short and doesn't keep the pace of how it should. As a package, it offers an interesting hour to spend, especially for the very low price at which it comes.
  5. Screen Rant
    Mar 17, 2020
    70
    There are a lot of caveats when it comes to recommending Lydia, as it's a game that will speak to people in different ways. Lydia offers a beautiful and chilling experience, but its dark tone and even darker story and subject matter won't be for everyone.
  6. NintendoWorldReport
    Jan 21, 2020
    65
    In general, Lydia is an interesting game with a well put together setting and an art style you probably won’t soon forget, but overall it’s just sort of a slightly underwhelming experience. Over the course of its 45 to 60-minute runtime, you will experience what is obviously a deeply personal story for the creators, leading to a choice that I honestly found very well done in the end. It’s a story of abuse and neglect and how somebody so small is forced to deal with it, and while the gameplay is nothing to write home about, it’s definitely a narrative that will probably stick with me even if just for a little while.
  7. Starbit
    Aug 10, 2021
    40
    Lydia brings us a theme that is definitely worth exploring in a medium like gaming but it could have been approached in a much better way. The writing needs a lot of work and despite its very on touch visual environment, the gameplay experience is very subpar and there's little interactivity to be found here.

See all 11 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 9
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 9
  3. Negative: 4 out of 9
  1. WrestleMania
    Feb 12, 2021
    10
    Lydia is a roughly 1 hour long game. Language is simple and very clear. The hand drawn style somehow clashes with its incredibly deep and darkLydia is a roughly 1 hour long game. Language is simple and very clear. The hand drawn style somehow clashes with its incredibly deep and dark story. If on discount, definitely worth your purchase. The ending, but the whole story overall to be honest, gives food for your thoughts. Highly recommended.… Expand
  2. garmagam
    Mar 1, 2020
    10
    Deeply touching game. Hit's really close to home. Tears were running down my cheek when the end credits rolled.
  4. adventuranter
    Jan 24, 2021
    6
    Lydia’s wondrously gloomy visual style and its powerful narrative are little help when it comes to its bare-bones gameplay. Player interactionLydia’s wondrously gloomy visual style and its powerful narrative are little help when it comes to its bare-bones gameplay. Player interaction with the game world is so minimal that you often feel like a mere spectator in the protagonist’s story. Worse yet, you feel that every action you do undertake is meaningless given that the whole thing is scripted. The game doesn’t even respect the choices you make when interacting verbally with other characters, surprising you with many unintended lines. In the end, you are made to feel completely helpless as a player here, even lacking volition. And while this could be said to serve a dramatic purpose, by emulating the perspective of a child entrapped in a toxic family life, it could also be said to fuel a defeatist, deterministic worldview… I wouldn’t recommend the game if its visuals weren’t so astonishing and its moments of sadness so gut-wrenching. But they are.… Expand
  5. MindWanderer
    Jan 4, 2022
    5
    Drinking ruins lives.

    Now that you've read those three words, you have no reason to play this game. It's a hamfisted portrayal of    Drinking ruins lives.

    Now that you've read those three words, you have no reason to play this game. It's a hamfisted portrayal of alcoholism from the perspective of a girl whose parents and friends are burdened with it. It's not even really a "walking simulator." You have no agency whatsoever, aside from two very simple puzzles which will take you seconds to solve. The characters are one-dimensional, and the message is overbearing.

    There is some attempt at symbolism, though some high-quality fantasy art. (Why are these psychological games always in black-and-white?) However, the writers gave up on this approach halfway through the second chapter, to revisit it very briefly at the end. Otherwise it's literal and uninteresting.

    In a genre saturated with similar, better games, like Gris and Fran Bow, I have a hard time recommending Lydia.    … Expand
  6. Kacek1996
    May 30, 2020
    4
    In my opinion it's truly a bad game. It has a quite nice graphics, but gameplay, and by gameplay I mean movements between reading sections, isIn my opinion it's truly a bad game. It has a quite nice graphics, but gameplay, and by gameplay I mean movements between reading sections, is bad. Story is somewhat deep, but the presentation was a mess... I don't know why would someone spent his/her money on this game. I'm glad I got it for free. I would love to call this game short and sweet, but it was a good experience only while I was at the chapter one. Other chapters had a messy storytelling, all of it, except graphics were sloppy...… Expand
  7. UselessWitch
    Aug 11, 2020
    4
    The game itself is very short and written in extremely simple language. The characters are black and white, literally and figuratively.
    There    The game itself is very short and written in extremely simple language. The characters are black and white, literally and figuratively.
    There is no gameplay. There are no riddles, there is only a simple "click to let the story continue." This is not a quest.

    As a result, there is no plot, no gameplay.
    Only the "important" topic remains. Which is served with very basic phrases. The execution is terrible.

    But they promised to share the money they made from DLC with charities, so I don’t regret buying this game. But game itself really bad.    … Expand
  8. aussiechris
    Aug 27, 2020
    3
    This game is absolutely not subtle. It's pretty ham fisted and lacking in any skill full storytelling, which is a shame for an interactiveThis game is absolutely not subtle. It's pretty ham fisted and lacking in any skill full storytelling, which is a shame for an interactive story that could have so much to say.… Expand

See all 9 User Reviews

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