oOo: Ascension is a great puzzle game that focuses less on huge, high-budget components to distract the gamer, and more on clever gameplay design that is entertaining as it is challenging. It squarely emphasizes great puzzle design to each level that brings something new from orb to orb, while encouraging the gamer to keep going from level to level as it becomes more difficult. That’s a good puzzle game, ladies, and gentlemen, and one you should check out.
The world of oOo: Ascension is a gorgeous one. Extra Mile Studios has created a fast-paced puzzle game that depends on your reflexes and wits to work together in order to solve a dangerous orb puzzle, while at the same time recording the fastest time to complete it. It’s a Dark Souls-esque puzzler that is pretty as it is deadly. In short, it’s a challenge.
oOo: Ascension’s first noticeable feature is how it looks. You get this Mario Galaxy mini-planet to explore with your spaceship, while at the same time visually getting dosed with clean graphics and simple, sometimes neon textures. The frame rate is smooth as a Colt 45 and pleasant to the eyes. There is something to be said about simple, pretty design that helps to keep you focused on the action at hand without much effort to take away your attention. It’s like watching Mad Max Fury Road, where George Miller center frames everything to not tire out the eyes of the audience. The visuals in oOo: Ascension is the same way. They do the work of entertaining you but keeping you focused on the gameplay at hand. You’re absolutely emerged in visual and audible simplicity, though it doesn’t distract from the important pieces that all point back to the gameplay design.
While the TRON-like graphical style of oOo: Ascension is easy to get lost in, the real crux of this game is the level design, which is phenomenal. The developers at Extra Mile Studios seem to know how to challenge the gamer, while at the same time balancing out the fun of flying a spaceship. Most of the levels consist of barriers you can’t run into, otherwise, it will be an instant death, as well as randomly placed objects that move/shift to get in your way. In addition, some of the walls in the game collapse, which require you to hit boosters to get beyond. The combination of all of it means that you will always be on your toes, though sometimes you will find a relaxing moment of just cruising to the finish line to move onto the next level.
Now, the gameplay design is incredibly well thought-out and is by far the strongest aspect of the game. What the devs did with an orb when it came to puzzle construction is breathtaking. There are at times a level contains so many moving parts that you might be on the edge of a cognitive overload with the puzzles, but how all those parts move and back and forth in perfect harmony to provide a difficult challenge is something to behold in design. In addition, the orb levels keep the game from revealing everything on screen at once, which means the player is in for some surprises. This means there are more tense moments than not and that the difficulty sometimes gets ramped up to ’11’, which means that frustration should be setting in. But the game is somewhat forgiving through its relaxing techno music and quick restarts that you’re going forget your constant failures and just jump right back in, rather than throw the controller down and stomp out of the room. For example, I found myself hitting walls over and over again, as I’m not the best judgment of stop/go spaceship movement. Although I kept dying, I wasn’t too put off by the difficulty and it didn’t make me want to stop playing the game. I’m sure everyone has a different difficulty threshold with puzzlers like this, lord knows I do (ask me my opinion on Dark Souls — it’s not for me), and I could see this being a downer for someone not prepped for such a thing. That said, I still think the game does enough to keep you calm through its puzzles, presentation, and keeps you motivated to keep going. Again, the gameplay design is enormously good that it helps to put less focus on the game’s difficulty. That’s fantastic design.
All of this said, I know there is a sore point with some gamers regarding the lack of online leaderboards, which is apparently ‘a thing’. I know that is a big deal with gamers these days, but its absence doesn’t take away from the core gameplay construction and the genius design that Extra Mile Studios implemented. Don’t get me wrong, I would love to see some guy/gal out there kicking my ass out of the top 10 when it comes to time completion on each puzzle, but a lack of leaderboard is not a dealbreaker by any means for me. People who consider this a dealbreaker might be looking for something to complain about, or maybe they have a justification for it I can’t see or fathom. This reviewer honestly doesn’t care one way or another about a leaderboard. I’m old school. Local play and competing for the best time to complete the puzzles at home with the kids or my friends is enough for me. I would rather be the champion of my household than the champion of the east coast.
Anyway, let’s wrap up.
oOo: Ascension is a great puzzle game that focuses less on huge, high-budget components to distract the gamer, and more on clever gameplay design that is entertaining as it is challenging. It squarely emphasizes great puzzle design to each level that brings something new from orb to orb, while encouraging the gamer to keep going from level to level as it becomes more difficult. That’s a good puzzle game, ladies, and gentlemen, and one you should check out.
