Developer: Noam Matam Rotam
Publisher: Noam Matam Rotam
Platforms: PC
Tested on: PC
Forgiveness – Review
Escape rooms have been a popular attraction for a while now. So developer studio Noam Matan Rotem decided to create a game so you can now also enjoy an escape room experience online. Forgiveness is about earning your – of course – forgiveness for one of the seven sins you’ve committed while you were still alive. Fun fact: Noam Matan Rotem is a one-man studio, making us even more curious as to how good or bad this one person made this title.
Story
In Forgiveness you wake up in an unfamiliar room. A voice starts taunting you and explains what happened. Apparently, you’ve lived your life in sin and now it’s time for your punishment. The voice reveals himself to be Dr. Benjamin Smith, who believes himself a God and wants to bring his own form of justice to the world.
Forgiveness is built around the seven sins: pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth. Right before starting this game, you’ll have to complete a personality test. You get a few questions and your answers will define what sin you’ve committed, and thus what room and puzzles you’ll be entering.
The concept of this game is rather fun. Even though there is no big elaborate story, using the sins as a base turned out to be an interesting idea. Each sin getting its own room and puzzles gives a unique twist to the story and the game altogether.
Graphics
There isn’t really a lot we can say about the graphics here. They’re pretty good and modern. They help set the mood in every room, creating a more horror-like experience. Attention was paid to detail in all rooms and the way the developers played with the light also contributes to the whole experience.
Sound
The music here is spot on. Not only does every sin come with its own room and puzzles, but it also comes with its own soundtrack. Just like the graphics, it helps set the mood and build tension.
Of course, when we think of God, we want to hear some Morgan Freeman voice acting but we’ll settle for the voice acting that was provided here. Dr. Benjamin Smith sounds like a real douchebag and his voice and intonation fit in with the atmosphere of the game perfectly.
Gameplay
Forgiveness is an escape room puzzle game themed around the seven sins. You can either play the story mode or the free play mode. Whichever one you pick, you either play the normal or extreme mode. In the normal mode, you have plenty of time to complete the escape room. You’ll also get a little extra help. When picking up an important object that you will need, a little ‘ding’ sound will be heard. In the extreme mode, you have only 30 minutes to find your way out and no help is offered.
The story mode thrives on a personality quiz. You answer a few questions, after which your sin is provided. You get a little practice round in which you have to find the four digits of the code in order to open the door and escape. This practice round starts off easy, but then the real fun starts. You enter the next room, which is the room that goes together with your sin. Each sin has its own room and its own puzzles. Rooms vary from an office to a warehouse or something that looks like an old torture room.
In the free play mode, you get to pick what sin, and thus what room, you want to enter. This way you can make sure you get to play all the room and discover all the different puzzles. You can also play the prologue, which is the practice round, in the free play mode.
When you’re in a room, you have to start looking for clues and solve puzzles. You can look at things, turn them around, pick them up, drop them, place them somewhere else or interact with other items. Now fair warning, these puzzles are not easy to solve. They will require some out of the box thinking. This is probably making this title not suitable for everyone. One might understand that someone who doesn’t do a lot of puzzle games, may get frustrated when things don’t go so smoothly. Even in the normal mode, the gameplay is rather difficult. Of course, this does make you feel even better when you do solve a puzzle. So the personal reward you get is definitely a plus for a puzzle game lover.
Besides this, the game is very simple. There are only basic audio, video and gameplay settings. It’s a game you can quickly start up but is difficult to shut down. Once you’re looking for those clues, you’ll want to find them and solve the puzzles.
Conclusion
When playing Forgiveness, you wouldn’t think the game was made by a one-man studio. Yet, that’s exactly what Noam Matan Rotem is. Besides the great graphics and intense music, the gameplay is simply amazing. A lot of thought was put into the puzzles, and we can definitely call the thinking process impressive. If you’re looking for a good indie title, you should definitely check this one out. It’s soon to say, but this is probably one of the better indie titles of 2019.
Forgiveness - Review,
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