Order of the Sinking Star, Jonathan Blow's latest puzzle game, presents a unique blend of mechanics and storytelling, but it's not without its flaws. The game's opening menu, with its AI-generated voiceovers, sets the tone for a meta-textual journey, a theme that aligns with Blow's history of controversial statements. The game's premise, a chain of islands with hundreds of puzzles, initially evokes memories of Sokoban-style challenges, but the gameplay quickly evolves into something more complex and engaging.
The game's mechanics are intriguing, with three heroes each possessing unique abilities. The first region introduces players to the concept of pushing, pulling, and swapping positions with rocks, requiring careful coordination to avoid stepping on each other's toes. The Mirror Isles add a layer of complexity with a magical looking glass, enabling item and character swapping, and cloning when used correctly. As the difficulty increases, the game demands players think creatively, utilizing their abilities in novel ways.
However, the game's narrative approach is where it stumbles. The primary avatar's quest to uncover the Order of the Sinking Star's secrets feels forced and disjointed. The overworld is filled with codices, coordinates, runes, and audio tapes, each seemingly unrelated to the next. The dialogue, often presented as subtitles, emphasizes the game's AI usage, which some players might find annoying. The game's ambiance and environment, which were a highlight in The Witness, seem to have been prioritized over meaningful storytelling.
Blow's previous work, The Witness, was criticized for its excessive self-referentiality and grandiosity. Order of the Sinking Star, with its meta-textual themes and AI placeholders, risks following a similar path. While the game's mechanics are engaging, the narrative approach feels shallow, and the AI usage could be more subtle. The game's potential to become a white elephant, like The Witness, is a concern that looms over its development.
