Viewfinder Review
A unique puzzle game
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Title: Viewfinder
Platform: PS4/5 PC
Reviewed on: PC
Developer: Sad Owl Studios
Publisher: Thunderful Games
Release: July 18, 2023
Time Played: 4 Hours
Genre: First-Person Puzzler
ESRB: E
Viewfinder is a mind-bending first person adventure game in which you can bring pictures to life by placing them into the world. It tells the story of the ever changing world, human experience and relationships, meaningful and misguided passion for change, and overcoming loss.
Reshape Reality.
Beyond photographs, bring paintings, sketches, screenshots and postcards to life while reshaping the world
Exploration is learning.
The player will learn the secrets of the world, the reason why it exists, and the freedom to create. Explore multiple hub worlds that are all cohesive and encompass similar, but complex, differences.
Experience as much as you want
Viewfinder’s Narrative is player driven and will be an approachable experience to someone who just wants to play and solve puzzles, and a rich well thought off world to a player who wants to learn more.
Find the answer to the impossible once you step in the world of Viewfinder.
Review-
Intro:
Viewpoint was an awesome puzzle game with one of the craziest mechanics I’ve ever had the pleasure to play with. The only thing that kind of bummed me out about the game was how short it ended up being. It took me almost four hours to get through all the puzzles, you can check it out if you’d like from the link in the description, but first let me tell you about what you can expect when playing it.
Where it begins:
You and a friend recently dug out and started messing with an old VR system that some great minds of the past designed to help with their respective studies. The program is so old it has started to deteriorate a little, requiring you to find workarounds so you can get deeper into the program to find something very important.
Can the kids watch?:
Viewfinder does have an E rating, and I would say the kids might even enjoy trying to figure out some of the puzzles with you. There are a lot of differing environments and some of them can be quite fun to jump around and explore. And there is a fun little cat, named Cait, who kind of hangs out and talks to you sometimes. And of course you can pet the cat for some nice purrs.
Gameplay:
Puzzles
All of the puzzles throughout the game felt unique, with recurring elements used to get through. The basic idea was finding, or making, a photo of something, and placing it in the world, destroying everything behind the photo replacing it with everything in the photo. It was so cool changing the world around me.
Rewind Time
Now although reshaping the level was very cool, sometimes I went to far and actually destroyed my only way out. If a photo was poorly placed or I started to fall off the edge I could rewind time to a point before any bad thing happened. When rewinding any big event like a photo placement would be marked on the time line for me to go right back to, or even beyond if I wanted. No need to restart a whole level if you get pretty far and screw up at the end.
The Story
There is a story pushing the game forward, it’s mostly found by reading sticky notes left by the designers of the world or listening to old recordings. The story could be skipped if you wanted to, by ignoring everything and just solving puzzles, but then you wouldn’t know why you’re doing what you’re doing or what kind of minds created the space your poking around in.
Collectibles
The game takes you through multiple hubs, each hub having a few different puzzles to get through. Within the puzzles will be special collectibles, every hub has its own type to find. Rubber duckies in one, mahjong tiles in another. They usually involve going away from the obvious trail to find them. I only found a few during my playthrough, but I didn’t really try to search them all out.
Optional Puzzles
Each hub will have a set number of puzzles you need to complete before moving onto the next one, but you can stick around a hub a little longer and check out the optional puzzles. These are usually tougher than the “story” puzzles, taking a little bit more thought to work your way through. I would say they are worth checking out.
Viewfinder was enjoyable. The puzzles were unique and not really hard to figure out, there was only one puzzle that had me stumped for a while, but we eventually got through it. Now I’m sure you’re excited to see how it rated so let’s get that done.
Viewfinder was visually awesome. Everything looked good, and the different settings to play in were fun to go through, it’s getting a five
There was a story behind everything in the game, but it certainly wasn’t the main focus. It just kind of felt there, I’m giving it a three
The gameplay was great. With the design there are multiple right answers to some levels. Pulling from one spot by taking a photo and placing wherever I wanted was a blast, it feels like another five
For me there is no replayability after going through once. I already knew how to solve all the puzzles and I don’t really want to go back looking for collectibles, it’s a one
The game was very fun, I just felt like it was a little short considering the asking price, but I still enjoyed it and would still recommend giving it a try if you like puzzles, so I’m handing out a four.
Giving Viewfinder an average score of three point six. Placing on the higher end of the Mid Shelf.
If you like puzzles try it out, if you kind of like puzzles, wait for a sale. Even if you don’t like puzzles, you might still enjoy making photographs magically turn real.