Heal, from all this walking we did as an old man with a cane.
This game came up in my recommended on Steam and since it was relatively short and a puzzle game, plus looked to be on the emotional side of the spectrum, I wanted to give it a try. I’m happy I did.
I can’t say it was as sad as This Dragon, Cancer or Last Day of June, but it’s definitely got some emotion to it.
TRIGGER WARNING: Death of a loved one
- Adventure
- Emotional
- Escape Room
- Hand-drawn
- Indie
- Point & Click
- Psychological
- Puzzle
- Walking Simulator
Pros:
- A lot of puzzles
- Variety of environments
Cons:
- Movement and interacting
- Some puzzles were tedious
- Vague storyline until the end
Explanation to Negative Feedback
Movement and interacting
In order to move, you’ll have to click the area you want to move to. And then click again. And again. And so on and so forth whenever you want to start walking. I really wish they’d made it so you could just hold the mouse button down and have him walk, but…that isn’t the case.
I just don’t see why we have to constantly click a button to move when we already hold buttons to interact with things.
And speaking of interactions, like I stated, you have to hold the mouse button down in order to engage puzzles or look through doors and such. Which I constantly mess up by clicking once, since you only need to click once to move. And when you only click once when you have to hold the mouse button there’s a short moment of time where you can’t hold the mouse button down in order to engage it.
You have to wait like a second or something.
It’s not long, and it’s not a huge problem, but it is an annoyance after a while of getting it wrong.
Some puzzles were tedious
Listen.
I’ve solved a lot of puzzles in hidden object games and many of them were difficult and took a while because I hate skipping or asking for hints unless I cannot get it at all. But when you add in a speedrun achievement to a game that requires you to be very specific in some of the puzzles that you have to get right to get the proper time for that achievement, it really sucks.
The puzzle I’m speaking about is a ball puzzle where you have to stop a timer four different times on the correct numbers in order to move the ball along the length of the maze appropriately. If it hits a side or if it doesn’t reach the end hole, you have to redo it.
This puzzle is tough to get right on the first try, so that whole speedrun achievement can be easily ruined by just this one puzzle.
And then there are other puzzles that you get clues to solving…but I feel like the clues aren’t in any set order, and you’re left wondering in what order do you place the information you’ve acquired. It takes too much time when everything is basically handed to you otherwise.
Vague storyline until the end
The game is called Heal, but all throughout the game, there’s not much of a concept to that title. Heal what? Heal from what?
Occasionally we get to play the piano at the end of some chapters, but again, without concept. There’s really no clue, except maybe when you start tinkering with the television.
It all pieces together at the end, and I just kind of wish the build-up was better.
We’re going through a house with odd puzzles and that’s it. There’s definitely a psychological aspect to the game, maybe the old man is interpreting things in his own way to his own memories, but it’s all beyond me.
Explanation to Positive Feedback
A lot of puzzles
First off, I really like the amount of puzzles they’ve placed into the game with it being so short, and second, the puzzles are all different and unique and of varying levels of difficulty.
That doesn’t mean that I like all the puzzles, obviously, but…I like the fact that they aren’t all easy and they aren’t all difficult and time consuming. I’ve played a lot of hidden object games that offer a variety of puzzles and while some of these aren’t new, I enjoy the refresher on how different puzzles can be from game to game.
And of course not all of them can be done just by engaging the puzzles themselves.
Sometimes you have to look around for clues first.
Variety of environments
We aren’t just stuck to a household scenario in one chapter after another. We do go outside, and when that happens, you’re also able to change the settings of the weather, so to speak. This goes hand-in-hand with the puzzles you’ll be doing during this chapter, but I still like the unique way to manipulate what the weather might be like and what time it is.
Even in the house, however, you’re in different rooms, so it’s not the same once you exit through a door and enter a separate chapter.
Not to mention there’s so dark aspects to the house you’re sometimes in that’ll make a more ominous effect.
Achievements
- Ball Puzzle
- Complete Level One
- Complete Level Two
- Complete Level Three
- Complete Level Four
- Complete Level Five
- Complete Level Six
- Complete Level Seven
- From Black to White
- Keep Walking
- No Time to Lose
- Only Red
- Solve the First Puzzle
- Wrong Number