Maquette is a great puzzle game that uses perspective and out of the box thinking very well. The story of Michael and Kenzie is neatly entwined within these puzzle, adding heart and soul to the game as you make your way through the world, big and small.
Many moments feel directionless and walking around the huge-scale areas can be a chore
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Without the story Maquette would still be a nicely-intriguing puzzler, and the scaling of the environments made for truly enjoyable moments when what seemed like a small irrelevant detail on a prop turned into the solution to a whole area. At this point it should be clear that I’ve got mixed feelings on Maquette, but there’s no question that I’m glad to have played it and won’t be forgetting the game any time soon.
Maquette is a great puzzle game that uses perspective and out of the box thinking very well. The story of Michael and Kenzie is neatly entwined within these puzzle, adding heart and soul to the game as you make your way through the world, big and small.
Maquette has a great puzzle mechanic as its central hook, though it sometimes struggles with obtuse implementation and fussy controls. Nonetheless, the narrative arc of the young relationship at the center of the game is well worth a bit of frustration to experience. Some lovely visuals and music make playing Maquette that much more rewarding.
A love story told through a first person puzzle game that delights in playing with scale and recursive environments, even if its conundrums eventually feel a little undercooked.
As a puzzle game, it’s good, not great. As a video game attempting to be a romantic indie film, it’s very good. If you’re into puzzle games, Maquette gets a strong recommendation. If you don’t like the frustration, but think Kenzie and Michael’s story would vibe with you, give it a shot and have a walkthrough at the ready.
Maquette is that rare title that's more than a game, a singular experience undoubtedly rooted in some real-world pain, regret, and hopefully, absolution. It may not be for everyone, but in my opinion, the puzzles, the playfulness with perspective, the relationship arc, the art and the music and the variety of level design, these all add up to a whole that is so much more than a mere sum of the game's individual parts. Maquette will test your puzzle skills, your patience, and maybe even your relationships, either with yourself or with others, but at the end of the road, I hope you will find that it was well worth the journey.
Maquette has a strong narrative bolstered by top-tier voice performances and honest, relatable writing. The puzzle mechanics are unique and exciting, but the game is let down by signposting issues and obtuse design choices.
As a result, my already low tolerance of the love story between Michael and Kenzie grew to the point where I couldn't stand the couple. I would actively cheer when things went wrong because I didn't like them. The game seemingly wants you to feel like their relationship is one for the ages, but it just felt like a couple who had issues after the honeymoon period was over. It's a tale as old as time, but not one worth basing a game on.
That game’s moment of epiphany came as you reversed the flow of time, turning a platforming attempt at saving your beloved into a chase, as she tried to slip your clutches. In the tightly calibrated churn of its mechanics, the truth leaked out. No such revelations await in Maquette. The buildings are given to a graceful decay, leached of colour and riven with cracks, as Michael trudges through the caverns of his own gloom towards the light. And perhaps towards another coffee shop. As it happens, he and Kenzie just didn’t work out. Puzzle solved.
The stunning world Graceful Decay has built in Maquette is perpetually gorgeous and dream-like throughout its short time, never failing to blind you with its beauty. The puzzles utilise size manipulation to provide you with a satisfying mix of challenges, too.