Relicta game review on Switch

If one wanted to make a very questionable pun, one could say that Relicta has a magnetic charm. Because all the enigmas of the title are based on a logic of magnet. The character played by the player, Doctor Patel, is indeed equipped with a handy pair of gloves, capable of giving a positive (symbolized in red) or negative (in blue) attractive force to various objects, but also to make them insensitive to gravity. Practical, especially since the lady will have to go through a whole series of trials in a deserted lunar base, in order to unravel the secrets of the anomaly which gave its name to the game. A hell of a program.

Casually, the script and the dialogues occupy an important place in Relicta. After each enigma, a little discussion will feed into the scenario, for the time being quite anecdotal. Mighty Polygon tries to install an intrigue around an overpowered source of energy and the private interests of several individuals, but fails to captivate. Blame it on poorly dosed writing, the pace of which is dictated by the very progress of the players facing the puzzles, sometimes very full-bodied. Basically: it’s not easy to pick up the thread when you’ve spent 10-20min racking your brains. Note also the presence of a logbook to consult different sources of information hidden in the space base, between each level. But not enough to renew interest, in addition to giving a rather ordinary patina to Relicta, as does its artistic direction.

Star of the puzzle

We can therefore say without getting too wet that the great star of the title of Mighty Polygon, it is his puzzles, which are of course not limited to having fun with gravity and physics. Each puzzle will therefore consist of reaching and then opening a final portal, often powered by a switch. This is where the cubes, sensitive to the power of your gloves, come into play. With this story of positive and negative attraction, it is indeed possible to attract and distance two of these cubes from each other. (handy for catching / clearing one out of reach). And it’s even more enjoyable with the anti-gravitational function, which allows an object to continue its journey in a vacuum when a magnetic force is applied to it.

From there, the possibilities are more or less endless, and Relicta knows how to put them to good use. Despite a slow and slow progression, weighed down by an almost too large profusion of puzzles (it will take about fifteen hours to complete the adventure), Mighty Polygon greatly enriches its based puzzles as you progress, with the arrival over time of new elements, such as platforms that can be subjected to a positive or negative force – which paves the way for improvised elevators created using cubes – portals that the player will be able to cross without its objects and vice versa, teleportation, etc., etc. All the more accompanied by various levels (and sometimes rather pretty) and a scenario which, in spite of what one can say about it, tries things and increases in power. In short, puzzle game fans will still have plenty to do with the title of Mighty Polygon.

Hit or miss

With good points and bad points, you still have to know what to expect before falling for Relicta. Moreover, when we talk about fans of the genre, know that the title does not offer a help system, and you will have to rely on your ingenuity to discover the subtleties of the game’s mechanics. If the whole thing can be quite rewarding, this choice sometimes has the opposite effect, and is quite frustrating when you have the feeling of having scoured all possible and imaginable solutions. Above all, Relicta’s progression is very linear, and it’s impossible to put one puzzle aside in favor of another, like in The Witness or The Talos Principle. A point which contributes to giving a rather bitter aftertaste to the title, capable of good as well as less good. But still really worth it.