The download link for Connection Established didn't work, so I'm only going to be reviewing Contrive. for all it's worth, though, the link I'll post for Connection Established has a youtube video that showcases the game, so at least you can get a little taste of what it's like.
Contrive, while it doesn't advertise itself this way (thankfully) is one of those "poetic experience" type games. The exclusion of these two words from the game's description makes me want to pass over the game's narrative, but do I really want to let the description of a game, let alone a single noun phrase therein, determine the content of my entire review? No, I'm just going to review the game as if it didn't have a description, like I usually do.
The game is a series of puzzle-based levels with a short screen with some textual dialogue in between each. It's sort of like Braid in that way. The text tries to give some exposition about the plot of the game, but ends up just sounding like the ravings of a lunatic. I understand that that's the entire point and that the narrative is not supposed to be completely comprehensible at first glance, but I've always given narrative structures like that a sour look. Braid's story was complete gobbledygook (Seriously, Blogger? You're not going to put a squiggly line under that one? Okay...) as well, but it got away with it because the other elements of the game (gameplay, music, visual style, etc) all conveyed the feelings that the story was supposed to bring. You didn't need to understand the story. In Contrive, though, I feel like they made a perfectly fine puzzle platformer and then decided to add a deep, convoluted story that had nothing to do with the mechanics. The flow of time was a major theme in Braid's story as well as its mechanics, but I didn't see any of that consistency in Contrive. Then again, I only played through Contrive once, and I had to play Braid like 5 times before I understood it, so maybe the comparison is unfair. Good lord this is a long paragraph...
Let's talk about the gameplay then. The levels all consist of blocks, with each block containing platforms. Before the platforms can be traversed, though, the blocks need to be rotated a certain way. Imagine a regular succession of platforms, and then slice it into equal squares with a pizza cutter and rotate each individual square. That's what a level of Contrive looks like.
For a puzzle game, the gameplay is relatively straightforward. I never really had to think about which platforms to rotate which way, because the levels are designed so linearly. If you just keep going without even thinking about the level as a whole and just rotate the blocks when you get to the little rotatory cube that allows you to manipulate the level, you'll pretty much get it every time. A dummy block here and there wouldn't hurt. As long as it's a puzzle game, try to stump me!
So without the mental engagement of a puzzle game or the physical engagement of a platformer, a game like Contrive falls pretty flat. It's one of those games that didn't do anything wrong but didn't do anything particularly right either. Maybe give it a shot if you're bored, but for the most part I'd say there's nothing to see here.
That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay contrived
Links
Connection very much NOT established: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=26726
Is a cute lil bunnymouse adventure: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=26725
