Game Reviews

Euclidean Skies featured review - "An almost stunning sequel with a few puzzling problems"

Star onStar onStar onStar onStar off
|
iOS
| Euclidean Skies
Get
Euclidean Skies featured review - "An almost stunning sequel with a few puzzling problems"
|
iOS
| Euclidean Skies

yt
Subscribe to Pocket Gamer on
Euclidean Lands was a game that understood space. It understood it so well that it allowed players to manipulate that space in new and exciting ways. Up wasn't always up, down wasn't always down, and every puzzle the game put up in your way was nowhere near as easy as it looked at first glance.

So when we heard that there was a sequel coming out, you can imagine how excited we were. We loved the original game here at Pocket Gamer, so a bigger, better, and more badass version was always going to catch our attention. And now it's here, it's time to work out whether our anticipation was poorly placed.

After all, sequels are often more disappointing than their predecessors, and Euclidean Lands felt like it had the tactical puzzling action formula down to pretty much a tee. What could Skies add to what had come before? That's the question we're going to try and answer in this here review.

Skies are limited

The first thing you're going to spot about Euclidean Skies is that the graphics have had an overhaul. Everything is painted in gorgeous hues, and many of the levels are guarded by grotesque skeletons that loom over the blocks you're going to be manipulating.

In AR mode it looks even more impressive. The castles you're trying to play around with hover in the middle of the room, and you can walk around them to get a better view of where you're trying to get to and what's attempting to stop you.

Technical improvements aside, from the first level you're going to get a good feel for the additions here. The biggest one, in pretty much every sense of that word, is the scope of the experience. Where before the levels were small and pretty self explanatory, there's a beefiness to them here that the original didn't have.

Euclidean Skies iOS review screenshot - A level about pushing buttons

What do I mean by that? Well, in simple terms, there's just more blocks to move about. Before where you were twisting around cubes, here things are more complex. Twisting blocks can latch them onto different planes, and that means things will be different the next time you move them.

There's less hand-holding as well. The first few levels have guides to show you what you need to poke and in which direction, but after that you're left to figure things out on your own. And there's plenty here for you to try and figure out.

For one thing, some enemies can now be crushed by moving them into a place they can't physically fit. Other guards and assassins are more resilient, and if you try the same tricks on them they'll just nudge harmlessly against the obstacle and you won't be able to finish off the rearrangement you're trying out.

Euclidean Skies iOS review screenshot - A dark level with a guarding skeleton

You can attack guards on different planes if you're smart too, shifting them into position so that when you life your finger up to finish the move, you'll slice them into dust as well. There's not much more satisfying in the gaming world than that to be honest.

But there are problems here. Sometimes it feels a lot like you're getting through levels with trial and error. Rather than 'eureka' moments, there are some 'oh, okay' moments, where you'll bodge a solution that opens the door you need to escape through. You can move on, but these moments lack the closure of knowing how and why you solved a particular puzzle.

The controls can be a little on the fiddly side if you're playing on a smaller screen as well. It's not the end of the world, since it's unlikely making a mistake is going to get you killed that often, but it's another frustration that stains the otherwise impressive feeling of polish that Euclidean Skies has.

Keep watching the skis

Which brings us back to our original question - were we right to be excited about Euclidean Skies? Well, when it gets things right it's every bit as entertaining as its predecessor. In fact, when it's really on form, it's even better than Euclidean Lands. But it's shackled a little by those problems.

In a linear game like Euclidean Skies, being in control at all times is key. When you accidentally come across a solution, or your big human fingers poke the wrong thing and all of your plans come undone, it feels like a kick in the chest in the worst possible way.

Euclidean Skies iOS review screenshot - Facing two enemies

That's not to say that you shouldn't grab the game. You really should, because those moments of brilliance are worth seeing. It's just a shame that Euclidean Skies makes a few missteps, because without them we'd probably be talking about a game of the year contender.

Even still, the game comes highly recommended. It could have been perfect, but instead it's just really, really good. And that's not something that we're not going to be complaining about for too long.

Euclidean Skies featured review - "An almost stunning sequel with a few puzzling problems"

Euclidean Skies is really good. It could have been great, but don't let that put you off
Score
Harry Slater
Harry Slater
Harry used to be really good at Snake on the Nokia 5110. Apparently though, digital snake wrangling isn't a proper job, so now he writes words about games instead.