It made its official PC debut last April Filament, puzzle title made by Beard Envy which we analyzed in a previous review. However, given today's release on Nintendo Switch, it's time to talk about it again and find out how the game behaves on the hybrid console of the Kyoto house. Without further ado, let's go to deepen again the excellent qualities of the work, this time both on TV and on portable screen.
Puzzles in portability with Filament
Given the very nature of Filament, which consists mostly of puzzles, this is no surprise its perfect adaptability to the Nintendo Switch and the portable features of the latter. Of course, Filament's puzzles are anything but a hit and run experience given their ingenuity and complexity, but also for this reason the portability of the hybrid console can help motivate players to tackle the title in small sips, calmly. and without haste.
The title itself still knows how to entertain the player, and you can tell by looking at both the puzzles themselves and their variety and the cryptic narrative. The latter follows the events of Alabaster, a spaceship whose crew has mysteriously disappeared. The protagonist, aided by the voice of a member of that crew, has the task of uncovering the mystery behind this event. In terms of gameplay, this will happen in the dialogues present whenever a block of puzzles is completed and, above all, thanks to collectibles and tiles that tell the story of each component of the Alabaster.
However, the data belonging to the crew must first be unlocked through computers, the operation of which may initially appear complicated and inaccessible. However, after getting used to it, everything will be more natural and it will always be a good experience to go and discover news and details about what happened in the past, eager to piece together the pieces of a cryptic and intricate plot.
As already mentioned, even the puzzles themselves know how to involve the player, who will hardly meet someone trivial or obvious, except for the dutiful "tutorial" levels that introduce a specific mechanic. Filament, even if in the first bars of the adventure you would not think, it does not always propose the same type of puzzles, but it manages very well to vary the dynamics of the game. It obviously does this by always maintaining its basic gameplay and gradually introducing new and fresh ideas that manage to break its repetition and give constant satisfaction to the user. The levels themselves, difficult, intelligent and capable of guaranteeing great satisfaction, are also successful in this last objective. There is, for the less patient, a setting that allows you to use some help to facilitate the resolution of the puzzles, however by using them it will not be possible to obtain the achievements of the game.
The exploration of the spaceship is also satisfying, in which the protagonist can move to reach the levels, find collectibles and objects, access the computers containing the data on the crew and, in general, learn more about the history of Alabaster and find out more about the places that characterize it.
Taking into consideration the genre it belongs to, the stylistic and graphic component of Filament is excellent and there are no particular defects to report in this sense. Even from a more technical point of view, speaking of controls and game view, the title performs well presenting useful aspects such as the possibility of speeding up the protagonist's run during the puzzles, as well as that of looking at the puzzles from a point of view " omniscient ”to better understand the structure of the level. Filament also has a very respectable sonic accompaniment. Although the tracks are not many and could be repetitive in the long run, they know how to create the perfect atmosphere for solving puzzles.
Ultimately, the Nintendo Switch version of Beard Envy's title is certainly promoted as well as the previous edition. Clever puzzles, great music, intriguing storytelling, and satisfying exploration combine to create a truly quality experience. The portability of the hybrid console then adds an extra touch to the whole, making the puzzle solving of the game enjoyable wherever you want and at any time.
