Semblance was a game that I had trouble putting down, and then I would get stuck and throw my Switch down in anger. Players will have to fashion trampolines, create shelters from lasers, and deform Squish to solve the many puzzles in Semblance. This leads to intricate puzzles that involve changing shape from tall and skinny to short and flat to get through the level. Another interesting gameplay feature is the ability of Squish to smash into hard objects to change his shape. Strategically placed lasers that reset deformations throw a nice wrinkle into solving quite a few puzzles later in the game. Each world introduces a new gameplay mechanic. Squish's journey gets more and more complicated as he navigates his way through three forests. Early on, deformation of levels focuses on making a platform higher, or setting up a wall with indentations for wall-jumping. Squish is able to dash as a special move, and can also shape the level around him. Squish is born from the world of Semblance and his main goal is too remove all that is hard from their squishy land. He makes some noises, but there is no dialogue and he is certainly a voiceless hero. Squish is a gelatinous blob that players control on screen. The game also doesn't penalize death, which is a good thing as players will die a bunch trying to solve later puzzles. Instead of smashing my Nintendo Switch with a rock when I got stuck on a specific pink orb, I would move to another part of the world. This is a great way to deal with rage-quitters like myself. Eventually players must gather all the pink orbs to complete the world, but they can do it in whatever order they feel like. Semblance encourages players to explore the world in a non-linear fashion. There is a super minimal tutorial built into the first level, and there is a delightful element of discovery and exploration that occurs as you play through each scene, and world.

The game doesn't hold your hand at all as players learn a set of systems that all work together to force them to solve a diverse array of problems thrown at them. Nyamakop intertwine the player and each screen's design into a toolset required to solve each puzzle. The level design in Semblance is outstanding.

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