Scorn is an experience, a good and very unique one at that! For me, reviewing Scorn means I should describe and rate its 5 main aspects, which, in my opinion, are the following:


Worldbuilding & atmosphere
At the forefront of the Scorn experience is its worldbuilding and atmosphere. The world of Scorn has been deliberately and meticulously crafted to be a layered, biomechanical spectacle.

While the surface layer is a vast, barren landscape consisting of little more than an eerily empty desert shrouded in the foggy whispers of death; the sparringly placed (or perhaps simply the few remaining) structures speak tales of a once great civilisation of intelligent humans or humanoid creatures that has abandoned this place long ago. For reasons one can only speculate.

Inside these structures we find elaborate, carefully crafted interiors of mechanical excellence, covered in organic tissue that lives and breathes. Inspired by life and the natural order—birth, death, and rebirth—it is exceptionally fitting that these ancient structures now lie in decay while fleshy, cancerous growths and twisted, hostile lifeforms have overtaken the vast halls and countless chambers once called home by the much more civilised race that originally designed and built it.

With this combination of pristine Alien-looking architecture layered with organic but unwelcoming life thriving in its own way within the remnants of a long-forgotten history, Scorn has managed to make each corner of the world incite a very primal feeling of terror, fear, and a general feeling of unease. Never quite sure what new horror lies around the corner, and yet the only way forward is to push through.


Level design
As one might expect, the worldbuilding directly translates into the level design. Each major area in the world of Scorn feels like one giant organism of interconnected pathways in a labyrinth-like structure. The great level of detail put into every sinister crevice of the world makes for a great exploration experience.

Something I really loved is that on top of this, Scorn does not hold your hand along the way. It is entirely possible to get lost or even miss important areas, though fortunately never in a way that you get stuck later on. This intentional lack of guidance deepens the feeling of being alone in an unforgiving world where nobody is on your side and the only way to survive is to be deliberate and smart with everything you do.


Soundtrack & ambient sounds
Everything mentioned above is compounded by the sound design. The OST—music consisting largely of droning notes and atmospheric background noise with thumping, metallic groans, ritualistic chanting, and more mixed in at the right moments—adds to the dark and unsettling aesthetic of the world around you. Sometimes even the absence of music stirs the feelings of despair and loneliness you'll find yourself become familiar with as you progress through the path laid out before you.

Add the ambient sounds and background noise of this frightening and dangerous realm, and you got yourself a soundscape that grips you tight and deepens your immersion into the world. You never know for sure if the sound you just heard is an active threat, or just an ambient noise of the eroding realm being slowly consumed by a fleshy, organic evil.


Gameplay
Something that struck me by surprise is that Scorn is, at its core, a puzzle game (a genre I love). The physical puzzles aren't too complicated most of the time, but there is a second type of puzzle element: safely traversing the labyrinths. Enemies might crawl in and out of the organic material on the floor and walls, ammo and health is somewhat sparce, blocked pathways have to be cleared, unlockables are sometimes hidden, etc. It all makes for a solid mix of exploration, problem-solving, problem-avoiding, resource management, and occassional combat.

Worth noting is that while as a gamer I'd say the combat and some of the puzzle mechanics feel a bit clunky, as a puzzle and storytelling enthusiast I feel that the way these things are handled makes perfect sense given the biology of who we play as, their state of mind, and the unfamiliar biomechanical nature of every tool or weapon available. It increases the immersion and sense of urgency/danger.


Storytelling
Thankfully there are no quests, marked objectives, dialogue, or other such traditional aspects of a videogame storytelling. However, the storyline is absolutely there if you pay attention to the environment and its inhabitants, the recurring symbolism in all its many forms, and use your imagination to fill in the (intentional) gaps. It's a worthwhile storyline as well, I might add!


In conclusion
• Worldbuilding & atmosphere: rich and beautiful in a hauntingly disgusting way; 11/10
• Level design: perfectly matches the worldbuilding and serves the game's purposes well; 9/10
• Soundtrack & ambient sounds: deeply unsettling, dark, atmospheric; 10/10
• Gameplay: good mix of elements, could be smoother but it adds to the experience; 8/10
• Storytelling: environmental, nuanced but very intentional, minimalistic but profound; 9/10

Overal: 100% recommended to experience Scorn for yourself!

As a puzzle/adventure game enthusiast, The Witness had been on my wishlist for a good while. The only thing holding me back from purchasing was a lack of time to spend gaming, but when I finally did see a window to play.. I am so happy this is the game I bought!

Not to make writing a review easier on myself, but I've continuously found Thekla Inc.'s own description to be the most accurate basis to explain why I love this game so much: "This game respects you as an intelligent player and it treats your time as precious. There's no filler.". I will first elaborate on the last sentence, then later on I will talk about the 'intelligent player' aspect of it all.

Every puzzle mechanic, every area, every new creative use of colour, every bit of environmental storytelling.. this game indeed has no filler.. It's all made to spark a new feeling of excitement, of wonder! No one element is the same as another, be it the theme of an area, the visual puzzles' setups in that area, the main puzzles themselves, the decor, and more!

The main gameplay does not have a strictly set path along which to progress. To elaborate on that, every puzzle mechanic has its own (artistically) themed area that introduces it, where it teaches you its inner workings through progressively more difficult puzzles, but you can go to (almost) any such area straight from the tutorial environment. This freedom is something I did not expect and, though a bit confusing at times, it ultimately made the game flow very well later on! Now I know all the ways different areas are connected and can find my way around the whole island, and believe me.. there's a heck of a lot of paths you can take that bring you to dozens of uniquely crafted areas!
You might think each area being so unique means they're in a sense self-contained, but nothing could be further from the truth.. A very positive and mind-blowing realization I had while playing through the game is that every area, while distinctly different, plays its own part in overarching puzzle mechanics and story elements that all tie everything together! Everything is where it should be, and evidently with good reason. You can tell a lot of thought has been put into making and designing this game, from the main elements to the secondary elements to the secrets!

Next, I would now like to touch on the main gameplay itself, the various puzzles within each area, the part that I find the game respects you in as an intelligent player. Without spoilers, all I will say is that there are a surprising amount of different mechanics to learn, all of which are uniquely challenging and fun to learn about! And the further you dive into the game, the more you will find different mechanics mixed within the same puzzle, which creates a whole new level of challenge! And that isn't even including the way the environment comes into play to give these puzzles their final edge.. It's truly an amazing experience to have puzzles be great on their own, great together, and make use of the surroundings by incorporating them into the puzzles!

And the last thing I'd like to talk about is the number of secrets this game has! It's astonishing how much there truly is to discover if you have a knack for noticing details, finding patterns, and love exploring! All these secrets are entirely optional, they are in no way necessary to reach the conventional ending, but damn if they aren't worth finding and completing nonetheless for the completionists among us..

Final verdict: easily a 9/10 puzzle/adventure game, coming from someone that has loved these genres for years, with a surprising and delightful amount of mechanics, challenges, visual splendor, story, and secrets! Would be 10/10 for me if there were more than 2 Steam achievements ;)