A really, really inventive puzzle game centered around language

Your objective is to climb the tower, with different civilization having taken residence at each floor, but the catch is that you don't know their language, each having a completely unique one. And so, the gameplay is centered around figuring out what each glyph means in order to communicate and figure out what to do.
There are also some stealth sections for some reason and they never are good, but they are also pretty easy so eh

The loop is overrall pretty enjoyable thanks to your character writing down prompts after seeing a certain set of characters, allowing you to definitely confirm the meaning of each glyph, removing the frustration of getting a meaning wrong for too long.
The maps CAN get a bit confusing to navigate however, as it's pretty common to get turned around or have your sense of space being played with things that don't *quite* look physically coherent, but it's not a big deal, a few more signs would've helped.

When it comes to controls, there isn't much to talk about, but the point-and-click movement is badly setup. It isn't a big deal most of the time, but it's a bit annoying to have your character slow down for no good reason during the sometimes wonky pathfinding. Also the camera is fixed with triggers to make it move, but they aren't placed very smartly so you often have to awkwardly walk to the edge of the screen before being able to see the door you want to click on two meters across because the camera decided to be unhelpful.

The languages have some good variety overrall, sometimes having novel grammar, which makes your brain work more. It is very satisfying to see the pieces line up one by one, having the game translate the sentences properly for you when all the characters in them are know. There are even moments where looking at the way the characters are written can tell you their meaning better than trying to guess from context clues, or find relationships in meanings, like having a character you know being used with a radical you don't, and guessing the added meaning it creates. Like the character for "plant" with the radical for "place" making "garden". Each culture even refer to each other by different names! Giving you an idea of the relationship between them.
However, not only are most of the languages too similar to English grammar-wise, mostly only have minor twists on things like plural, the last few become way too easy to figure out, the last one being practically handed to you, which just feels like the devs dropped the ball in favor of the surprise story third act.

Now about the story, it's not very deep, but it's wholesome. It's about connecting the different cultures together that have become separate and sorta antagonistic towards each other due to certain events.
You mostly see this through the "side" content (that's required for the true ending), but otherwise most of it is offloaded towards the end of the game where the puzzle aspect of the game is over, so it's mostly an aesthetic trip.

Which isn't so bad because the game is quite pretty! It uses a lot of mideastern imagery (one language literally looks like arabic) with a good variety of vistas, from dark to light to esoteric, no two culture look the same and it makes you more engaged in each one.
The animations and models can look a bit rough *sometimes* but it's really nitpicking at this point.

The game isn't very long but it's a really enjoyable experience despite the small dip at the end (which, let's be honest, is very common in games in general). I'd say the first floor is the strongest part of the game, but it's not to say it isn't worth playing the rest, quite the opposite!
It's a good puzzle game

A really, really inventive puzzle game centered around language Your objective is to climb the tower, with different civilization having taken residence at each floor, but the catch is that you don't know their language, each having a completely unique one. And so, the gameplay is centered around figuring out what each glyph means in order to communicate and figure out what to do. There are also some stealth sections for some reason and they never are good, but they are also pretty easy so eh The loop is overrall pretty enjoyable thanks to your character writing down prompts after seeing a certain set of characters, allowing you to definitely confirm the meaning of each glyph, removing the frustration of getting a meaning wrong for too long. The maps CAN get a bit confusing to navigate however, as it's pretty common to get turned around or have your sense of space being played with things that don't *quite* look physically coherent, but it's not a big deal, a few more signs would've helped. When it comes to controls, there isn't much to talk about, but the point-and-click movement is badly setup. It isn't a big deal most of the time, but it's a bit annoying to have your character slow down for no good reason during the sometimes wonky pathfinding. Also the camera is fixed with triggers to make it move, but they aren't placed very smartly so you often have to awkwardly walk to the edge of the screen before being able to see the door you want to click on two meters across because the camera decided to be unhelpful. The languages have some good variety overrall, sometimes having novel grammar, which makes your brain work more. It is very satisfying to see the pieces line up one by one, having the game translate the sentences properly for you when all the characters in them are know. There are even moments where looking at the way the characters are written can tell you their meaning better than trying to guess from context clues, or find relationships in meanings, like having a character you know being used with a radical you don't, and guessing the added meaning it creates. Like the character for "plant" with the radical for "place" making "garden". Each culture even refer to each other by different names! Giving you an idea of the relationship between them. However, not only are most of the languages too similar to English grammar-wise, mostly only have minor twists on things like plural, the last few become way too easy to figure out, the last one being practically handed to you, which just feels like the devs dropped the ball in favor of the surprise story third act. Now about the story, it's not very deep, but it's wholesome. It's about connecting the different cultures together that have become separate and sorta antagonistic towards each other due to certain events. You mostly see this through the "side" content (that's required for the true ending), but otherwise most of it is offloaded towards the end of the game where the puzzle aspect of the game is over, so it's mostly an aesthetic trip. Which isn't so bad because the game is quite pretty! It uses a lot of mideastern imagery (one language literally looks like arabic) with a good variety of vistas, from dark to light to esoteric, no two culture look the same and it makes you more engaged in each one. The animations and models can look a bit rough *sometimes* but it's really nitpicking at this point. The game isn't very long but it's a really enjoyable experience despite the small dip at the end (which, let's be honest, is very common in games in general). I'd say the first floor is the strongest part of the game, but it's not to say it isn't worth playing the rest, quite the opposite! It's a good puzzle game