Firmament

A graphically gorgeous descendant of Myst, paradoxically limited by its own ambitions.

Firmament was an extremely meditative puzzle solving experience. I applaud Cyan Worlds for continuing to design these games without flashy ruckus, time limits, or deaths to speak of. It’s a peaceful journey through vast and mysterious lands full of wild and interesting machinery built into beautiful natural surroundings.

Firmament is an immersive experience that facilitates a beautiful, albeit lonely world to explore. This is brought down by lacklustre storytelling and bland narration. With little to show outside of admittedly great audio and sound design, Firmament fails to hold its own amongst great puzzle games. The beautifully quiet and immersive atmosphere of a world abandoned will keep players immersed, unsettled and intrigued. Unfortunately, its tedious gameplay and puzzle-solving present a tired and uninspired experience that will have you looking towards Cyan World's more notable titles.

An intriguing exploratory puzzler that nails the aesthetic and the unnerving feeling of being alone. Some technical issues mar an otherwise great experience with a quirky, interesting story.

Firmament's deficient storytelling, bland and sparse worlds, clumsy primary tool, and occasionally broken puzzles mean it is not worth playing, even if you are a fan of Cyan's previous adventures.

At the end of the day, there's no doubt that Firmament is a Cyan Worlds game. However, the gaming landscape has evolved considerably since the company's original successes. What we have here is a game whose potential is diminished by an overly restrictive main mechanic leading to often tedious interactions. The mysterious narrative universe, for its part, is certainly one of the game's qualities, but the technical execution and navigation of the environments fail to support the rare moments of genius. In short, this is a recommendable game for 90s adventure game enthusiasts, but like the latter, Firmament lacks finesse and elegance in its design.