“And what is the use of a book,” thought Alice, “without pictures or conversations?”
Playing Metamorphosis is like going down the rabbit hole. Every moment, you discover a whole new world and delve even deeper into the pictures laid out in front of the player. Ovid Works have created a whimsical modern day classic that excites the imagination.
Metamorphosis is a surreal, puzzle adventure game. In spite of the mouthful, it will leave your jaw dropped. Developed by Ovid Works and published by All In! Games, Metamorphosis was released on August 12, 2020. It’s Ovid Works’ second big release and it gives hope to the young studio’s bright future.
You play as Gregor, waking up at the house of your friend, Joseph. You rummage around, finding a key to the next hallway where you slowly notice yourself shrinking to a stranger and smaller size. Eventually, you turn into a bug. It’s this confusion and mystery that sets the stage for the entire game.
The worldbuilding and surreal believability in Metamorphosis is beautiful. Underneath a simple desk drawer, you can find a whole unseen world of mysteries to explore. The developers took careful work into painting a vivid picture. Before stabilizing at the player’s regular bug size, they shrink to the size less than that of the thinness of a sheet of paper. At this size, a universe is painted out in front of you. Fractures of graphite and ink float in front of you like an asteroid belt. You jump from rock to rock, following the voice that leads you to your new life as that of a bug. A new job with benefits of course. At some point, I came across a bug-sized jazz club inside of a record player. Bugs socialized and drank, dancing to the tune of the loud music. By the time I convinced the insect club owner to let me turn down the music so I could get the human lawyer’s attention and eventually get a certificate that lets me fully enter bug society at The Tower and maybe regain my humanity, I realized I had already fallen down the rabbit hole
But as with any puzzle game, the meat is in the mysteries. Metamorphosis puts you in front of seemingly simple obstacles like lamps and swells them to epic proportions.
The progression in Metamorphosis allows for a natural buildup of the game’s mechanics. At some point, you walk across a piece of butter, realizing you gain the ability to stick to the side of walls, climbing like Spider-Man. At first, it’s only used vertically, but eventually you need to climb the sides of a cave wall to circumvent a river. The game uses simple mechanics like sticky legs and builds upon it more and more, letting the player use their imagination to brandish their toolbox and solve the puzzles naturally. For one puzzle, I encountered a locked door with a clock overhead. By looking around I discovered an open/closed hours sign. Then, by exploring the area, I found the gearbox attached to the clock. Earlier in the playthrough, I had learned I could revolve cylindrical objects by running on them in place. I climbed up to the gearbox and had the idea of setting it to the time by turning the clock gears. Once it reached the indicated time, the doors sprung open and I was able to progress. It’s my worst fear that a puzzle game either forces the solution down your throat, or pompously doesn’t give enough information. Metamorphosis strikes the ideal balance.
There aren’t many games I would recommend to anybody. Usually there’s a stipulation of genre or specific taste that prevents me from bringing up a certain title. But Metamorphosis has something for everybody. From the vast new worlds it paints, to the intuitive puzzle design, or even just the dry humor of a polite British conversation between a lawyer and his unsatisfied client, Metamorphosis displays its strength with excellence.
9.5/10
Check Out the Metamorphosis Trailer:
Metamophosis is available for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC via Steam.
For more information, please visit: https://metamorphosisgame.com/
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My name is Devon Huge. I'm passionate about writing, art, games, and lists that are one item too long.
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