I have been playing for about an hour, and my current impression is that this is a very zen, very beautiful and a very challenging side-scrolling platformer. It plays with the keyboard (you can map the keys to suit) or a gamepad.

The challenge is heightened by the fact that you can't save at will so incremental advancements can't be saved and reloaded in order to try again. In the first few puzzles it didn't really matter. The platforming challenges involved limited steps and failing just meant trying those limited steps again. Even if I died, (mainly through falling or drowning, but once by being eaten by a dog) the game just returned me to just before the challenge that thwarted me in order to try again.

However, I am currently battling a puzzle involving moving platforms and boxes, which seems to require quite a number of separate steps and mucking it up at any stage means completely starting over. The margins for error are slim, so having finally got one box on top of the other after numerous attempts, my one go at performing the next step went awry and I am back to having to get the box piled up all over again. Assuming of course I have the 'solution' correct.

This is not unusual compared to other platformers I have played, and I quite like the challenge involved. But it will certainly mean I dip in and out as the frustration ebbs and flows.

Which is the complete opposite of zen, but everything else about it emanates that vibe. It looks a treat, the product of impressionist-based styles blended with pencil and brush illustrations and sounds almost as good. A child awakened by the last leaf, it aspires to be a unique experience for every player. You can read more about that in Ana's announcement; I won't know how it well it does until I get to the end.

Which I will do (he said hopefully) but it will likely take a while. 🙂