Schim analysis for Xbox Series

When creativity fails, indies come to the rescue. At Xbox Area, we love analyzing all types of proposals, whether they’re big triple-As with a bloated budget or more “collected” proposalsoften created by a single developer. Today, it’s time to talk about this second aspect of video games. Follow me to see what I thought gesture in this analysis in which I will explain everything that the game offers us.

In this case, there are two developers of SCHiM (with publication of Very pleasant And ENJOYMENT): Ewoud van der Werf and Nils Slijkerman. The two creative minds came together to let their imaginations run wild and what they come up with is a very personal game in which We will be the “figure” of a shadow and we will move on stage.

A story to your taste

Story-wise, it’s hard to place yourself when talking about one of those games in which we have no text or voice and you have to “interpret” everything. Of course, the starting point is clear: you are a “chemist” separate from your human. What is a Schim? Well, it would be something like the spirit of an object or a living being, a kind of soul. It is not only present in people, but also in all objects. And they cannot get rid of it. As soon as we start, we see how our chemism separates from us and we will become like this creature.

From there, The author’s intention to recreate various situations that we, as humans, face from childhood to maturity is recognized.. Of course, each of us will be able to adapt a little the meaning of everything we see on the screen, often referring to our own experiences. It is not a story that marks you, but it is sensitive enough to feel empathy for the creature and the human.

In what is strictly playable, as I said, what are we going to do It’s basically jumping from shadow to shadow in scenarios, from point A to point B.. The gameplay is very simple and explained very quickly. We will be able to jump and we will have to jump between the shadows cast by all the objects and people on a stage to reach our goal. By pressing the RT button, it will show where we have to go, so we will have to go there, little by little and enjoying the scenery, to get there. Once there, let’s say that this scenario ends and another begins. And we have many scenarios in the game. Of a fairly short duration, you will feel a comfortable pace of progression in the game.

Mechanics introduced especially at the beginning

As we progress through the game, interesting mechanics will be added like being able to take advantage of umbrellas or certain panels to push yourself much further than you would with a simple jump. In fact, you can only do 2 jumps, a “big” one and another later much smaller one. If we do these two jumps and stay in the sun, we will return to the previous point. This is very well timed since it will not mean restarting the stage from the beginning, but will most likely be a few meters further from where you “died”.

As I said, Little by little, the range of options widens and the gameplay opens up a little more. In addition to this bigger jump in other objects, we will have the possibility of changing the light of a traffic light to make pedestrians or cars pass, depending on whether we want to immerse ourselves in one shadow or another. To this, we will also add animal shadows and something else that has its “subtleties”. Despite the efforts made by the game to add these options and open up this gameplay, I think there comes a point in the game where it becomes repetitive. and the fatigue and the feeling of always doing the same thing are noticeable.

SChiM is perhaps a little repetitive in the final stretch

On the other hand, in more intimate and personal games like this one, you can’t add excessive mechanics that end up leading to an amalgamation of things without personality. But perhaps a shorter duration would have been better or a dosage of these novelties, since almost all of them are introduced at the beginning of the game.

We will also have many collectibles spread throughout almost every scenario. Finding them will of course require you to deviate from the main path, and some will be very well hidden. By pausing the game, we will know how many collectibles this phase has. And for those who like achievements, there will be some that will be particularly resistant to them, such as finishing the game without performing a second jump.

In short, and to conclude Apart from the gameplay, it’s simple but addictive.which will sometimes force you to think carefully about your moves before executing them. It is only marred by a certain repetitiveness in the latter part of the match.

In the audiovisual and technical aspects…

Entering the audiovisual sectionthe game uses a very simple color palette, logical with the gameplay, which seeks to highlight the shadows towards which we can move. With a predominance of yellow and black, a game awaits us with a notable artistic level and in which the ambient music accompanies in the right way all our experience.

On the technical sideas what is seen on the screen does not require power, the game worked perfectly. Of course, while we assume this will be something that will be polished on launch day, we have had a pair of “bugs” that forced us to restart some scenarios. Basically some cinematic sequences that did not start at the end of the phase, but these are minor aspects that do not tarnish the good performance. The use of Quick summary We had no problems with this and the game comes with texts (only in the menu) in Spanish.

SChiM analysis: conclusions

Conclusion, gesture offers us a simple and straightforward gameplaybut entertaining at the same time. With a very marked personality in the audiovisual aspect, its mechanics are fluid and playful. This, yes, In the later part of the game you might feel some fatigue due to its repetitiveness.. Perhaps fewer settings or a more measured duration would have been the icing that a good cake lacks.

SChiM will be available on July 18 on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, Nintendo Switch and PC. We end by reminding you and encouraging you to try the game, because, if you are subscribed to Xbox Game Pass, This will be included, release, in its vast catalog.