Waking (2020)

Ultimately, Waking is its own worst enemy, since it seems confused as to what kind of game/experience it wants itself to be. The memory sections are interesting to say the least, but Waking has burdened itself with some really average action sequences.

Waking is a game that attempts to be two very different things, and for the most part, it succeeds quite well. If you're willing to devote a little bit of time to learning its quirky systems, you're in for a potentially rewarding experience. An experience which encourages you to close your eyes, take a deep breath, and go back into your memories.

Waking struggles with bland gameplay and disjointed challenges, despite its deep themes. The concept had potential, but the execution falls short.

Overall Waking tries, but it's not enough. It tries with the excellent meditative phases, it tries by building an action RPG apparatus based on personal emotions and our intimate knowledge of ourselves, which will lead us to transubstantiate our fears and our hopes on the screen. It tries with a more than enough artistic sector, albeit not exciting. Not new, but well done and accompanied by a good soundtrack. It tries but falls into transposing the idea into practice. Its gameplay is why Waking fails. Coarse, simplistic and limiting, as it should never be something that aims to illustrate the human soul. The two-meter-by-two-meter anthropomorphic deer can continue to tap me on the shoulder on my deathbed, but I don't know if I want too much to follow him.

The concept is outstanding and I wanted to love it, I really did. Aside from the numerous issues I’ve already mentioned, the biggest downfall is that it just didn’t know what kind of game it wanted to be.