Mesoké

If you're looking for a relaxing game then Mesoke fits the bill, especially if you like chasing achievements because that is the main driving force behind game play. Otherwise, you might find it a little boring or pointless but I found it to be chilled and rewarding and I enjoyed trying to find the different statues and golden chis. It would suite someone who enjoys exploration and collecting. It's not going to be a game for everyone but what it does provide is executed well with beautiful environments and an easy to use flying mechanic. The main mechanic is flying around the environments collecting blue chi which is dotted around the landscape. In each area there are three golden chi and two paintings to collect also. These are usually in places out of the way which might require some skilful flying or exploration to locate and acquire. Collecting blue chi fills your chi meter which you can offload to upgrade your glider and open portals to different worlds. There is a main hub with all the portals, and you can move around on foot and access any of them, although some are locked behind doors which need a certain amount of gold chi to unlock. Each portal shows how many gold chi and paintings you have collected so it is a good reference point to see how you are progressing. The area is adorned with the paintings you collect and special statues which you might find on your travels. I would have appreciated some sort of counter to know how many chis you need to unlock something. There are blue and gold lines on the floor which sort of indicate your progress as they fill up but I had no idea how many more I needed. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3752958332 When I say there is an upgrade system on your glider, to be honest it is hardly noticeable. If you dump enough blue and gold chi then a new glider appears in the base but it doesn't look or behave much differently that I noticed. I might be wrong. Flying the glider is very pleasant and you do get the feeling of soaring through the air and once you are used to the controls you can master swooping down and getting those chi that are close to the ground or hidden in buildings. It feels quite satisfying, and due to some environments being quite compact and tightly packed, you can pull off some tricky manoeuvres which feel rewarding to complete. If you crash and burn, it takes some blue chi off your total and you can start the flight again. When flying in an environment, you can quickly jump to other worlds by flying through portals, although it's not always obvious which world you will transport to, but it feels exciting to suddenly appear in a different realm and deal with different obstacles. I wish that each world would show you how many gold chi and paintings you have collected on the game screen. I found this a constant frustration because you could find yourself transported to a world but you have no idea whether you need to collect anything and it can result in a lot of wasted time. I would also add some more music tracks because even though the soundtrack is beautiful, it is noticeable that it repeats a lot, plus I have heard this soundtrack in other games. Final Thoughts Mesoke is not an action game or much of an adventure but it is very relaxing and will suit people who like a chilled approach to gaming and enjoy achievement hunting. Flying around the different worlds with the relaxing soundtrack in the background is very soothing and time seems to disappear very quickly. Some of the gold chis require some fancy flying but the controls allow for this and never did I feel cheated. Thank you for reading my review. If you enjoyed it, please leave a like and follow IndieGems for more reviews like this one. We also have a YouTube channel if you would rather see game play footage with reviews.

Before writing this, I wanted to take my time going through the game and read the other reviews to make sure I'm not just parroting what someone else said. I did receive this game for free, though I would have been very happy paying for it and have been encouraging friends and coworkers to purchase it. First, I want to talk about the game itself. The controls are simple, but the mechanics have a little bit of complexity to them, which I found enriched my experience. The art style is gorgeous, and the music is beautiful. The different "levels" have a bit of variety to them, though there are some similarities among some of them. They're not overly expansive, though the collectibles can still be a bit tricky to find at times (I'm still hunting one last painting). Also, the driving factor of the gameplay loop is collecting. As a rule, I hate collectibles in games; however, this didn't bother me at all with Mesoké as I did not feel punished for moving on and coming back later. Oh, and the flying? I'm an overweight, middle aged dude with a bad knee; Mesoké made me feel graceful. Even after collecting everything, I'm going to continue coming back to this game to help ease my mind, to enjoy the experience, and to just fly. Second, I'd like to reframe the negative reviews that I read. They really could have been summarized as "I don't understand," and that's great. Mesoké isn't your typical game. You're not following a prescribed storyline, your hand isn't being held, and you're not exploring a vast world full of colorful characters and magical loot. You are, at least in my interpretation, growing. Mesoké told me a story I've lived, of finding a fresh new world of love, having that love grow, and, finally, losing that love. However, the story doesn't end there: in Mesoké, as in life, you have to pick up the pieces and learn to live on and continue growing. The first step of that is to feel your anger, feel your grief, and begin to heal yourself (as the Inner Temple is repaired). You find the energy within yourself to heal; you process those painted memories, you erect monuments to the climactic moments of life and love, and you keep moving forward. Third, my "complaints" about the game. I use the quotations around the word because I think what initially felt like shortcomings in Mesoké ended up feeling like further lessons to learn. There are only two songs. Those songs are beautiful, and I want more, but I grew to appreciate that repetition for two reasons: 1. beauty in life is limited, and learning to appreciate a little bit thoroughly is, I think, better than being beaten over the head with too much; and 2. I've seen the game described as "meditative" a few times, and that auditory repetition lends itself to a more pensive mindset. Also, I'd love more exotic locales in which to glide, but the previous statements hold true for that. I'd never heard of Mystik'Art before finding this game, but I'm looking forward to checking out more of their previous and future games. 9 purple snowcones.

A very nice meditative and relaxing game. No stress, just a really pleasant feeling flying in beautiful environments. This game might actually help with anxiety