Contrast

Contrast is a game full of heart, beauty, and at least a few excellent puzzles.

Wonky physics and prosaic puzzles prevent Contrast from making the most of its intriguing concept and intoxicating atmosphere.

As its name suggests, Contrast is a game of light and dark: a puzzle platformer with two well-realised female leads that occasionally buckles under the weight of its own mechanics. It's beautiful in parts, but also a little broken; I admire it for the first and can almost forgive it the second.

Contrast is a frequently beautiful mess

Contrast has a lot of heart, but its protagonist and environments lack some soul. It's not the best puzzle platformer you'll ever play, but it's far from the worst.

Lovely story and atmosphere marred by bad pacing and some broken puzzles

There really isn't a whole lot to Contrast throughout its roughly three hour tale. It's a perfect game to pick up on PlayStation Plus for free, but if you're a non-subscriber or you're musing on another platform, I'd wait for a sale. It does a nice job of weaving a sweet little tale of a young girl and her struggle to maintain her innocence in a (literal and figurative) dark and dreary world, but it's nothing special, and nothing you haven't really seen before.

Its setting and art style are as romantic as its storyline is dark. The dichotomies of #d and 2D and light and dark complement the game well.

A relatively short excursion into the lives of Didi and her imaginary friend is ruined by an astounding number of bugs. While Contrast is worth completing for the sake of seeing the gorgeous scenery and hearing the exceptional soundtrack, don't expect to have any real burning desire to play this game again over the coming months.

Like the shadows that inspire the game, Contrast just doesn't have much substance.