Pneuma: Breath of Life Review

"Beautiful, and Simplistic"

Campaign

Ever asked yourself the question of which role you're really taking on while playing as a character in a video game. While this question and some other higher ones are covered throughout this journey. Pneuma is split into six separate chapters that vary in difficulty and have you moving across a series of puzzles. While most are based in simplistic terms there are some that may take you an extra second or so to figure out.

When playing through I really didn't have much of an issue with any of the puzzles though there were times where I could see things being somewhat confusing to some. There was also an issue where some puzzles were a tad awkward to manipulate like floor matching or growing blocks. The only top issues I had were when doing the secret bonus puzzles it seemed that were hidden on some levels. Most though are visual or logic questions like viewing things in certain orders. The levels were well designed with some very beautiful and majestic levels yet I found most of them to be quite quick.

It's a balance of whether or not you move through the levels with ease or run across some thought provoking areas as you could technically speed run the entire game in a couple hours of time. While moving along you will be given a constant rambling or commentary which brings some excitement and comedy to the actions being completed. The story was sweet with some great twists, though I don't believe it would be something players would come back to make a second run of the campaign.

Gameplay

There's not a lot to Pneuma in terms of complex gameplay as it really is an exploration and movement based game. Most puzzles are manipulated by lines of sight or movement. From there it was minor interactive clicks to match things, but I'll definitely give it to them that there were some very creative puzzle designs within the game.

The graphics are actually another interesting aspect as every area looks stunning with some amazing textures. This leads to some rather long loading screens at times considering the length of the levels, but it's worth it.

Pneuma: Breath of Life Screenshot

The Conclusion

When you look at Pneuma, the graphics certainly are glorious and many of the puzzles are quite interesting while being simple in basic design. I did have some issues with the loading time and a few puzzles were sort of awkward when solving them, though the for the most part it went well.

The experience was something different and many will enjoy the playthrough though yet again I can't imagine a lot will go back for a second play. Will also mention that the achievements were fairly simple to unlock for those that seek them and just some minor extra play will be required for the bonus secret puzzles.


Pneuma: Breath of Life Review on Xbox One
Review Code Provided by Deco Digital

Rating Overall: 7.5

Gamerheadquarters Reviewer Jason Stettner