#JakeReviewsItch
And Yet It Moves
by Broken Rules
Price (US): $9.99
Included In: Bundle for Racial Equality and Justice, Bundle of Ukraine
Genre: Platformer
Pitch: Rotate the world in 90° increments, shifting gravity to navigate tight, treacherous paths. A 2D puzzle-platformer.
My expectations: I played the demo for And Yet It Moves in 2009. There was a lot of buzz around it, which baffled me.
Fourteen years is a long time, though. Maybe I'm ready to appreciate the brilliance now.
I wasn't aware this was a Broken Rules joint. I sort of liked Chasing Aurora. I was far less keen on Old Man's Journey, but it had its moments. There's talent within this team. I want to be a fan.
Review:
I fall.
The ground rushes toward my feet, but it won’t be the ground for much longer. I swing the world clockwise. I whip past other surfaces, walls becoming ceilings whenever I please, gaining momentum all the while. I’m going faster miles an hour, and it feels amazing.
Fast, joyful movement is possible in And Yet It Moves, and it is met with stern punishment. The protagonist is not a capable Super Mario-type, but a lanky, bumbling slowpoke who shatters upon landing anything except the shortest, gentlest hop—and since twisting gravity is this game’s defining features, look forward to a whole lotta tedious, cautious dropping.
Surfaces are rarely level, so whether or not a landing will count is determined by a sketchy, overactive physics model. At the end of a tricky section, I never think, “I’m so smart!” or “I did that so skillfully!” It’s always, “Huh. Got lucky that time,” and “Glad I don’t have to do that again.”
Occasionally. the player character can hang out in a safe spot while turning the world to move objects or animals, and most of those puzzles work. The game’s full of winning ideas; they’re just hampered by a loser character.
+ Flipping gravity to solve a physics puzzle is satisfying when it works.
+ Some nice visuals late in the game.
+ Frequent checkpoints. Unlimited lives.
+ There's no consistent definition of up an down. You might expect to get lost easily in a game like this, but the level design does a good job of keeping players on the right track.
– This character. It's like they're running along the bottom of the ocean, weighed down by cement shoes, and honestly? Deserved. There is a reason tall and thin aren't adjectives you can use for most beloved platform game heroes.
– The physics.
– The uneven, unpredictable surfaces, especially in concert with the physics and the character's cumbersome shape.
– I had a much better once I muted the pink...plink...plink-plink-incoming-Skype-call soundtrack and turned on real music. (And now you know how that Modern Lovers link crept into this review.)
🧡🧡🤍🤍🤍
Bottom Line: Full of promise; overflowing with frustration. Irritating, unpredictable controls can be the death of a platformer or a physics puzzler. And Yet It Moves is both.
It's certainly possible to get through it, and speedrunners might get a kick out of mastering its quirks, but reaching the end isn't isn't very satisfying when it feels like each accomplishment has more to do with luck than skill.
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