Review #64 - Water 16 By Sto4!

Water 16 is a game created by sto4

Introduction

Hello, and welcome to my 64th review, and today I'll be reviewing Water 16 by sto4. Sto4 is a master at making puzzle platform games, and normally includes either new or rare puzzles in them. As this game is featured, I was expecting another great game here from sto, but lets see if that was the case.

Review

Water 16 is a challenging puzzle game which makes you have to think about what you need to do. It hasn't got a load of obvious puzzles chucked in, you need to take each puzzle step by step and think about what you have to do. There were a couple of puzzles in there I found that were new ones which I like to see, and they weren't literally impossible to beat either. In some new puzzles, they are so hard that you need to look at a walkthrough, but in Water 16, if you thought about what you needed to do, then you could work out how to get to the next part by yourself. What I disliked about the puzzles however is that the design of some of them weren't thought about very carefully. Personally, I think that a couple of the puzzles were a bit sloppy and didn't always work out properly, meaning that you might have to start the puzzle or maybe even the whole game again in some cases. Overall though, the puzzles were great.

Water 16 also has some fantastic scenery. It has a very dark setting with some commonly used decoration features included such as torches and statues. The dark setting was a good choice because it made some of the puzzles seem harder as well. I think that the torches (power ups) let down the game because without them, they could have made some of the puzzles less obvious yet still possible to work out by yourself. Also, the lack of light also meant some of the wall descriptions were hard to read. One of them I could hardly get in a good position to read so I think torches (wall decorations) could have been placed near that description.

Water 16 also had a bit of a storyline put into it as well, which can be difficult to put in to a puzzle game. Basically, you've got to try and find some water to survive, which is an original storyline in my opinion and isn't just your everyday, you've got to find a crystal to escape. I've also noticed that he didn't use any talking characters, which I think is a great option because it suits the smoothing music and the peaceful setting. If there were talking characters, then I think it'd ruin the storyline a bit. I was impressed with the story in Water 16.

Sto4 has also thought carefully about the map in Water 16. Instead of having a load of puzzles bunched together, he has decided to spread them out across the map a little. I also like how he has decided to have power ups to a puzzle in a different part of the map. Instead of having to go from one point to another, you've got to go across the game to get certain stuff for a puzzle. Sto4 has also done an excellent job with the planning of the map here.

Positives:

- Decent storyline

- Creative puzzles

- Well planned out map

Negatives:

- Sloppy design in some puzzles

- Not enough light near descriptions

- Some puzzles didn't always work out properly

Ratings (Out of five):

Overall, this game deserves a 4.5/5. Water 16 has really impressed me. It is creative and includes some fantastic puzzles. Although it's not his best piece of work, it is certainly something he should be proud of and it is definitely worth the feature. Fantastic job, sto, and I recommend that you try out this game if you haven't done so yet.