Superliminal (Nintendo Switch) Review

Awakening to the sound of an alarm then stepping out from the room into a strange complex, an old school stereo sits unattended and when interacted with a voice rings out: "Hello. My name is Doctor Glenn Pierce." This guiding voice aims to direct the player through this cognitive world inside their dreams, taking them step by step through a series of tests before returning them to the real world. At least, that was the plan. Alongside the good doctor, a robotic voice rings out clinical observations, as the character slips deeper and deeper, and the world distorts further and further.

The premise and mechanics are very simple and well conveyed in the opening segments. Picking up objects and moving them so that they seem larger relatively to the environment then releasing them grows them to the size they seem in that perspective. Conversely, holding an item and moving close to a wall or looking at the floor can make the object shrink. This basic mechanic is used with aplomb, managing to continue to deliver fresh takes on the puzzles.

At first, the puzzles are taking blocks and making them smaller to be able to reach areas they previous barricaded. Or taking toy building blocks and turning them into the size of a car to jump up over obstructions. The stages then move on to add more simple physics-based puzzles, having to depress switches to open doors, or needing a specific angle or view to line up items within the room to transform them into something else. Drawn lines through the environment when arranged right will form an item that can be picked up to be used.

As the stages progress, the surrealist nature of this dreamscape starts to distort. Some areas take on a horror vibe, as voices and footsteps echo just out of sight, and blood trail spatter across the walls. Others include random and strange items to manipulate. An inflatable bouncy castle that can be used as a doorway, a room filled with apples that duplicate when they're interacted with, all giving life to new puzzles. Possibly best of all though is the very final stage, a bizarre "walking simulator," where perspective twists, and the world reaches the very apex of surreal strangeness, navigating through a truly dreamlike experience as walls become doorways, windows to nothings open into Truman-show like nightscapes, and infinite paradoxes form.

The issue Subliminal suffers with is that it doesn't flow. Neither in narrative, nor the design of the stages. The stages of the dream feel isolated, like they could be played through in any order and without a feeling of progression or development on the mechanics introduced in the very first area. In terms of narrative, it tries to instill a sense of fear in the player. Reality twists repeating hints that the character needs to "Wake up!" The sections where the lights go out, areas are destroyed and blood trails lead to a closet… the open door slamming just as it is approached. The stages twisting into crazy worlds, the voices of the computer and the doctor distorting. It just fails to land in the same way the wonderful guiding voices of Portal did.

There are obviously immediate parallels to the latter, with its linear, separated levels with physics-based puzzles separating them. The major difference is with the quality of the puzzle. With Portal completing a puzzle instilled a sense of accomplishment and a feeling of being smart. These puzzles mostly lack that, and just feel like going through the motions.