Review for The Spectrum Retreat. Game for Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 10/07/2018 The version for PC came out on 13/07/2018 The version for Nintendo Switch came out on 13/09/2018 The version for Xbox One came out on 13/07/2018
Nintendo Switch in its short life, is carving out a very important place in the independent gaming industry. The Nintendo flagship is in fact becoming a reference point for indies, thanks also to the Nindies program. This has led to a rush to port to Switch for all indies in development in recent years looking to carve out their space on consoles. After the excellent Hollow Knight and Hyper Light Drifters, one of several other titles to participate in this race is The Spectrum Retreat, highly narrative Puzzle Game developed by Dan Smith Studios.
In the indie market, however, even more than with triple A, you need to know how to distinguish yourself and The Spectrum Retreat tries, without really succeeding but still giving a valid product.
The adventure begins with the mute protagonist, Alex, who wakes up in a hotel with a rather peculiar waiter who suggests that he go to lunch. This hotel is the Penrose, but Alex doesn't know how he got there, or how to get out, until he receives a particular call that begins his adventure. The title is essentially divided into two parts, the purely narrative and exploratory one within the Penrose, and the Puzzle within a system of evidence that will be able to make our Alex escape.
We immediately underline how the clear division of the two sections is probably the major flaw of The Spectrum Retreat. The strong point of the title is the eerie and mysterious atmosphere of the hotel, which managed to make us feel awed by the same walls in the sections where the normal routine is disobeyed. This force, however, is not well exploited, in fact in the exploratory sections of the Penrose you will be able to do little, while the sections with puzzles lead to totally different and not at all inspired settings.
The puzzles themselves behave very well, evolving in an interesting and non-trivial way, but without ever reaching peaks of excellence that other titles like The Witness can boast. These are puzzles that involve colored cubes and barriers to be overcome by using the right color, but progressively interesting and amusing dynamics are introduced, despite the short duration of each test to pass.
This tendency to do something well without standing out too much, neither qualitatively nor conceptually, is also reflected in the narrative. The story of The Spectrum Retreat is good, interesting and poses a nice dilemma in the ending. But the way this is set up is very reminiscent of other walking simulators, so much so that even the story itself gives that feeling of already seen. The dubbing of the few characters present is promoted, thanks to a good performance of the voice that will accompany us for the longest time and intelligent choices in the dubbing of the hotel staff.
It is a pity, however, to have promising or even well-made elements - the atmosphere above all - diminished by the work as a whole. Instead of focusing on a detail, Dan Smith decided to combine several inspirations, with a good result but which left a bit of a bad taste in our mouth. The port on Nintendo Switch performs well, with excellent performance and a satisfying graphic impact even in portable mode. The commands are a little less performing, which can be inaccurate when it comes to having to aim at distant objects.
The analog Switches are in fact not the best to be able to aim with precision. To underline the good soundtrack, the main element, together with the design, which makes the Penrose hotel disturbing, but which also acts as a good accompaniment for the puzzles.
Ultimately, The Spectrum Retreat is a good title, but one that doesn't stand out in the market it belongs to. Rather than focusing on one element and developing it as best as possible, Dan Smith has tried to combine different elements, finding a functional harmony on the surface, but which greatly limits the potential of the atmosphere. A similar discourse can also be addressed to the narrative sector, well done but which offers nothing new, surprising or memorable.
► The Spectrum Retreat is a puzzle-type game developed and published by Ripstone Games for Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 10/07/2018 The version for PC came out on 13/07/2018 The version for Nintendo Switch came out on 13/09/2018 The version for Xbox One came out on 13/07/2018
