Figment Nintendo Switch Review

Figment opens with a brief audio track of a car crash and a child scream before diving into the imaginative world. Players can take control of Dusty, the embodiment of courage, who is reluctant to do anything until his friend Piper find and convinces the courageous hero to venture forth. Dusty must take down nightmares and repair the mind he’s within. At first, the story may seem light-hearted with colorful images, almost upbeat voice-acting, and musical scores but underneath it, all the narrative hides a dark undertone with undertone commentaries on mental illness.

Much of the 2.5D action focuses on puzzles with some basic combat mixed in. Dusty can use his wooden sword to bash baddies and roll to defeat enemies like the “barf rats”. Each region has a specific theme that is constant throughout. Puzzles such as using a maraca to scare a thriving bird by using tying it to a snake’s tail. The boss battles combine both combat and puzzle solving with musical tracks that work in tandem. All of them use pattern-based performances making it easy to manipulate their movement and defeat them.

Many of Figment's puzzles focus less on finding the correct solution and more on patience. The puzzles range from simple to incredibly difficult but generally, the harder puzzles are segregated to optional tasks. The issue being that significant pieces of information are only available after collecting these optional memories since they give insight into the mind of the person Dusty is inside of.

The balance between the 2, adding platforming elements that involve dodging “waves of despair” during specific segments. Like many other games with moving dangers your goal is to block the incoming waves to make your way further. Unlike the puzzles, these parts get harder as you progress but have you doing the same thing in different locations.

Much of the areas provide a physical manifestation of how the subconscious and conscious would be perceived. With the subconscious mind teeming with color and creativity while the conscious mind full of shades of gray and lacking the anything truly memorable.

Much of the world is music based, with 27 tracks that each complement the game’s world and Dusty’s current actions. Every mode and memory has a unique sound that helps complement that section. Whether it’s nightmarish or whimsical.

Figment plays well either docked or in handheld mode. Other than a preference of controls I didn’t experience any hiccups in the gameplay or sound. However, slowdowns are frequent in both modes when Dusty is interacting with the environment and minor bugs are present, but nothing game breaking.

Figment creates an excellent representation of the mental ground within one's mind. The use of sound, graphics, and character each provide a clean representation of complex attributes such as courage, fear, and creativity. Puzzle and action fans will find a lot of noteworthy moments and difficult challenges throughout Figment.

Adam Siddiqui, NoobFeed
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