Waking (Third-Person Coma Survival Game)
Certain things are just great. The right creator can craft masterpieces as if simply breathing. It comes to them like the next in-breath, something they never even have to think upon. I knew Waking was going to be spectacular when I read the promo, and there was nothing about the assumption that ended up being wrong. It’s not that I personally have a knack for knowing, it’s that certain things reveal themselves instantly, and this is one of those rare occasions. What a concept too, goddamn, and I’ve spent several hours on it already. Trapped in a coma, your goal is to awaken from a world of esoteric beings, mind-bending abilities, and dreamlike landscapes wherein you hear brief whispers of those on the other side. Welcome to a nightmarish world that digs into your actual subconscious in Waking.
In Waking you play a genderless humanoid turtle-back rocking a sadboi emo hoodie gallivanting around the recesses of your own freaking mind to secure a path out of a coma. The action is third-person and the expected tutorial intro is there, though esoteric af with some of the deepest dialogs and most brain-ripping concepts I’ve ever seen. Remember that pet you had that died long ago when you were a child? Well this game freaking resurrects it before your eyes and turns it into a psychic fooking weapon. This is but one detail, however, among a cavalcade of creepy creatures and bizarre realms all symbolic of your comatose state of being. Of particular interest is how the game is directed by your own personality, which is set at the beginning. I could say a lot more but I like to be brief; never have I seen someone tackle such a difficult topic in so inventive a fashion. Just a perfect game.
Written by Stanley, Devourer of Souls
Waking
Jason Oda (developer), tinyBuild (publisher)
5 / 5
