Game Review: Superliminal (Xbox One X)

Superliminal is a puzzle video game that was published and developed by Pillow Castle, releasing in 2020. You’re the participant in a dream therapy program. During the study, you become trapped in a recurring dream cycle. Guided by the voice of the study’s overseer, Dr. Glenn Pierce, you must escape the dream.

Superliminal is played from a first-person perspective. It incorporates gameplay elements around optical illusions and forced perspective. Certain objects can be moved towards or away from the player and scaled to the size as the player had viewed them. This is an important mechanic in solving puzzles to complete the game.

Most puzzles involve traversing through a series of rooms to reach their exits. The exit door may be closed and require a button to be held down to open. To reach the exit, the player can manipulate certain objects in the game world. The bulk of such interactions are based on the use of forced perspective. Later areas of the game introduce new mechanics to this.

I’ve never in my life played a video game like Superliminal. Okay, that’s not entirely true. Yes, we can all draw comparisons to Portal, The Turing Test etc. However, this game presents elements unlike I have seen before. The ability to take certain objects and manipulate their size is an impressive mechanic. I have no idea how it was achieved but I’d love to see it used more often in other games. I have never witnessed a video game pull off the use of optical illusions as well as this does, it truly messes with you.

It takes a little bit of time to come to an understanding of how the game and its mechanics work. It’s a little confusing at first. However, the initial chapter acts as an in-depth tutorial that helps you get to grips with it all. The solution to most of the puzzles are painfully simple but you most likely won’t see the answer right away. This is mostly due to you not even considering what needs to be done as possible. The game constantly throws new and interesting ideas at you. Just when you think you’ve wrapped your head around how it works, it throws the formula out the window.

A part of me wishes that they had gone even bigger and done even more with it. Still, you’ll feel like you’re within a dream. It captures the non-sensical nature of dreams and nightmares perfectly.

The plot of the story is simple enough but I desired to press on and see exactly how it would end up. In fact, I was so hooked I played it all in one sitting. The narration throughout is done well and has some amusing pieces of dialogue. The game is what I would call, short and sweet. Some may call it too short but it didn’t overstay its welcome for me. Yes, I would likely be unhappy if I paid full price but playing it via Game Pass is a steal.

The ending is a real highlight. Not only is there a very wholesome message about how important it is to look at all things from different perspectives, improving your outlook on life itself. There’s some very nice music that accompanies it as well. It’s very satisfying, thought provoking message for a video game.

Overall, Superliminal had me saying “Wow, what the hell just happened” more times than I care to admit. I challenge anyone to give it try and not be impressed by its innovative mechanics or touched by its message.