Quick Thoughts On: Heavens Below
Heavens Below felt scared to let me in. The algae covered ruins and abandoned construction created convoluted mazes around me, trapping me in a suffocating isolation as I attempted to guide my submarine downward. It's a beautifully contemplative aloneness, but one which Heavens Below was reluctant to allow me to sink into.
The more I tried to appreciated my surroundings and let the ambience take me, the harder Heavens Below fought to push me out. The walls became tighter the further I got in, narrowing the needle eye I was threading my submarine through until inevitably I brushed the edge of a wall and my hull collapsed on itself, sending me back to the entrance.
Again and again I'd find myself at the top of the abyss, but each reentry brought with it a lessening to the enthusiasm I had first set out with. Eventually I resigned that this wasn't a world that wanted me here or that I would be able to explore without continually being crushed by the ruthless precision it demanded of me. I'll never know what might have awaited me at the bottom, but if it's as hostile as the network of columns preventing me from finding it, perhaps that's for the best.
"Quick Thoughts" is a subset of my normal reviews for smaller games which might not fit into a full review but I still have something to say about.