Phoenix Springs

Beautiful. Haunting.
Will be thinking about it for a while.

The puzzles aren't logic-based so the game ends up being largely trial-and-error.

A beautiful and very strange game. Some locations you can explore more but if you find the way forward before doing so, exploring is lost. You can replay the game but it doesn't seem worth it. Very inetersting story but you are left with many many questions marks.

Fever dream with a great atmosphere. Wish the story was much lengthier, would enjoy getting lost in that world 2-3 times as long.

A gorgeous game that poetically neglects player’s time. Aka “How to Trick Humans by Brilliant Visuals and Extravagant Prose into Forgetting that They are Doing Nothing of Essence but Savoring Those Elements”. You’re going to like it, too. Cheeky developers.

There’s a simple set-up here – you’re an older sister, Iris, that’s in search of long-lost brother who might be involved in a serious scientific undertaking of a rather questionable character. That’s the only simple thing you’ll get in this game, the rest will be so lyrically/philosophically distorted that clinging to this simplicity of a set-up will be something you’d need to take a stab at what’s actually going on. It’s a dreamlike, surreal journey that leaves you in an almost permanent “what the hell is happening” state. I’m still not sure what happened. And I’m still not sure how I managed to enjoy it.

The puzzle element is part of a trickery. While classic in nature, it is somewhat unusual in implementation. We use Iris’ mind/memory as an inventory bar, and the “items” themselves are pieces of information we can combine with environment and other characters for dialogues. It’s quite clever, as the topics fade out once we find a solution, and new ones pop up when we learn something, circumventing the unavoidable awkwardness of carrying 54 items in our pockets or backpacks, as our trained adventure backs accustomed to do. The novelty of having thoughts about things and places instead of crowbars and keys is refreshing. It all comes together logically as well, and you’ll find plethora of options to combine thoughts with anything you’d like and get a unique response.

But here comes the question – do any of the things you do matter? Is there any purpose to all these ever-stylish combinations? Once a relatively intriguing first segment (that you’ll get to discover in the demo and a following chapter) passes, you’re hitting a full-on, liminal Wild West. Did all this gigantic map exploration in pursuit of solving an odd, but at least coherent task, navigating a band of peculiar inhabitants lead anywhere? Or is it a masterful and ruthless design that leads to you understanding of a total futility of everything you’ve just done? Is it trying to tell you something by analogy? The answer, like the truth, is out there. Subjective is the nature of the game.

What is not subjective, I hope, is the gorgeous picture presented in front of you. Deep hues of yellow and red and green frame the retro-like silhouettes with brilliant artistry. Unusual, captivating angles show you eye-stopping visuals with gusto. Combined with going-out-of-your-way cryptic prose, where nothing is remotely helpful (which Iris is aware of) and everything is so poetic that it comes across as a bit self-indulgent, it hits hard over your senses and makes you momentarily forget that you’re running around in circles, obliging borderline-psychopaths (are they even real?), getting nowhere fast. It also appears as too serious about its own self, and a bit of humor – deadpan, irony, absurdity, you pick – would have helped to make it more palatable. Alas. The tone is somber, melancholic and bleak, and it does give a perception of slight artistic pretentiousness despite trying really hard to “invoke something”. Or maybe because of it. Regardless, have you seen that rave scene? It’s magnificent. Here I go, being tricked again.

Speaking of rave – you’d think the game will pull all the stops into roping music to serve its artistic force, but it opts out for leaving you in silence (besides wholesome sound effects) quite often. Too often, in my opinion. I suppose, it’s meant to leave you contemplate - nothing can distract you from what you see and hear from Iris, it’s way too complex already, but I’d rather would’ve gotten distracted, though. It would take an edge off “all too serious” tone of the game, but I was left to ponder in silence. When it comes to Iris, by the way, it’s perfect. Her always tired, resigned and matter-of-fact voice is marvelous. Despite being the only speaking character in the game, she matches the tone of everything that’s happening to a T. Bravo, well-done.

Phoenix Springs, man. I played it, I marveled at it, I questioned it, I raised my eyebrow at it, I raged at it, and I was still largely satisfied with it. It’s peculiar and captivating, and it’s not for everyone. You know, I’m not a huge fan of abstract expressionism, but I can still divide it into two categories. One is where you stare at a painting of two blue lines on a white canvass, or a black square, a red triangle, paint simply spilling over white… And you think there must be a backstory to it, perhaps, something an artist experienced on some acid trip back in the days alone at home, and you’re left to decipher it not knowing any details. And then there’s a complex picture of shapes and colors and gradients and forms that all flow into each other and make you stop. Sure, you might not understand much of it, because you were on your way to marvel at classics, like Rembrandt, but you stop nonetheless, and you look and look, and you start pondering on something that wasn’t in your mind just a second ago… And now you’re successfully tricked.
Congratulations, Phoenix Springs, that’s exactly how you got me.

Haunting, fractured, brain-massaging. Interesting story that you can really dig into, even if it ends before any proper conclusion (which I guess is part of the point). Something to do with memories and personality transplant into new bodies - hence the name Phoenix Springs.

The inventory system of ideas or topics as items is pretty neat and makes you feel like a reporter - asking the right questions and gathering the right information open the way forward. Less about banging things together to see what works, and more about conversation and figuring out connections between things.

The visuals are beautiful and striking, and the music is haunting which really suits the vibe of the game. It makes you feel relaxed, confused and on edge at the same time, and I really dig it.

Great cerebral game that I wish lasted a little bit longer.

A mind bending funky adventure game with a heavy emphasis on the story. Instead of an inventory you carry words and concepts allowing you to interrogate the world, the people around you, and your own internalised thoughts. The only thing with it which caused some frustration is that the game has a habit of zooming you to the next location as soon as you figure out some critical information without you having any say about it. This made the narrative flow nicely but it also meant I constantly had to leave behind a lot of unexplored threads I had intended on following up on which made me feel like I missed a bunch of the story just because I combined concept A with X before I combined B with X for flavour. I assume it is meant for multiple playthroughs but it feels a bit annoying since from what I can tell nothing actually changes and I would have rather exhausted it in one go.

All in all though, well worth it in my opinion, it is a point and click that really tries something different.

love the artstyle and story. some point-and-clicks fall into the trap of feeling very hand-holding but, this one felt like you had a lot of freedom and room to breathe, as if you were actually in the story with Iris.

An amazing experience in all senses. The atmosphere is stunning thanks to the sparse sound design, the stylized visuals and the strangely detached but incredibly effective voiceover. The clue/concept system is a clever twist on the tradicional point and click inventory mechanic, and the story... well. The less said about it, the better, since the whole point is to discover it little by little and try to make sense of all the fragments. "Are games art?". When they are like Phoenix Springs, yes. Yes, they are.

Audio and visuals are beautiful. Vibes are off the charts. Story is compelling. Puzzles are solid for the most part (there were one or two instances where I felt I didn't know exactly what the game wanted from me, but I got through them with a bit of perseverance). Overall a great experience.

Great game

Please don’t ask me to explain what is going on in Phoenix Springs. Sure at surface level it’s a detective story about sometime trying to find answers about their brother’s disappearance. But about half way through there is this cracking of the egg moment where it is becomes obvious that everything is not what it seems.

The overall presentation in Phoenix Springs is fantastic. The art for every single scene feels unique and is always interesting to look at. The main character’s dialog is recorded with this slight digitized bite to it that pairs perfectly with the art. As you play the game you’ll pick up all these weird details and clues that suggest different things about the story being told. Even if you have an eagle’s eye and really pay attention it’s unlikely you’ll have a fully formed theory about what happened in Phoenix Springs even after your first full play-through. But it’s a story so mysterious and captivating that reading and talking about the game is almost as interesting as the actual gameplay.

The art direction on this game is insanely well put together, after a handful of minutes of playing this game I had to turn off all the lights in my room to ensure I didn't find myself pulled out of the experience.

a haunting, dreamlike, achingly cryptic poem of a game

stunning art design and backgrounds, striking use of colour and sound, superb narration from alex anderson crow

if you don't like wandering around, not sure what to click next, beware

the wandering is part of the contemplative tone

often almost frustrating with how obtuse the narrative can be, it's a trip worth taking and thinking about

8/10

Beautiful and unique

This is definitely Art to me. And very impressive art as well.

Though, I think it falters on one painful point: The UX/Feedback is poor to the point where frustration diminishes the quality of the experience sometimes.
It's minimalistic, which is nice and more immersive, but often also very unclear. It's often slightly confusing where you can walk to, like they're random invisible spots on your screen, no path, door, arch, whatever. But worse, interaction sometimes feels like randomly trying things until something goes 'click'. Not too often, but you'll get stuck for a while.

An example: At a point you'll need to do something twice or more, but the game never shows any clue that you should, and you can't progress if you don't.

This happened a few times and I think it may have been done on purpose, to emphasize certain components of the story. I'm on the fence. I think even in Art, you don't want to discourage or impede the player to much by breaking the basic rules of your own game.

Buuut the good devs were aware of this and provided a wonderfully mostly spoiler-free walkthrough on their website. Super nice, thanks you guys!

That said, I think Phoenix Springs is a fantastic work and I will probably play it again, because I don't think I fully understood what I just saw...

Highly recommend, but I gotta admit, my journey with the game didn't start so smooth: I was stuck at the very first screen. A familiar feeling from playing Point&Clicks years (decades?) ago emerged, as I caught myself brute forcing my way forward. I wanted answers and I wanted them fast, and that's really not what the game is asking of you. It seems to want you to be patient, to listen, to pause & come back, and I couldn't help but oblige. It felt very fresh, even though it's such a classic mechanic.
The art style is incredibly compelling to me, but I also loved the voice acting, the music & the setting of the story. Finding a solution is always rewarded with a gorgeous cut-scene. It also doesn't make things clearer than they need to be. I highly recommend surrendering to it and trying not to find meaning in every little corner.

Striking and strange. A game that maybe is more on the "artsy" side but has seemed to worm its way into my brain. I think about Iris and Leo CONSTANTLY. I think about the crying one and the silent one. I think about the DJ and the people dancing for 53 hours straight.

Although it's short on a single play through I can tell I missed a billion things. The atmosphere is weird and beautiful and I wish only to spend more time figuring more out. Understanding more of the world both in and out of the Oasis. It's all so strange.

I love it. 10/10

The voice over is perfect for Noirvember, and the visual style is stunning. Story so far is intriguing as well.

Phantasmagorical. Oneiric. Less of a point&click and more of an art house piece where the further down the rabbit hole you go the more the conventions of the genre fall apart. Seduced by the stylistic choices, I felt let down by the premise at the beginning, got frustrated by the gameplay by the middle and became extremely puzzled by the end, but at no point was I anything less than enthralled. I still don't know whether the game become more streamlined by the third act or if the rules of its narrative finally clicked for me to start making a twisted sort of sense. However, I do know that this is the cleverest thing I have seen in the medium lately, and I was happy to see the story become increasingly more surreal while never becoming pretentious - a tough balancing act. The game says very little outright and that might not be for everyone.
But it is for me.

Reminds me a lot of Kentucky Route Zero in the way in which it presents you with a reality that's just different enough from ours to feel completely engrossing, but also in the way it unfinchingly tells its story. Great environments (special mention to the transitions from noon to sunset) and outstanding voice acting. The writing is also impressive. Great game overall.

excellent game, really embraces the dream-like logic of classic point and click adventures and uses it to great effect. excellent voice work and artstyle as well

Really neat game. Having memories and ideas instead of an inventory is such a cool idea and I had a great time settling into the game play. The medium really served this story well.

I absolutely love this game. It hits a really specific place in much of what I love, from ambience and tone, to setting and story. The narrative of this game is absolutely fantastic, the way it is told is fantastic.

I have seen and read some criticism of this game that, to me, feels rooted in a real lack of curiosity and at times that's been disappointing to see. I feel like there is a great deal for a lot of people to love in this game.

Sure, there are moments "puzzle wise" that I think don't work as well as I'm sure the Devs would hope, but there is an included guide. Some may see that as a bad thing to need to include but I personally see it as a good thing, allowing you to enjoy the game at your own ability and understanding. If you can't figure something out then use the tips and get back to enjoying the experience.

If you like when a game gives you an experience, and gives you moments and questions to really think about and sink your teeth into them Phoenix Springs is absolutely right for you. A truly outstanding experience

It is a short game, leaving me with more questions than answers. These questions however, are asked in one of the most visually stunning and unique worlds I have seen in any game. The voiceacting and mesmerizing soundtrack has something hypnotic about it. I find the games core mechanic of collecting leads and combining them with any other element interesting, yet not fully realized to its potential. I found myself trying everything without much of a plan on two occasions, which was close to being frustrating, but not the biggest deal as trial and error will always reveal something interesting.

Beautiful game with interesting themes that I would love to see explored further at some point.

Very good contemplative point'n'click food. Not the most challenging, but the most weirdly captivating game I've played this year that's for sure. Stunning visuals as well and going for all achievements only gave me more food for thoughts.

Beautiful indie point-and-click. Must play if you are a fan of the genre!

Phoenix Springs is a short engaging point-and-click adventure game with stunning visuals and a mind-boggling narrative that will leave you perplexed and make you contemplate the nature of memories.

Played through the magical Phoenix Springs (twice) this week. A sleek, dreamlike noir that'll never give it to you straight. It's a captivating work, with mysteries I still feel desperate to solve. Some of the best writing and art direction I've seen in years. What a treat from Calligram Studio. An incredible debut. Cannot wait for whatever they plan for us next.

I enjoyed my time with Phoenix Springs for sure! In particular the artwork, sound design, voiceover work, and overall atmosphere were beautifully done and engaging.

I think it may be divisive for players in that there is quite a lot of walking from place to place, backtracking, back and forth. And while it was tiresome at times, it does reflect quite closely and drive home the game's plot and themes about repetition and monotony. If the linearity of life to death becomes obsolete and rebirth is possible, then it becomes an endless, confusing cycle.

I think the walking around was maybe exacerbated for me because I didn't realize there was a way to run until I finished the game (lol). However, I played on Steam Deck, and while everything was playable (with the little trackpad as a mouse), I wonder if the run never triggered. I feel like I definitely double clicked at least a few times when trying to go somewhere, but hey, maybe I didn't.

Anyway, def enjoyed the game and appreciated its take on the point-and-click adventure genre.

One of the best games of the year

well, that was different. Highly recommend!

Beautiful, intriguing, an exploration on memory and perhaps hubris of wanting to never let go. Go in without expectations, with patience, and take the time to listen. All is not as it seems in Phoenix Springs.

Point and click games are hard to get right, additionally, they are largely thankless work as they don't sell well. So i commend the devs for making this. This was a good game. The art work is enticing, enough to drag in a seasoned point and click player and give it a shot, despite how much garbage there is on the market. There is also some pretty profound dialogue in this game. Overall it is interesting enough to keep you playing, Takes about 3-5 hours to complete.

There are problems too, in fairness to any potential buyer, there is a lot of back and forth and retracing your steps, and the puzzles are a little esoteric at times. I think the game design itself fell over a little bit when you get to phoenix springs in this regard.

Overall, recommended.

Gdy tylko usłyszałam, że Phoenix Springs to przygoda typu wskaż i kliknij w klimacie neo-noir, wiedziałam, że muszę zagrać – ta recenzja to ledwie skutek uboczny tego imperatywu. Uwielbiam zarówno noir, jak i neo-noir. Ciężar, który te stylistyki ze sobą niosą, a który niemal zawsze pobudza do myślenia i rozważania życia, jest czymś, czego szukam w grach. Przekonajmy się zatem, o czym myślałam, grając w Phoenix Springs, i jakie wrażenie wywarła na mnie ta produkcja. Jeśli wolicie wersję wideo, zajrzyjcie na nasz kanał na Youtube.
https://grajmerki.pl/phoenix-springs-recenzja-gry/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVwk-urMDAE

Indescribable, absolutely nothing like it. Played it in one sitting and i'll never ever be able to forget it. Worth double or more of the current $20 price tag if accounting for its impact, do not skip this.

First and foremost - Phoenix Springs is absolutely *gorgeous* - I fell head over heals in love with each and every frame of this game. Beautifully drawn, colored, animated, and paced. Absolutely classic.

And then.. THEN there's the absolute ground breaking rethinking of the point-and-click adventure - the detective mind-map exploration may be the best implementation of [inventory item 1] + [object] I've played. Point and click master work.

I've already completed the game outside of Steam, but woahhh is it nice to see achievements popping up from my exploration.. and.. *seventy eight of them* whattttt is this! :D

A+++ absolutely love this game, so so so very glad to have stumbled across it. Do yourself a favor and give it a spin.

Definitely don't have a full grasp on the story after finish but the vibes are immaculate. Also collecting words instead of items was a very nice twist.

Beautiful and captivating art style, consistently compelling prose, incredible voice work
A remarkable work from end to end, deserving of replays and a lifetime of contemplation

I was impressed by the sound design in the trailer, but disappointed by sound design in game. There are ambient sounds but relatively little music. And while it is fully voice acted, it's all one voice actress, who narrates everything, including dialogue. The sound quality of the voice acting is noticeably lower in game than the trailer.

YMMV on the cryptic story, but it was a bit of a miss for me. It's okay if I didn't understand what was really going on, but I would at least like a clearer understanding of what it's trying to say.

At least the visual design is excellent. What you see is what you get there.

I give this game 6/10.

A bit to hard for me. The game is so pretty, but I think It's too expensive for the amount of story. It's very artful and poetic. I think it was OK, but I don't think I will play it again. There was alot of nonsence talking, that did not make things easier, just making me more confused. Sometimes you would have to do actions 2 or 3 times in a row, making me think I did something wrong. I'd like the main-character to make more clues when you're stuck, instead of me having to read the "tips"-page and jump to another window.

very dense and interesting atmosphere

I think its an interesting and thought provoking experience.

Phoenix Springs Review | Bytesized
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fh5SSJGNb0o&t

This game blew my mind. Frankly, the aftertaste is similar to that of finishing a great novel. This relatively short piece of art channels favorite themes of Kazuo Ishiguro, Don DeLillo, and even, to some extent, Italo Calvino. It explores the frailty of memory, death and what lies beyond, and the dangerous symbiosis of longevity with technology on an entirely different level. I dare say this video game handles these themes even better than some other mediums traditionally considered more suitable for deep and profound exploration. The gameplay is reminiscent of old-school point-and-click adventures, heavily reliant on text, but it has a twist. While at its core it remains a "quest", it delves more into the protagonist’s inner monologue audibly rather than textually. For example, all exchanges between characters are narrated by a single actress, and they sound like this: “The man has a weighty stare. I asked him about the missing flowers, but he doesn’t seem to know. His mind wanders off somewhere far beyond any reach”. Her voice is somewhat monotonous, distant, unemotional, and it’s an amazing trick that drastically deepens the immersion (and probably reduces development costs, hehe). Also, there’s no inventory in this game. All we have is literally a mindmap, so no more antenna trouts or banana lockpicks for you! The visual style is also something rarely seen in video games, bordering on fauvism aesthetics with a touch of pop art boldness (yes). Also, it has a strong noirish feel (perspectives! shadows! negative space!) because, first and foremost, this is a detective story — the main heroine needs to find her little brother. But somewhere along the road, it transforms into a lucid, vibrant, synesthetic journey into the subconscious, and isn’t that the best thing imaginable? I loved every bit of this game, and sooner rather than later, my friends will hate me because I’ll buzz their ears off with how great Phoenix Springs is. You should try it too.

I love its animation. Haven't seen a game portrayed like this. This is literally art.

As someone who likes point-and-click mystery/adventure games, this one is worth its price, I'd say.
Very unique & also has its eerie vibe while not being uncomfortable.

The gameplay, "remember to remember," is a take that I haven't seen on games.

It's an experience to behold.

I only have a vague understanding of what happened. A thin, ghostly vision of someone else's memory, but:
I love how the narration is paced. I love the main character's voice. I was entranced. I don't know if I love the way the game made me feel. I might have observed something deeply personal that was not meant for me.

Great game, I will play it again.

This is a very conditional recommend. Phoenix Springs is a good game for people who liked Immortality or Kentucky Route Zero but want something even more surreal and opaque. If you want answers, this game will not give them to you. But it does have some interesting thoughts on immortality, memory, and technology to turn around in your head. And it is very beautiful.

As far as the point-and-click puzzle gameplay, I was a bit disappointed. I liked it quite a lot in the early game, but once you get to the titular Phoenix Springs, the logic starts to get really weird and personally, many of the solutions would not have occurred to me in a million years. Maybe my brain's screwed on wrong. Wouldn't be the first time. There is a developer-written guide linked in the menu, thankfully. But overall, I still like the unique spin on the genre with replacing the physical inventory with an inventory of words and concepts.

Played start to finish in a bit over three hours. The writing is excellent, the art style is awesome, the puzzle mechanic is wonderful, and it all those excellent pieces get mixed together into mud. There's just something about the way that the game world is designed that makes it feel like sorting through a needle stack to find a piece of hay. Take, for example, an early scene at the University. There are something like nine screens you can travel through and hundreds of items to click on. Each clicked item lets you "Talk to", "Look at", or "Use", leading to hundreds of possible interactions. Beyond that, you can use any idea you have unlocked with any item, leading to a feeling of endless interactability. Yet, there is almost always (seemingly) a single solution to every puzzle, so most of the time the interactions feel like they lead you nowhere, and get increasingly frustrating as the game goes on. This puzzle system works extremely well in the confined areas of the start of the game, but near the mid point, when you suddenly have access to dozens of locations, this feels more like a pixel hunt than an adventure game.

All that said, I probably still would have left the game with a generally positive outlook (I found the ending to be extremely powerful), except for the puzzles in the titular location. Without spoiling anything (although keeping an eye towards saving you some frustration), there is a puzzle that seems to broadcast that you are solving it in the wrong manner but requires you to do the same series of interactions *four* times in a row. These interactions involve a multi-minute walk across the map (click out of frustration, I did learn here that you can double click to run), to do the same thing four times. This was probably 15% of my total play time and completely soured me on the experience.

There's definitely a lot to like about Phoenix Springs, especially if you are a fan of arthouse cinema, but the frustrating puzzle designs, especially in the latter half of the game, really take the wind out of the sails.

Very special piece of art