ETHEREAL

While the game is quite pretty, it's very easy to get completely lost and frustrated because there's little guidance of where to go next. I spent less time solving puzzles and more time thinking "where am I even meant to go".

What ultimately caused me to drop the game is the soundscape. It's just annoying. Endless random pinging sounds!

A logical game with clever mechanics and beautiful abstract aesthetics. Definitely a game which stands out from the crowd. Due to the minimal guiding few times I was stuck not due to logic but not knowing where to go, but overall a very nice experience.

Good, short puzzle game with a great style.

Fun with fantastic visuals and sound design. The puzzles can be very challenging and will test your abstract thinking. This is a beautiful game, but man I am bad at it.
EDIT: This is frustrating
EDIT 2: I had to look up a guide this is insane

A great puzzle game, simply put! Unique and beautiful visual aesthetic, fun and challenging puzzles, and an exceptional sound design.

Good puzzle game. Absolutely not compatible with a PS4 controller though- I had to unplug mine because the game constantly registered an UP input regardless of what I did.

- Can't backtrack to previous levels. If a secret is missed then you will have to start a new save file from 0. For real.
- Resets to 0% after you finished the game.
- Puzzle difficulty in general is about 3/10.
- A lot of bugs that can sometimes softlock you.
- Same 20s unskippable animation after every level. Very annoying.

Conclusion:
Buy yourself a better puzzle game and don't waste time on this one. For achievement hunters this game doesn't even count into one of your perfect games.

This is like one of those mobile games with might look intresting but instead bore you and get old quick.

Puzzles:
Some of the puzzle elements never feels satisfying to use or "figure out". Many puzzles just don't feel satisfying to solve. The worlds don't always change puzzle types or puzzle elements like you would expect.

Gameplay:
The puzzles are logical but it's hard to actually see your move set of your options because of the maze like levels. I'm not saying that mazes are bad in puzzle games but imagine walking a maze with bad eye sight. A puzzle should be clear on what options you have, putting them in these hard to see mazes is just not a good fit.
The moveset and mazes with the puzzle elements also gets old quickly.

Atmosphere/world building:
The visuals, your moveset and the audio are the strong parts of the game. But the world it self is very linear in the case that most playthrough will be the same. This is not a bad thing by itself but it does make the world feel very static. If the mazes where combined with an open world or even a metroid style world then I would have been more intrigued of the world. Instead this just becomes nothing more than individual levels in a mobile game where the level menus does little to fix it.

Isn't particularly difficult, just tedious. At one point I escaped the labyrinth expecting to find a secret or something, but it was just an endless void and I couldn't get back into the labyrinth.

A neat little puzzle game. Some of the puzzles get a bit tricky but it's not too difficult. A few of the later puzzles require some pinpoint accuracy that softlocked me once or twice though.

Difficulty : 2/5 (Normal)
Global : 1.5/5 (Decent)

Curator page : Anokturnus

Ethereal is a minimalist puzzle game, you are a dot that can move horizontally but can only go vertically by passing through a ceiling or a floor next to it.
The puzzles are indeed carefully designed, but I think this game lacks what's essential : the fun. It's not that I didn't have fun at all, but the maze aspect combined with mechanics like the rotation can render everything rather tedious and even frustrating sometimes.
Still a nice and unique game, though not for everyone.

I've only played the first world (of 4) so far, but I can already recommend this game for the sound design and music alone. Absolutely top notch, before you even begin playing it's already a pleasure to start listening to it. The visuals are really nice too: simple yet varied, with just enough decoration to make it pleasant without making it distracting.
The gameplay is simple but satisfying, rather on the easy side so far. New mechanics are added progressively, so far with no doubt as to where/how you should use them. The solution paths seem pretty close to linear each time.
If you're looking for a relaxing time in a nice maze with stunning sound design, this might be the game for you.

besides the sound & visual design that almost rival that of monument valley, the game is also really masterfully designed.

- the movement mechanics are a bit obtuse, yet with absolutely 0 text the game lets you figure out how it works thanks to the starting area that lets you fiddle with it until you figure it out

- the puzzle area isn't separated by loading screens or anything, it's 1 big area but it's sectioned off by subtly making some areas inaccessible until you finish the puzzle you're supposed to

- mechanics are fed to you very slowly until you get the hang of them, and the way they're introduced to you is also very conducive to learning about them

- it seems that the devs took care to ensure you don't try doing something unintended to solve the puzzle, the game restricts you in obvious ways so that you're actually trying to solve the specific problem that the devs want you to solve

if you're worried about the price tag, it's by no means a short game. there are 4 worlds and the game even lets you have 3 save files, for reference, so i'd say the time you spend on it is worth it

one small gripe i have is that the area you're supposed to go to next is shown by a short cutscene, so if you zone out or something during it you're a little in the dark, but it sorta feels like the game guides you toward it anyway via the level design.

also, the start of the game (~15 min) can feel boring if you get the hang of it quickly, but the difficulty doesn't fail to catch up.

A very unusually beautiful and unique puzzle game. Where most other puzzle games of this type strive for elegance, this instead hands you four worlds' worth of visual chaos and asks you to make sense of it. The mechanics are really interesting, and it's fun to think about how they apply to the game's world. It's a strange feeling, because the game is basically linear, but you have to discover your path through it. A bit like a maze, but not in a bad way, because the puzzle *is* making sense out of the chaos. The sound design and soundtrack is also excellent, and I loved how it all came together in the climax. Never underestimate abstract imagery.

I also want to point out the seemingly anti-gamer points of this game. It doesn't let you back into levels you've completed, and once you've completed the game, it deletes your save. This would normally be a bad point for other people, especially achievement chasers, but I love it. Again, it feels like there was a strong intention to create a strictly linear experience through a seemingly chaotic overworld. This does mean I didn't get all the secrets on my first run, but I consider my experience of the game complete for now.

All in all, I think ETHEREAL is very much worth your time. It should take between 3 to 5 hours to complete once. Most puzzles are fairly easy, but it becomes just challenging enough when it needs to. Most importantly it's just extremely unique mechanically, and makes you think in ways no other puzzle game has ever done. Also, it's really cool looking.

Liked it very much. The sound deserves another review, but the gameplay it's very fun, doesn't get too heavy at the end (this is a usual issue in this kind of puzzle games) and it gets a importante crescendo towards the end. I think that they could put more music but I understand that the design of the game it's to give you this sense of eternal solitude, so it's ok. 9/10.

A pretty good game, although the fact that there's no way to replay levels without starting the entire game over is irritating. Also, when you beat the game, your save file is deleted. 9/10 for mechanics, 7/10 for execution. Overall, an enjoyable although occasionally frustrating game.

- Great mix of visuals and audio
- Great range of puzzle difficulty
- Good variety of puzzle mechanics that build on top of previous mechanisms

Was a good time and a great head scratcher at parts.

An interesting puzzle game with a good atmosphere. Clearly a lot of work went into it and the result is impressive. Some mechanics could use some clarification, as well as labeling on the levels and level maps. Many interesting levels, though in some the difficulty of moving around doesn't add real difficulty so much as tediousness. The last few levels do require some very exact placement of objects, which could be difficult for some people with dexterity issues. The movable blocks are somewhat confusing, it can be finicky getting in just the right spot for the green arrows to appear. Overall there's a lot to like here and it can be very compelling. It's not a 'casual' game by any means though it can be relaxing as there are no time limits. The background could be problematic for those with sensory issues. The art style and sounds a re really nice, it's a pleasant world to spend some hours in, if you don't mind a bit of a slog at times.

I'd neutral-vote this.

The puzzles are clever, and the mechanics well thought-out. The whole game is aesthetically pleasing, not just because it's affixed to a grid pattern, but because the gameplay naturally generates interesting structures. I especially like the last mechanic of moving and turning blocks using only your own movement!
I love the sound design, but I wish it were a little more musical. You very rarely hear anything other than scattered, albeit harmonious notes. Main world's theme - that sounds good, more of that, but obviously less dramatic.
The animations are... rather basic. Smooth, refined, but basic, not very enticing. It has good major cutscenes, but the minor ones just feel like they draw out time in an unnecessary way. And,
I wish so much I wasn't stopped at literally every turn. The game tries too hard to be cinematic where the general focus should be the puzzling. This game might be fun to speedrun (and, implicitly, rerun) if I didn't have to wait half a second every time I pass a wall or use an object- in a game about passing through walls and using objects.
There's a "secrets" gimmick, which juxtaposes terribly with the fact that every door in the game closes behind you - I couldn't enjoy the game properly after I found the first secret, so I looked up what levels they were in so I could focus on actually playing the game instead of worrying about replaying the game (which is only a problem because the game is otherwise identical every playthrough).

I liked the game in the end for the sake of simply moving around and solving puzzles, but it sometimes comes off as pretentious.

The puzzle design is not particular good. The primary mechanic of the game mainly serves to make basic movement slightly harder and more confusing without actually making the puzzles more interesting, which compounds the fact that the keyboard controls aren't great. Everything feels a bit wonky to me... there's no way to predict exactly most mechanisms will do; nothing about this world is particularly consistent, or particular interesting to me.

I absolutely adore this game. I don't ever write reviews but this game knocked it out of the park, so I have to let you all know why.

I bought this game and finished it the same night because I was just having too much fun playing through it. Ethereal is an extremely unique and relaxing puzzle experience that has a perfect learning curve that keeps things interesting and
challenging without letting you get stumped or feel like you don't have the tools to solve a problem. Every puzzle and mechanic is so elegantly designed, making for slick gameplay and non-stop moments of euphoria and allowing it to keep things fresh even to the final levels.

I would 100% recommend this to anyone who is looking for a relaxing puzzle game to brighten a night with, because it sure kept me with a smile on my face for hours on end.

I've only completed 3/4 of the campaign but I can already safely say that this game is a must-have for minimalistic puzzle lovers!

The basic premise is that you can only move your avatar sideways until you hit a wall, whereas you can only move up and down through walls that are right over/under you. So in effect you sort of have to move through a labyrinth with limited possibilities of direction. There are gadgets that let you turn the entire architecture, some let you move walls within a limited section and there are also gadgets that propel you up and down without the need of a wall. And so far that's it.

The puzzles are very cleverly designed, and even though one or two levels really had me scratch my head, there is always a way forward with sufficient trial and error / appropriate spatial thinking. I got this title with a 30% discount but I even recommend it at full price of 8,19€.

I feel like my brain is melting, but in the good way!

Like others said, there is no hand holding, and the levels are very challenging but yet manages to be a relaxing and meditative game. Figuring out new gameplay elements and puzzles is very rewarding too. The sound is insanely well crafted and placed everywhere just right.

The artstyle and gameplay relies a lot on colors, but has also very good accesibility desing built-in. Color blind and other vissualy impaired folks can play without missing a thing. Everything here is very symbolic and well thought.

It's a must to have for puzzle fans. Puzzle games have grown a little and the bar it's set a little higher thanks to ETHEREAL.

What are you waiting for? Start playing!

It's awesome.

The combination of Music, Sound FX and Animations with puzzles that aren't easy gives a good sensation of inmersion, something beautiful. And on top of that it's a challenging experience.

Totally worthy