Firmament

I'm a sucker for lush surroundings and clever environmental / mechanical puzzles, so I enjoyed this a lot despite its shortcomings. Looked forward to playing it and was sad when it was over, so thumbs up for me.

The puzzles were pretty thoughtful and rewarding in and of themselves, though the payoff felt a bit weak in terms of what you achieve by solving them. The environment was beautiful and nice to move around in, but meaningful elements are few and far between and lore is thin throughout, so the world sometimes feels a bit empty, like a beautiful mansion with not enough furniture. I found the narrator's voice kind of charming and a nice addition to the experience, but she doesn't say much that's meaningful until the end.

Almost abandoned the game due to bugs at the beginning (unclimbable ladders, lost progress when reloading saves), but the middle and end were pretty bug free -- except for one part where I was knocked off a transport vehicle thingy (not supposed to be possible) and spent 10 mins running across the landscape and through walls under buildings until I hit black space and the game crashed. Can't say I didn't enjoy that a bit :)

So not up to the level of the OG games or Obduction, but pretty fun to play and a positive experience overall. I for one hope Cyan never stops making games.

Three small glitches. I enjoyed it a lot.

This game is really beautiful and exactly what I was hoping for. I think I avoided it because of the name or the logo or something but it's just like the other puzzle and exploration games that I love to play. Highly recommended!

If Curie is your least favorite Fallout 4 companion, you will hate this game.

Maybe it was because I just came off playing the Riven remake, but this game was a major flop for me. The narrator is annoying, the puzzles are unenjoyable and clunky, and the story is nonexistent. I wasn't sure it was possible for Cyan to swing and miss on this scale--they talked this game up for years prior to release, and I was so excited to bag it on sale.

For me, my disappointment with this game really came down to three things, all of which Cyan has historically been stellar in their handling: story, world, and puzzle design.

Beginning with puzzle design--the puzzles simply aren't well-designed, in my opinion. They're clunky, awkward, and rely exclusively on manipulating machines. There's no cool "learn this new writing/numbering system and associate clues with numbers in order to find out a code" here, largely because outside of the sockets for your Adjunct, there's literally nothing TO interact with in this world. There's no "write this down, it'll be handy later." You're thrown into areas with puzzles that move and do things, but you have no idea what the end goal is. You know it's a puzzle to solve, but you're unsure what that solution looks like so you spend the first half hour fumbling in the dark, trying to find the goal so you can work towards it. This theme of being thrown into the dark is carried by every single puzzle in the game. These puzzles seemingly are designed with the delusion that their solution should intuitively come to the player.

Moving on to the world design, don't get me wrong, it's beautiful. Each of the three realms has its own theme, and are filled with towering structures and mountains. You're excited each time you step into a new world, but that excitement wears off pretty quickly. The more you walk around, the more you realize that although these worldspaces are huge in vertical scale, their actual playable area is...really small. I feel like Riven, made in 1997, had a larger worldspace than this game did overall, and even for an indie studio, I feel like that's a bit of a low blow on Cyan's part. Tied into the puzzle design, this game also doesn't reward you when you solve puzzles--you'll gain access to a tiny new area where you'll immediately be hit with a new puzzle that's even more frustrating than the one you just finished. The sound design also falls incredibly short here. There's a bit of atmospheric synth music, but the tiny things in previous games that made this world feel real simple isn't there. No footstep sounds, minimal sounds when interacting with anything, and overall a feeling of sterility. No one *lives* in these worlds, and that's a bummer coming from a company that used to have "turn off the lights, turn up the speakers, and let Myst become your world" as a slogan.

And finally, the biggest disappointment coming from a studio like Cyan--the story is simply not there. Maybe I'm spoiled to Cyan's OG titles that I grew up playing, like Myst and Riven, but one thing I have always loved about Cyan's games is that story is woven into every detail of their games. Journals, books, items in drawers, all filled with not only relevant info for solving puzzles later on, but story context, character details, pre-history, and little things that make the worlds feel completely alive and immersive. Firmament shares none of this, and the story is only told in vague narrations by your mentor (whose name you never even learn?) in a way that never really explains anything. You're only given any context for WHY you're even there at the end of the game, with no real resolution. You started the game alone, and you end the game alone, but with an annoying French NPC trying to make you feel guilty for something you have no memory of. The premise of this game is AMAZING, don't get me wrong. But given that the premise is never explained until the long monologue just before the end of the game, you don't get to enjoy the setting at all. You are a Keeper. You don't know what that is, other than a janitor for these three small realms that are static and don't do anything unless you're making machines do things, yet somehow that job is of paramount importance. You hear big, capitalized worlds like Threshold and The Embrace, but never really find out what they are. The ending "twist" is predictable from the beginning. I found the mentor to be more annoying than anything else, but maybe it's just because I find French accents annoying.

In addition to all of this, there's annoying bugs that threaten to break the game. I got stuck on a stairwell for ten minutes because I had the audacity to run, and got caught on the banister. Collision meshes in this game are a dumpster fire, and made several of the puzzles much harder than they needed to be. The cherry on top is that this game costs $35. For a game like Riven, or especially Obduction, that would be worth it. But if you pay more than $20 for this game, you are going to want at least part of your money back.

I suppose, for me, this game falls apart because I grew up playing Cyan's other games, and more recently, Obduction and the Riven remake. I know what this company is capable of. By itself, if you've never played any of the Myst games, or really any of Cyan's other games, Firmament is a fine game that is thin, but stands on its feet okay when you have no expectation of it. But when you compare it to what it *could* be, it feels empty, hollow, and cold. Sorely disappointing coming from such a wonderful studio.

Beautiful game keeping the feeling of Myst etc but with a modern twist at the end. Though I don't get the reason for the realms given the ending.
Only issue is I found the puzzles hard to solve and depended on walk-throughs.

Wonderful game with a couple clear flaws. Recommended for fans of Cyan's Myst, Riven or Obduction, or fans of similar games like Quern.

The good

• Great puzzles as usual. Like their other games you have to sink in to the puzzles a bit, these aren't panel puzzles. Some of them are quite rewarding.
  
• Stunning visuals
  
• Good music, but not constant and overwhelming.
  

The bad

• While the voice acting itself is quite good, the narration is just not well written, and doesn't flow with the game. It's clumsy and gets in the way of the grandeur of the game and makes pacing awkward. I'd have preferred the main story be dropped in diaries or something. Pro tip: The narration is not necessary for the game at all. Shortly after visiting "The Swan" I decided to just mute it and turn off subtitles. I played all the way through to the credits this way (though the ending was very slow due .... A while after finishing, I reloaded a save to hear some of the final narration. Some interesting concepts but I am indeed glad I skipped it the first time though. Massive exposition dump.)
  

The ugly

• Some of the puzzles are a bit finicky, even buggy. Sometimes have to reload saves or work around things in other ways. I don't expect this from Cyan, especially a couple years after release.
  
[*] Ladders. Fix them.

So, my recommendation: mute dialog, hide subtitles, and enjoy this game as if it were another Myst.

This game has awesome puzzles... but... I was falling several times through the map and had to start the whole section agian. I was stuck several times into objects. I want to love this game because it's visually so stunning and the atmosphere is relaxing plus the concept is good but it's really really annoying with those bugs.

Very fun and occasionally frustrating but extremely satisfying in the end. Can't wait to play this again and for the next Cyan Worlds game.

Remember to save often, there are still some glitches in the game that can make you stuck and thus have to load another save file.

I have to agree with the other reviews. the settings looked cool, the puzzles were underwhelming, difficult to figure out on purpose but easy to solve by playing around. you will spend atleast 25% of your time playing this game just waiting and walking (tip, caps lock can lock you on run). the story seemed interesting and the set dressing was nice, though there Needed to be more lead up, more clues, more documents and journals to Really give a sense of what was going on and the story. (tip 2, turn off the conveyance orb animations, each one takes like a full minute as a loading screen).

the game is also Very taxing on the cpu/gpu, I have never had my fan run audibly for a puzzle game before, usually its games with over the top graphics or calculations (looking at you stellaris)

the ending is super confusing and really clashes with everything else in the story, can't explain why without spoilers

At first I gave a thumbs down and requested a refund immediately after 30 minutes of game play because I got stuck with the first crane (reached with 3 minutes of game start). I moved the crane to one direction until it's out of sight, then when I move back it simply got stuck in both direction. As I read the other's comment before buying this game about soft locking in various place and I'm still in the 2 hours of refundable period, I rushed to request for a refund which is my "safe bet".

As I wait for refund, I continue to try the game and finally got the crane to work. At first I move the crane just left and right, but it got stuck on both direction so I though it's somehow bugged. But then I discover I can also move the load up and down, so after a bit of juggling it's no longer stuck. The remaining game goes smooths and without any bugs. The graphics are very nice, sounds are nice, FPS is smooth, no stuttering besides during occasional auto save.

I cancelled the refund, finished the whole game almost without any help, except the "broken cathode" which I found some hint from the steam community. Overall, some puzzle are easy and some are very challenging. Total play time 15 hours, a short game but still worth the money. Thumbs UP.

I am a Cyan diehard and I was looking forward to this game for about 3 years. I was very disappointed. While I was waiting I played a few Cyan copycats that lacked any interesting or coherent story. This felt like that. It's not the puzzles that make Cyan special, and the puzzles here were no worse than those in the copycats. But there were no characters for me to care about in Firmament, and beyond the basics of the different worlds and their systems, the "what happened here" curiosity that is key to the good stories Cyan has produced before just wasn't here. I made it like 80% through the game and don't have much interest in finishing it. The adjunct wasn't as annoying as I feared it would be, but I didn't feel like it added much.

I recommend just replaying Obduction or any of the Myst games instead.

A mostly-great puzzle game with a deeply stupid surprise ending.

Pros:
* Great level design.
* Decent voice actor & ambient sounds.
* Innovative puzzles.

Cons:
* Sometimes it's very difficult to spot interaction points w/o running around and holding right-click.
* Ending is just plain stupid. (see below)
* Show not tell is violated by the very lengthy monologue at the end. (Plus... look, lady, you mind-wiped former-me then angrily rant that you hope I'm upset with what you've done - that was a different person, they're dead.)

Ending spoilers:
* Okay, fine, you're on a space ship where gravity in each "realm" is via centripetal force.
* To achieve the ending, the realms are merged by rotating them into a single lumpy sphere - which means the realms should be thrown into utter chaos as gravity's axis radically shifts.
* Additionally, your "mentor" screwed up a system by effectively killing the (rat-bastard) crew - and then leaving things to lie for a long, long time. Which means that someone should have come to check on the ship, if tech has advanced to the point that you can warp to the destination in ~7 hrs.

TL;DR: Good puzzles, but don't expect a good conclusion to the plotline; if that's cool, 8/10; else, 6/10, or avoid.

CHALLENGING

Great scenics. Some bugs in the VR mode. Didn't understand the ending, but enjoyed the puzzles and graphics.

Doesn't meet the standard of games that Cyan can produce. The game is prone to softlocking where you can get stuck in the environment, and music could have been used to boost the atmosphere which I thought was lacking. That being said the last portion of the game was enjoyable and the battery puzzle on Juleston was very good.

If you have $35 and want to play games from Cyan, check out the Myst series, or Obduction as well. Party with Atrus and the squad

Got to go through my country music playlist though

Awesome in VR!

Up or down? Up. It is not my favorite and requires more patience than any I've played in this genre but I was glad I took it on. Finished without any hints (flex). Some interesting parts and puzzles, and a lot of hunting for the critical next button to push.

Only about 2 hours of actual play time as I work from home and spent a lot of time tabbed out. I assumed the negative reviews were just people being overly critical.... I blame steam for limiting options to Yes or No. Wheres the middle option for something that just needs imrpovement?

Game is kinda janky, first few puzzles i have done are a bit tedious. But in 2 hours of gameplay I have managed to softlock myself 3 times. So game hasnt been very well tested for the puzzle design. Cleary I wasn't doing things as intended but I was still able to do things that basically locked me out of being able to progress further. May come back to give it a shot later but kinda disappointed.

Gorgeous soundtrack and visuals. Had to seek a hint or two for mathematical and visual help, but had a very positive experience experiencing this universe. Great job, Cyan!

Another wonderful game from Cyan. I've been a fan since I played Myst as a kid. I even loved the books they wrote. This one didn't disappoint.

Played the non-VR version. It was pretty good overall. The game ran smoothly, except for portions of St. Andrew, where I had FPS dropping to the low 20's. The puzzles were a mix of not too difficult to head scratchers. Definitely had to have help on a few of them. But I wouldn't expect any less from the makers of Myst.

**Beautiful** game. The adjunct took some getting used to but by hour 3 I had no problem operating it. Underwater puzzle was kinda evil but now that I finally beat it I don't mind it so much. Looking forward to more games from Cyan

I don't even know where to start with this game. I guess I'll start by saying that I recommend this, with a whole bunch of caveats.

I'll also get out of the way that this game is pretty. Like all Cyan games, really. Art style is fantastic, locations are genuinely breathtaking in some areas. Technically...eh. It's not Cyan's most polished experience.

Now. The puzzles. I...didn't care for them. They seemed needlessly convoluted. Lots of connecting and disconnecting the Adjunct. I feel like ultimately, the Adjunct might have limited things too much and so the result was puzzles that felt complex because they needed to be rather than because they naturally developed that way? Does that make sense? I hope so.

And the story. The story started off intriguing, but by the end I was kinda done with it. I've never been a fan of the "voice in the corner of the screen vomiting exposition at you" story mechanic in video games. It didn't help that those exposition sequences were significantly longer than in other games that use it. BioShock, for instance, they only last maybe thirty seconds at most. There's only so long I can stand around listening to a disembodied voice afraid of moving along and possibly triggering the next too early before I get fed up and frustrated. I feel like some of this could have been put in books or notes, you know, like Cyan usually does. Which leads me to my other story complaint: that there isn't anything to read! There's two books and a handful of clipboards, and only a single clipboard contains a unique diagram. So really, there's only three unique books or notes to read in the entire game.

Finally, the ending. I'm still too angry to talk about it. The game made up for all of the tedium and frustration in the last 60 seconds or though and then just gives you the middle finger. Bleh.

Conclusion: Play this if you're a Cyan diehard and you really want to get your Cyan fix, but don't expect the heights of Myst. Or the lows of Myst. Firmament is its own very flawed thing.

Pros:

• The most gorgeous Cyan game to date including remasters (though Riven remaster comes close).
  
• Fantastic sound design.
  
• New take on environmental puzzles that is fresh (at least for a Cyan game.
  
• A new type of story that deviates from the Cyan standard.
  

Cons:

• The actual events of the story are harder to comprehend due to how it is delivered.
  
• Some of the puzzles seem to be more tedious than difficult.
  
• The dialogue can at some times be hard to understand as it is heavily accented.
  
• This is arguably the loneliest of the Cyan games (which I personally have considered a con since the original Myst).
  

Mid:

• The puzzles are easier than Obduction.
  
[*]Some of the new puzzle concepts needed more time in the oven.

7.5/10

Recommend at a 12.99 price point. Do wait for a sale.

Loved it. Great blend of exploration, story telling, and puzzles. Cyan is still doing what they do.

Beautiful and very atmospheric but with some flaws

The plot was difficult to parse and as a result, it feels like the game lacks any solid motivation for solving the puzzles. You play as a Keeper - an employee of the titular organization Firmament - and are guided by the voice of a previous Keeper. As you explore and solve puzzles this guide speaks to you about their own experiences within this world. This narration serves as exposition for the broader plot but does not begin to make sense until the end of the game. Overall, I enjoyed listening to said narration whilst exploring but found it distracting when trying to solve the puzzles.

The puzzles themselves were less difficult than what one would be used to from Cyan - and yet in very Cyan fashion there is a fair amount of backtracking. The primary mechanic - the "Adjunct" - is a clever way of unifying all other puzzle elements of the game. I loved seeing and being able to operate giant machines, but some puzzles felt more tedious than others due to awkward control schemes. Ultimately I enjoyed solving the variety of puzzles available.

Visually this game is stunning! Each realm has an identity of its own, with custom details and vibrant colors. Each space sprawls, giving the appearance of a world much larger than what can be explored. The look and feel of the Adjunct is satisfying and unique.

The soundscape fits each realm well, and there is custom music for each area. The only critique I have here is that the guide's voice sounds low-quality. I am not sure if this was intentional or not, as the guide sounds just like characters from previous Cyan games. So, this could just be a product of how Cyan records voice lines or possibly an artistic choice.

In conclusion, I would wholeheartedly recommend this game for fans of previous Cyan titles and fans of puzzle games in general. Despite some flaws, it very much contains Cyan DNA. For those still on the fence it might be worth waiting for a sale due to its relatively shorter play-time.

A strong taste of Cyan with an immersive, novel-like approach!

As a leisure-paced veteran adventure gamer, I enjoyed this title! It certainly was a new path in some ways for Cyan and I applaud them for it.
I do sympathize with others who endured bugs. As for me, I had a bug-free experience, although I do have a newer, high-end system if that had any bearing.
I also agree with others that keyboard mapping is desirable. I have limited mobility with my fingers on my left hand and it would be nice to be able to make changes.
I noticed review criticisms of the puzzles and story line, and this is the main takeaway I wish to share with others considering purchase of this title:
Look at the Cyan titles like books...past titles are more like journals and encyclopedias (and immensely enjoyable). Firmament is more like a novel, yet requiring the fleshing out of details to be made by one's imagination. Along with the wonderfully detailed graphics, you have the tools for an immersive, imaginative experience akin to those who fancy getting lost in those novels.
So if you enjoy that type of experience, embracing your imagination to help achieve a rewarding story experience, and aren't worried about completion time, but opting for exploration and immersion in the worlds with an emphasis on the flow of the puzzles over complexity, I feel comfortable recommending this title to you! I hope you enjoy it!

Compared to Obduction and previous games, this was a disappointment. If you play the Myst or Riven remakes and compare them to this (especially Riven), it's night and day. It's not that it's a bad game, but it's not a great one and I don't recommend it because you'd be better off replaying any of their other titles.

I didn't even finish it and considering how long I've been a fan of Cyan Worlds, that is damning.

I bought this game in the summer of 2024 and returned it due to a lot of graphical issues(shadows only appearing in one eye) that made the game unplayable. I saw they recently upgraded the game to unreal engine 5 and fixed a lot of the issues so I decided to give it another go

I'm so glad I did! The game has been a lot of fun so far(I think I'm close to the end). The puzzles have been easier than Obduction and a lot easier than Myst and RIven but I've still really enjoyed the game.

For me, the sense of scale is just so fun to see in VR. Cyan are masters at making cool worlds and crazy steam punk machines and puzzles. Little things like riding an elevator or looking out through the large glass windows at the top of a tower are just hard to describe.

There was some jank, and the game is definitely lacking in VR interactivity with the world(touching a wall, picking things up, etc.) however the interactivity and scope of the worlds do more than enough to suck you in

I think this game is a great gateway game into their other more difficult puzzle games.

I highly recommend Firmament!!

Another great game by the legendary Studio behind 'Myst'. Unlike their previous game 'Obduction', this one doesn't try to be a modern Myst, but instead tries to be its own thing, which is great.

Underrated Gem. Incredibly grand worlds to explore with eerie industrial vibes. The puzzles are slightly easier in this game than its predecessors, but they're still very well put together and will prove challenging for the average player. I also enjoyed the story very much, albeit not being as deep as its predecessors, it was still very captivating compared to your average game.. Firmament is another fantastic immersive experience from Cyan and will be enjoyed by new players of the genre and seasoned players alike.

Fun puzzles, not too difficult. Beautiful worlds. Bugs were few and far between.

Very short, finished in just under 7 hours (maybe less as I left it on pause a few times). Having played all previous Cyan games I found the difficulty fairly easy in comparison, the puzzles weren't very deep (I think limited by all interactions happening through your gauntlet), and only had a couple of moments where I had to take a moment to work things out.

Very nice looking and gives that Cyan exploration vibe we all love.

Only encountered one bug, but a reload fixed it.

Happy with the purchase to support the developers, but I got it on sale and would recommend others do the same.

Myst, But You're A Forklift Operator

I joke, but that's honestly what this game boils down to: about a dozen or so large-scale puzzles that have you operating heavy machinery. And I found these to be a lot of fun, and very inventive!

Outside the main puzzles, the game is a bit of a walking sim. That's just part of the Cyan Worlds vibe. (Still tho, do they have to insist on such LONG walks?)

The environments: fine. The story: fine. I don't think they were going for a grand vision of spectacle and lore. This game feels more like they simply had a solid mechanic for some great puzzles, so they slapped on a vibe and called it a game - and that works great for me! I think this smaller scope is a step in the right direction for Cyan.

Sorry, some nasty gliches, need to save often, need to reload often, game should get patches, there are no patches, final result: beautiful worlds, can't recommend.

Worst Cyan game ever. The story was the standard basic overplayed crap and the game play has no flavor.

Good game, but not for VR. Way too tedious to use the hand device and lots of walking.. plan to play in normal mode.

The game is gorgeous and the environments are fascinating.
I do however unfortunately think that this game fails to learn the lessons of Cyan's past projects.

i recently tried the remastered myst and riven, and i hope the reception of those releases inspires cyan to refocus.
This kind of tool-gimmick puzzler rarely works for me. I think the only tool puzzler i like is portal. I have tried many others and i don't enjoy them.

Its fun for a while, lots of back tracking and time wasting.

Visually quite stunning in parts, but I found it a bit tedious to play. The puzzles weren't very challenging, and it got quite repetitious - there was a lot of running back and forth between places with nothing to do except watch the same views over and over again. I also found the control interface (the so-called Adjunct) irritating and the key mappings (which you can't change) uncomfortable to use. It spoiled the game play.
The biggest problems for me, however, were the bugs - the game continually crashed, and in some passages of play (particularly the Camedus) you could inadvertently walk through walls and objects, leaving you stranded in a limbo state, unable to get back into the game. The devs are obviously aware of this - they have even provided a button in the Settings to allow you to rewind the game to a point before you stepped out of it! Never seen that before. I'd have been more impressed if they'd debugged the game properly in the first place.
The final insult is that at the finish, the game goes into an endless loop, forcing you to watch the whole list of credits, with no way of escaping other than to forcibly close the program down with Windows Task Manager.
I've been impressed with previous Cyan games, but this one is a disappointment, not very good and not very professionally executed.

an excellent puzzle challenge game.

Another great games from Cyan. This one is more concise than Obduction or Riven with less walking and more observation, but it is still pretty good and the VR aspect makes it of course awesome. The aesthetic is pretty interesting, with Soviet style architecture and sculptures. Highly recommend

The puzzles are tedious instead of fun, and don't respect you time. Buggy as hell too.

Very nice. The game was not long enough... I want to see the place the ship is going! GREAT JOB, CYAN <3

But for a couple of glitches in attempting to climb the ladder out of the derrick I found the game challenging and a lot of fun. I solved the ladder climbing problem by saving the game and then starting it again from the control panel. I didn't have to quit to get the glitch gone. Scenery is breath taking and difficulty is up there a bit. I recommend it highly.

absolute banger, beautiful enviroment, challenging puzzles and amazing story. PS the composer of the music slapps. would recommend if you enjoy puzzle games :)

I would wait for a discount, but it is truly a Myst like game, that is explore world while solving puzzle and for an unknown goal and reason.

I want more!

Yikes. Played this game a year and a half ago and it had some glitches but was mostly enjoyable. Glitches are now intolerable. Ice factory level keeps trapping me in control cabs (cannot go up the ladder to get out), forcing restart every time. Giving up. Shame, a beautiful world and superbly conceptualized. Alas...

Thank you so much for this amazing experience ! Epic story line, puzzles were not overly frustrating and made sense after trying at it for a while with maybe 5 or 6 times screaming " I figured it out ! " Just amazing story Thank you so much CYAN team !!!

great game from cyan. not without its hiccups, but still a great game for fans of the genere