#simogo

[ipsens-castle]

Lorelei and the Laser Eyes

[the-entangler]

I recently finished a game called Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, developed by the Swedish studio Simogo and published by Annapurna. The title alone is enough to give you an idea of the level of madness, but believe me when I say that reality far exceeds expectations.

Right, but which reality are we talking about? Well, that's hard to explain. So: there's an illusionist, an artist, a director, an old lady, and a dog in a house in the woods that doubles as a hotel, where truly strange things happen. Dates blur, roles mix, locations overlap, and the suspicion of being trapped in a lysergic dream grows ever stronger. But you shouldn't stop at appearances.

The game is one massive puzzle box to be solved piece by piece and, like any self-respecting puzzle, it is governed by ironclad logic as well as honesty. Why do I say honest? Because while Lorelei might seem daunting (and it is), it's never unfair or reliant on "moon-logic." The solution is almost always right there in the elements you've gathered—or at most, in the ones you haven't collected yet—but it's never left to chance. In short, you'll get there, even if it takes some time.

All it takes is the bare minimum required of a good detective: a spirit of observation, a dash of ingenuity, just enough lateral thinking, and a pen and paper. Oh, and crucially, do not ignore even the most miserable scrap of paper. Everything makes sense, both in terms of solving the riddles and understanding the plot, which unfolds through fragments and hyper-metatextual cues in the postmodernist tradition, featuring more or less explicit nods to Infinite Jest and House of Leaves.

I didn't know anything about the game until a month ago, I didn't know the developers, and I don't know what awards they've won—if any. But the first two things I thought were:

Video game writing has taken giant leaps forward (and any inferiority complexes towards other media are entirely unjustified).

I didn't think classic graphic adventures (meaning those based on puzzles and heavy reading material) still had so much to say.

[the-video-games-enthusiast]

Played Sayonara Wild Hearts by developers Simogo and been gobbling up any content/discussions I can find about it. @samspicturesandwords went over the possible symbolism and meanings of the Stereo Lovers and I wanted to do the same with Hermit64. If you haven't played it, please do!

The first is the stage you encounter The Hermit arcana, The Desert of Doubt. In Hermit's voiced song, The World We Knew, the first line is, "I'm too young to remember when the world was alive." Referring to the lifeless desert, where the hermit sits alone, a reflection of the lens they view the world through.

However, in the stage right before that, Night Drift, you see more and more power lines, communication towers, satellite dishes show up along the sides of the road as you near Hermit.

Even though Hermit is isolated, they do have an ear to the outside world. Maybe attempts to reach out or a want to stay connected? Or to maintain safety?

Getting into the actual encounter, the first thing Hermit does is use The World arcana to turn The Fool into a game cartridge and inserts it into their vr headset.

Hermit64, in their reclusive way, is sharing their world. And what does The Fool find? Despite Hermit's cool and calm presentation, internally, there are all kinds of hostile obstacles and defenses.

A departure from the other, solely external, arcana fights.

Going back to the line, "I'm too young to remember when the world was alive". Focusing this time on the young part, having felt this way for a very long time. Not remembering life before this desert. With that and the lines, "They say begin again, but I'll take any fragments I can find. They say begin again, but I'll treasure any fragments left behind." Of course, in this depression, Hermit holds dear to what little they have and can't let go. A hint to the nature of this heartbreak.

"Begin Again" is also a nod and response, maybe a consequence, to the first heartbreak's (Fighting Devils) more upbeat/positive song about letting go and moving on.

Navigating through the internal world, the defenses and obstacles, The Fool eventually reaches Hermit64's heart. Which is as big as it is guarded.

Something I noticed is there are only two times the Fool retaliates in this fight. The first time, is when they were completely surrounded and there was no other option (no screenshot, sorry). And the second at the final encounter.

The Fool fires back at the heart and the fight ends to the line "And it's too late to start anew." Tragically, the Hermit is "too old to start changing. Too tired to rewind..." Hermit's heart is broken and desintegrates. The Fool moves on.

[satoshi-mochida]

Sayonara Wild Hearts - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition now available - Gematsu

Publisher Annapurna Interactive and developer Simogo have released Sayonara Wild Hearts – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition via Nintendo eShop for $12.99, the companies announced. It is a free upgrade from the Switch version.

Sayonara Wild Hearts first launched for PlayStation 4, Switch, and Apple Arcade on September 19, 2019, followed by PC via Steam on December 12, 2019, Xbox One on February 25, 2020, and PlayStation 5 on February 24, 2025.

The Nintendo Switch 2 Edition offers the following visual modes and features:

Handheld Mode

1080p resolution and 120 frames per second

TV Mode

1440p resolution and 120 frames per second

4K resolution and 60 frames per second

Remix Arcade

This mode turns up the heat, featuring progressively faster and challenging gameplay, where players must aim for high scores in random song bites with zero loading

Here is an overview of the game, via Annapurna Interactive:

About

Sayonara Wild Hearts is a euphoric music video dream about being awesome, riding motorcycles, skateboarding, dance battling, shooting lasers, wielding swords, and breaking hearts at 200 mph. As the heart of a young woman breaks, the balance of the universe is disturbed. A diamond butterfly appears in her dreams and leads her through a highway in the sky, where she finds her other self: the masked biker called The Fool. Traveling through futuristic cities, dark forests, and electric deserts, The Fool sets out to find the harmony of the universe, hidden away in the hearts of her star crossed allies: Little Death, Dancing Devils, Howling Moons, Stereo Lovers, and Hermit 64.

Key Features

Custom-written vocal pop soundtrack.

A pop culture mash of electric pop, dance, fashion, anime, arcade games and subcultures.

An inclusive cast of stylish characters based on tarot cards.

Sensory overloading arcade game action.

Constant surprise and delight as every stage introduces new elements.

Challenging and intense, yet pure and inviting gameplay.

Buttery smooth gameplay: 1080p / 60 frames per second docked, 720p / 60 frames per second handheld on Nintendo Switch.

Straight to the action: virtually no loading times.

Watch the announcement trailer below.

Switch 2 Announce Trailer

[asleepinawell]

Lorelei and the Laser Eyes

Since this game seems to have slipped under the radar for the most part, I wanted to give it a shout out and recommend it to all lovers of puzzle games.

The basic premise is that you play as a woman invited to a secluded and almost completely uninhabited hotel somewhere in central europe. You're given almost no information to start out and it's up to you to piece together what is happening (and what already happened).

In the house there are puzzles. So many puzzles. Several people have compared the puzzle aspect to Professor Layton (which I have not played). They range from logic puzzles, to patterns, to spotting hidden elements in images, manipulating and mirroring, memory games, etc, etc.

It's not an action game; there are no enemies or combat. I also wouldn't call it horror so much as mystery, though it is a little creepy at times.

The visual aesthetic of it is quite striking, being in black and white with only splashes of red/violet in certain places. Also the soundtrack was fantastic.

It draws a lot of inspiration from things like surrealist cinema, horror games (think original resident evil without combat), and more. Several reviews have said it has Twin Peak vibes. And it has things to say about art and capitalism.

While there are some minor annoyances with the controls (no dedicated back button in menus is the big one), overall it played really well and I never got bored. It's also really fun to play with a second person (no online co-op or anything, just through streaming on discord or something) and work together on the puzzles.

So if you like puzzle games in creepy houses with slowly unfurling mysteries, it's definitely worth grabbing.

[miloscat]

[Review] Lorelei and the Laser Eyes (PC)

Pew-pew eye-lasers not included.

Sayonara Wild Hearts continues to be one of my favourite games, and after my annual birthday playthrough of it, I decided to check out the Swedish developer Simogo's latest game. Unlike SWH it's not a technopop thrill ride but a moody and atmospheric puzzle adventure, which it turns out is more in their wheelhouse anyway as they have three other games in their catalogue that could be described this way!

In 1963 an eclectic German artist, Lorelei Weiss, is invited to an isolated hotel in central Europe by an eccentric filmmaker. Supposedly, they are going to collaborate on a new art piece, but what you find instead is a series of riddles and locks hiding a mystery that stretches into the past and the future. As you open more doors you uncover the series of occult events that led to a tragedy, and the reasons behind the surreal happenings at the hotel.

You control Lorelei as she strolls around this cramped and obtuse place (or breaks into a light jog if she's had an espresso recently). Helpful menus keep track of documents you've seen, your inventory, and a log of questions and events; referencing these is essential, but I also found it useful to have at least one other external source of note-taking (plus photos of the screen), to cross-check solutions and maps. These menus can be a bit fiddly with the "controller" interface, since it's a one-button game; I played this on my fancy new Steam Deck and it worked well apart from this. I haven't played too many of these deep game-wide puzzle experiences, but I certainly found this easier to get along with than Myst or La Mulana.

While you navigate the hotel, certain recurring themes help to reinforce the puzzle elements: specific years and character names have importance, and there's a maze featured prominently which you explore in a few different ways. There's plenty of spatial reasoning, number, and logic puzzles which are catnip for me, apart from which the game makes sure to have references for any required knowledge like Roman numerals, Greek letters, astrology concepts, etc., so it's all self-contained. Apart from getting hung up on certain puzzles that I didn't yet have the required clues for (I needed a slight nudge every now and then), I felt good about the difficulty and the game consistently made me feel smart when I made a deductive leap or connection.

The sound design is classy and minimalist, while the look of the game is very striking, mostly monochrome except for highlighting certain things in a bright crimson for effect, especially the eponymous laser eyes. The subtly shifting textures add to the heightened mood of this eery, slightly threatening place, but notably important things are easy to spot in the game world. I should note too that the threat rarely becomes overt; outside of specific, telegraphed events there is no risk of a game over, softlock, or point of no return, and the game doesn't jumpscare you or employ disturbing imagery for shock value.

LatLE likes to play with the reality of the story in fun ways too, and not just in anachronistic plot details. At certain points you play an in-game "prototype" of the game itself on a Playstation 1-like console, complete with tank controls, fixed camera angles, and texture warping. There's also sequences that ape early graphic adventures. These diversions are very relevant and mandatory, as all clues build towards a final puzzle in a most satisfying way. Of course, there's also the occasional optional diversion like collecting figurines representing Simogo's prior games, and even Game Boy-like minigames based on them, my favourite being the LatLE action-maze game demake!

I'm glad I gave Lorelei a chance; not being an aficionado of this genre, I nevertheless had a fantastic time puzzling through this intricate mystery. I love how it balanced fantastical elements with the mundane, in an authentically grounded European setting (and a bit of tongue in cheek wryness at times). It never got overwhelming, consistently dripfeeding problems and the necessary clues and tools to solve them, all while looking damn good doing it. Also, there's a cute dog! And maths!! What more do you need?

[katiekatdragon27]

How have I never drawn fan art of this game before it literally built me.

Everyone and their entire families should play Ilomilo right now I'm not even kidding it's so good and fun and creative the emotional and I HATE that everyone sleeps on it.

Progress images (and some design points) below the cut:

When customizing the designs, I wanted to make them look like the source materials, ie. plushies. I made them have seams an stiches like their original designs but gave them cloaks instead of the weird body suits they naturally have. Also, the rectangles where their faces are are masks. Their actual faces are much fluffier.

That's really it. I love them. Play their game. Listen to their OST. Do it. Do it already-

Have a nice day dudes :))

[highly-nonexistent]

I dream in black and white See it all through laser eyes