World Splitter Review

It has been a little while since I wrote the preview for World Splitter. Playing it now the game still feels like a new experience that is unlike other puzzle games I've seen in the past. World Splitter follows the story of a super-cute alien along with his crew who have crashed the spaceship. The player takes control of the captain who is trying to rescue all his brightly coloured crewmates that are scattered around the different levels. To navigate the level you have to learn how to control the void between two different dimensions. This seems very intimidating but the captain has the ability to turn and rotate a world-splitter line. This line will let you show parts of two different dimensions exposing platforms and walls to help you traverse the level to collect your fluff balls crewmates. Once you have collected them then you make your way to the exit on the right hand side of the screen. 

This 2D puzzle platformer is a super cute, colourful game that is a lot more complex than it may seem. The game throws a lot of hazards at you that might not be visible until you start playing. World Splitter is full of brain-busting puzzles that will really challenge and more often than not frustrate you. There are a lot of hazards to avoid like lava and water pits. Along with that are spiky enemies that roll at you at a surprisingly fast speed. At first thought, you may just think you can just jump over them, but that is not the case. Especially at the beginning when your jump height is only a few pixels high when you start. Good luck being able to clear the enemy. There is no way you are going to be able to clear them, so you will have to run or use your handy world-splitter line and hope you can expose a pit or a wall to trap them in their spot. While you are using the splitter-line be cautious as it can also kill you. When you expose the second dimension the walls that now appear can crush you if you aren’t careful about the angle of the dividing line. It definitely took a few tries for me to figure out exactly what angle the line had to be in to expose or cover the hazards you are trying to avoid. You will need to move the line in the exact right directions that your character can get to where he needs to be. Once you realise that you can’t rely on jumping up to the places you need to go, you have to be creative to figure out a different way to get the alien to the goal. 

The stages are created by having two dimensions stacked. Each level you play looks different and has a cute and colourful aesthetic to them. This is probably to help keep you calm and relaxed while you are super frustrated trying to solve the puzzle presented to you.  Each dimension has different contrasting colours and different seasons and environments shown. The layout of each dimension is different from the other, so it will be easy to keep them separated. Where one dimension may have a pit, the second might just be flat ground or a wall so you will have to rotate and move your line to create a clear path for the captain to get through. Be sure to watch out for any other hazards or enemies that may be exposed when you adjust your line.  The designs and colours of this new dimension when they are put together really creates a unique and beautiful visual, making it worth all the frustration you went through to make it.

There are six different worlds in World Splitter and each contains 10 levels for you to scout and explore to find all of your missing crewmates. As cute as they are, they sure seem to be super lazy since they are just standing there waiting for you to rescue them. They could help out a bit and at least come a bit closer to you! When you complete the first world levels the second world and subsequent ones will be unlocked as you progress. Each of these worlds is unique and has its own type of challenges to keep it fresh and switch it up. Be sure to watch the cutscene that is shown to you before the level or else you might be lost on what is required to get through the level successfully. 

While you are playing if there is a level you just can’t figure out, you do have the option to jump to one of the different worlds you have unlocked if you need a break. If there are little critters the captain is just not able to save, don’t worry too much you will not fail the level. As you play, the alien will learn new techniques so these will be handy when you challenge previously played levels and retrieve any critters you may have missed before. Until then, it means for now you just won’t get all the rewards for saving all the crewmates. You will get rewards based on how long it took to complete the stage and how many times you had to rotate the world-splitter line. 

If you thought World Splitter was incredibly challenging right at the beginning, I’m warning you now the levels will become more complex. A lot of the time if I got stuck then I would just walk away and come back to that level later. World Splitter does have the option of playing co-op with a friend if you want to try to solve the puzzles together. But I have a feeling that sometimes this may become more of a hindrance than a help.

World Splitter is definitely a beautiful looking puzzle game, unlike any I have played before. The puzzles challenge you and really require you to think, so if you aren’t in the mood for a thinking game then maybe wait to challenge it. I do wish there was some kind of hint option to use when you are absolutely stuck on a puzzle and can’t totally figure it out. If thinking and puzzle games are your thing, I highly recommend trying it out. Especially since you get to experience a new game mechanic trying to use two dimensions together to create a safe route for your alien to navigate and save your friends. It’s a great twist on your usual 2D puzzle platformer!