Inmost Review: The Most Atmospheric Game You’ll Play On Nintendo Switch 2 This Year
Inmost drops, you straight into a world thick with rain, darkness, and an absolute mood that swallows you whole from the jump. It is a haunting puzzle platformer where the tension never lets up, forcing you to creep through shadows where dangers constantly lurk. The stark silence is broken only by the heavy atmosphere and a story that pulls at your emotions, making every step feel heavy and significant. You will get lost in this bleak, striking reality, but the gorgeous presentation hides a game that is ready to punish you at every turn.
[Specs] [Gameplay] [Performance] [Settings]
Inmost Nintendo Switch 2 Review: Specs & HUD
- Download size: Small file size makes for a quick and easy install on the system.
- Tutorial signs: Seamlessly integrated directly within the game world rather than using intrusive menus.
- Button prompts: Conveniently pop up on screen exactly when they are needed.
- Missing items: Clear indicators appear to let you know when you lack a specific object required for progression.
- Text pop-ups: Excellent for highlighting interactions, though you can easily miss them if you don’t pay enough attention.
Gameplay Review & Mechanics Breakdown
The core platformer gameplay leans heavily on exploration and puzzle-solving, offering puzzles throughout the game that vary in complexity. Finding tools and weapons is essential to open up new areas or unlock shortcuts, making it the kind of game you can just lose yourself in since it does more than enough to keep you entertained. Learning what the game wants and what you can actually do can definitely be a process, and the game isn’t always super clear on where you go next, meaning you need to keep a firm mental note of your surroundings. Movement feels great, and I am a big fan of how you can move next to a ledge or drop, then drop and hang to lessen the fall damage. Collectable shards are also tucked away for you to find as you scour the world.
The powerful part of this game is how you can quite literally change the world around you, discovering secret rooms that change the layout entirely or stepping into a dream or a memory. Exploration is incredibly tense because you never see all of the area on a single screen; it uncovers dynamically as you discover it, and while that has been done before, it is so good when it happens here because it adds immensely to the mystery. Walls will also go transparent when you enter a room or area to keep the tension and discovery alive. Just be warned, there is some slight horror to the game as you encounter these monsters that chase you down, forcing you to be quick and get away from them before they catch you.
Inmost Nintendo Switch 2 Review: Performance & Fidelity
- Beautiful pixel art graphics: Absolute stunning visual style that looks incredible on the screen.
- Atmospheric world: A game that just oozes atmosphere and feeling, creating a real mood with its rain and darkness.
- 2D game world: Built on a flat plane, although it does proudly boast beautifully animated backgrounds.
- World and animations: Hand-crafted animations that stand out as some of the absolute best in the genre.
- Colour cues: The subtle colours used to help convey the story are very impactful, such as the screen going red to mean something bad is happening.
Settings, Customisation & Control Details
- Simple controls: The controls are not that difficult to master, keeping the barrier to entry low.
- No voice acting: There is no voice for the most part, using just text in the game, which adds brilliantly to the presentation.
- Narrator style: When there actually is a voice, it feels exactly like you are being told a story by a narrator.
- Autosave system: The game autosaves regularly and tracks progress on a clear visual timeline with images, letting you return to previous areas easily.
- Fast respawning times: Death is quick, but you generally respawn right on the same screen to keep you in the action.
- Fall damage and death: Gravity is lethal, adding fall damage and death just in case you needed more to worry about.
- Cheap traps: At times, the traps feel cheap, pouncing without any warning, and sometimes, it’s ordinary objects hiding the danger.
- Slow tool usage: Using tools can feel slow and tedious at times, meaning you just have to wait it out.
- Pacing issues: Story segments often feature slow-moving parts where you are trudging along, which feels unnecessary.
- Bad respawn points: Had a few rare instances of a bad respawn point putting you right back in a tough spot.
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Inmost Review
Summary
Good Stuff
Inmost delivers an incredible experience driven by beautiful pixel art graphics and hand-crafted animations that stand out as some of the absolute best around. The 2D game world oozes atmosphere and feeling, leveraging a real mood of rain and darkness to create an incredibly gripping environment. The lack of voice acting actually enhances the presentation, using text pop-ups for interactions and a narrator-style voice during major story moments that makes it feel like you are being told a dark story. The platformer gameplay keeps you thoroughly entertained as you hunt for collectable shards, open shortcuts with tools, and navigate a world where walls go transparent, and screens dynamically uncover to heighten the mystery. Plus, the controls are not that difficult, the download size is light, button prompts appear exactly when needed, and the brilliant timeline autosave feature lets you jump back to previous areas effortlessly.
Bad Stuff
The game is not without its frustrations, particularly with pacing during story segments where you are forced into a slow-moving trudge that feels entirely unnecessary. Learning exactly what the game wants from you can be a real process, especially since it is not always super clear on where you need to go next, forcing you to keep a strict mental map. Using tools can also feel remarkably slow and tedious, forcing you to just wait out the animations. The biggest irritation comes from traps that feel incredibly cheap, pouncing on you without any warning from seemingly ordinary objects, which is made worse by fall damage and lethal drops. While the fast respawns usually put you right back on the same screen, I did encounter a few instances of bad respawn points that disrupted the flow.
Final Verdict
Inmost is a deeply atmospheric ride that succeeds in making you feel completely lost in its dark, rainy world. The stunning visual presentation and clever world-shifting mechanics easily outshine the moments of slow pacing and trial-and-error progression. It will punish you with some cheap traps and vague directions, but the quick respawns and simple controls keep it from becoming unplayable. It is a moody, memorable puzzle platformer that is absolutely worth your time if you want something with real emotional weight.
