The star named EOS may seem like a sleepy experience, but it's definitely not one to sleep on.
The star named EOS has an identity problem. On one hand, it’s a warm, narrative-driven tale that explores your relationship with your mother through her letters and photographs. On the other, it’s a difficult, often unforgiving point-and-click experience that refuses to hold your hand. Yet somehow, it works.
This second effort from the Taiwanese developer Studio Silver Lining shares the same gorgeous art style as its debut Behind the frameby combining it with popular and traditional puzzle mechanics to create an enjoyable little game that forces you to work hard to complete it, without ever feeling cynical or condescending. Don't let its initial quirks fool you –The star named EOS is an incredibly satisfying game.
Chances are you won't immediately get along with The star named EOS. The scenes begin with you waking up in your bedroom as your mother, whom you see only briefly, leaves the house. She seems like a good person—a photographer with a gift for poetry—and each scene usually opens with you reading a letter of support from her and looking at one of her photos.
If you have an ounce of cynicism in your body, these sections will probably seem saccharine. Thankfully, they eventually give way to a broader experience that isn't so steeped in over-sentimentality: you, sitting in a fixed position, take on beautifully realized escape room challenges through puzzles, observations, and archetypal point-and-click mechanics.
Each step starts with a letter, although they may be a little syrupy for your taste.
The controls are simple but frustrating. On one analog stick, the camera is free and easy to use; on the other, the cursor is interminably slow to move and there are no options to adjust its speed or sensitivity. It takes a while, but you adjust by guiding yourself with the view and refining your selections with your pointer.
Confusing positions
Then there are the puzzles themselves. The star named EOSThe game's core puzzles quickly prove less comforting than its relaxing visuals and atmosphere. Each of the game's six main sequences combines variations of classic puzzles (sliding blocks, code patterns, and find-and-connect challenges) with photography, as you attempt to recreate your mother's photos with your new Polaroid camera and your surroundings.
Some puzzles may seem simple, but even these can be a little tricky.
It's not that The star named EOS The game has a steep learning curve: it simply requires a high level of critical thinking from the beginning and more or less stays that way. There is also no hint system; if you have a weakness for certain types of puzzles or simply don't understand the logic used, and later in the game it really stretches the links between problems and solutions: you will have to work your way through them or find the answer online.
However, with patience, you will eventually solve each challenge. The levels have few moving or interactive parts, which means that you won't be distracted from your immediate task. You will do this better with good eyesight, however: it is sometimes difficult to see important clues, especially those that you can't get close to with your cursor, but you just have to remember the zoom function on your camera.
Each piece tells a story.
Tidying up the final details
Despite all its flaws, The star named EOS is always rewarding, and its real rewards come in the final third of this four-hour experience, when its allegorical and sometimes mawkish missives transform into real, direct narratives. The way it combines recent and buried memories makes you reconsider everything you've experienced before, through a different prism, both figuratively and literally.
It all comes together with a great soundtrack, solid voice acting, and spectacular hand-drawn artwork to create one of the most distinct and special indie games of 2024. It may seem like a sleepy experience, but it's definitely not one to sleep on.
