Hands-On With Viewfinder

https://open.spotify.com/episode/7AKnd21fbXN7NsjdkjUvmq

2023 has already been a fairly stacked year when it comes to video game releases. Between Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom being an early frontrunner for most outlets' Game of the Year, Final Fantasy XVI, Hogwarts Legacy, and the impending releases of Spider-Man 2 and Starfield, there has been no shortage of games to play. That said, Viewfinder is another one of these smaller releases that can hold its own with these massive titles.

The game is fundamentally a puzzle game where the player has to use pictures they either take or find around the environment and hold them up in front of them to navigate their environment. It mixes some of the gameplay elements of Superliminal where the player has to manipulate scale and angle to solve the puzzles and utilize a rewind function if they make a mistake, like I did at one point when I accidentally punted a battery into the abyss.

The real stand-out of the game is the fact that there are multiple art styles that all blend together seamlessly and beautifully. There are black and white environments, environments that look cel-shaded like a comic book, environments that look like old 8-bit games, and many more. They all look like they mesh well and make exploration way more fun. The highest praise I can give this demo (now available on Steam and PlayStation 5) is that I wish it was longer so there was more to play before the game's release later this month.

Viewfinder is officially released on PlayStation 5 and PC via Steam on July 18th, however no price has been listed officially yet.