After all, most players have long been clear about this phenomenal mobile game. What's more, the "Panorama Version" released this time, including the 1st and 2nd generations, is almost a plate of cold rice and new stir-fry, with no new levels and new content, which makes me feel mixed after clearing the level.

But it's also worthwhile to look back at Monument Valley — because it's long enough for us to see something new in it.

Cold rice on a new plate
This time, "Monument Valley: Panorama Edition" includes all the chapters, paid content and minor updates of the series, such as "Forgotten Coast", "Ida's Dream", and "Lost Forest" in the 2nd generation. The overall duration of the game reaches about 8 hours, which can be said to make up for the shortcomings of "Monument Valley" to a certain extent, which can make players addicted in one breath.

The name of "Panorama Version" is due to the fact that the original vertical screen of "Monument Valley" has been expanded and turned into a horizontal screen scene adapted to computers. Originally, some level scenes that could only appear partially due to screen limitations were finally shown in the "Panorama Version". This is even more evident in Gen 2, where the two towers that used to need to swipe left and right to see can now be seen in a single screen.

On the other hand, after changing to a landscape screen, many scenes have become more imposing. For example, in the scene where the totem jumps into the water, the wall and sea water that extend to the edge of the screen set off the loneliness of Ida and the totem more prominently, making the whole scene more infectious.

However, the operation of "Panorama Version" is not very satisfactory to me. The game directly replaces the touch screen with mouse clicks, and does not design a completely new set of controls for the PC side - such as using the arrow keys to move characters.

Most of the time the mouse operation is not much different from the touch screen, but when rotating some vertical valves, it may be due to sensitivity, many times I drag the mouse far away, can not turn enough to turn the valve, can only be operated by throwing the mouse, so it is difficult to accurately control the position of the valve rotation.

Moreover, the game's support for gamepads is also poor. Players can only use the joystick instead of the mouse, control the cursor movement on the screen, and then use the RT key instead of mouse clicking, the operation experience is extremely poor, basically in the point of not playing.

Still fragrant enough
So is Monument Valley still fun? The answer is yes.

By today's standards, Monument Valley is still unique in indie games. The scenes are delicate and detailed, making the play feel like you're operating a cleverly constructed toy. When you rotate the valve in the scene and drag the slider, it will cause a building block-like platform to move or rise, which brings many surprises in the attempt.

And these mechanisms are all designed to make players feel a visual deception that violates the laws of physics. This is a technique unique to the 2D plane, so that the road that was originally in other positions is connected to the "impossible" position, creating an infinite loop of Möbius rings. The changes in the laws of physics make the world as "unconventional" as a dream, but the player's interactions are very intuitive in reality.

This "impossible art" also created a unique visual style. It combines the graphic master M. Escher. C. Escher) The principle of contradictory space and visual deception is integrated into the game, which not only brings the player a design with a great artistic aesthetic, but also allows the player to personally turn the impossible into a possibility, showing the charm of "impossible". Therefore, "Monument Valley" has inspired many later developers, such as "World in Pictures", "Dream in a Cage" and other games, all trying to further explore the possibility between visual error and art.

On the other hand, puzzle games are a niche genre in their own right, and Monument Valley has grown its audience a lot by lowering the difficulty, allowing it to reach where it is today. The mechanisms in the game are placed in a conspicuous place, and the puzzle solving process is also simple interaction, so that people who are not familiar with puzzle solving games can easily experience the fun of solving puzzles.

And this minimalist level design is bound to have a shortcoming - playability. There are no extra elements such as collectibles, there is a lack of replay value, and players consume the content of the game very quickly, making many players not satisfied with the short duration of the game. However, it also leaves a lot of room for the game's art design, which is the secret to Monument Valley's success.

The 45-degree isometric viewing angle above the oblique adds a lot of three-dimensional sense to the picture, making the structural beauty of the building fully revealed; Scattered towers, steps, and elements taken from real-life buildings such as the Red Wall and the Roman Aqueduct provide a further decorative effect; After adding details such as players and crows, as well as color matching full of design, the whole building adds a layer of flexible feeling, combined with the background to form a beautiful composition, which also makes the game have full artistry.

When the scene is added to the fragmented narrative, it forms a unique atmosphere of beauty and loneliness. This is especially evident in Generation 1, where "Princess Thieves" Ida is almost repelled by the entire world and feels surrounded by loneliness wherever the player goes. At this point, even the slightest warmth will be amplified, and the slightest interaction with others will become precious. In Generation 1, Ida's friend Totem helped her through difficulties along the way, while in Generation 2, it was the bond between mother and son that reunited each other. Therefore, Monument Valley does not need many lines to create many impressive scenes.