Welcome to my latest game review, this time saw me playing What Lies In The Multiverse from developers Studio Voyager and IguanaBee (Headsnatchers, G.I. Joe Operation Blackout). The game is published by Untold Tales Games (Beautiful Desolation, Aspire: Ina’s Tale). What Lies In The Multiverse is a 2D platform puzzle game and is the debut game from Studio Voyager.
Change The World With A Button
How did I find this game? Continue reading to see my thoughts. You can also check out our previous reviews.
The Game
We start the game on our computer typing the days away. Our protagonist’s mother bursts into the room asking why we’ve not left the room in over three days, to which our character tells her that he’s trying to discover the secrets of the multiverse. He better be careful.
Soon enough, things start to go a bit crazy, objects disappearing, the computer crashes. Bam. We’re taken to another universe due to messing around with things we really shouldn’t have been messing with. Not long after we’re teleported to this other universe, we meet a charismatic fella named Everett. He’s a charismatic but crazy scientist who has his quirky ways of getting things to go his way.
We must assist Everett on his quest to fix what our main character has broken. We must fix the multiverse before it’s all too late. Along this hilarious adventure, you meet all sorts of different people, from zen monks, hairy bikers, to the crazy granny above who is fighting for survival.
The game uses a great feature where you can flip universes at will. You can use this to help you get through an area that in one universe is sealed, but in another, it’s rotten away and wide open for you to explore. You can turn dangerous falls into easy pathways down a cliff at the tap of a button. It’s such a great idea for a game, it really gets you thinking about some of the puzzles. Especially when you come across an icy universe that you can use to help jump across wide chasms and navigate seemingly impossible paths.
As mentioned we must assist Everett in fixing the multiverse, but is that all Everett is trying to do? A band of whacky scientists is hunting both Everett and you down, so who knows? That’s something you’ll need to find out for yourselves though.
The game warns you when you first launch the game that it can be quite dark in places. It really is. One example is you’ll be in a cave and you’ll see a young man who is fishing. Flip to the other universe and he is floating in the water, face down. Another is that you come across a father and his daughter camping. Flip to the opposite universe, she is dead and the father has left a note saying he’s sorry but he had to do it… Dark. I like it.
Look & Sound
The graphics for What Lies In The Multiverse are nothing cutting edge, no fancy 3D physics or anything like that. But, that does not take away from the game at all. I love the 2D pixel-art style that the developers have gone with for this game. I also love the level design, especially when wandering through a small village and you flip to the other universe. What was once a lush and colourful village is now full of storms, rain, death, and disaster.
The audio in the game is absolutely fantastic. Whack some headphones in and zone into the game. Whilst in one universe you have some peaceful calm music playing away, switch to the other universe and you’ll hear heavy rainfall, darker music, and the sound of impending doom. The sound effects are also very fitting for the game. Especially when dropping and breaking the darned boxes on the train level.
What Lies In The Multiverse is a game that has been made so well. I didn’t experience any graphic or audio bugs whilst playing. Nor any gameplay bugs whilst I think of it.
Length & Replayability
Unfortunately, this is a one-and-done game. It’ll last you around 7 to 8 hours depending on how you progress. But this is definitely a quality over quantity game. The Switch version also has in-game achievements for you to unlock, so this can give the player some replayability.
But the whole one-and-done with this isn’t a problem. I’d happily play through it again in the future, it’s such a fun and well-made game.
Conclusions
I absolutely love What Lies In The Multiverse. It’s a fantastic game that plays very well, has beautifully colourful graphics, lots of humour, an incredible soundtrack, all alongside a great story. This is a home run for Studio Voyager and I look forward to their future work. I give What Lies In The Multiverse a solid score of 10/10. Now go check out the official site at Untold Tales Games.
A code was kindly provided for us to review this.
