Review: Weakless

Review: Weakless

Developed and published by the Polish studio Punk Notion, Weakless is a magical adventure that puts you in control of Weavelings, carefree wooden creatures whose world is at stake: the advancing rot is threatening to destroy all living things in this place. Playing with two special Weavelings, one blind and the other deaf, you will need to find in the bound between them the strength necessary to restore the flow of Resin, the energy that gives life to this world.

Even though with their disabilities, the Blind One and the young Deaf One were able to develop a special set of skills that will give them the necessary means to traverse a 3D world beautifully crafted and full of puzzles and, with the power of this friendship, save the world!

What do you do? In Weakless, you guide our two heroes, the Blind One and the Deaf One, using their unique abilities to solve puzzles through forests, caves and ancient ruins to find the source of the rot and reestablish the flow of resin.

The Deaf one and one of the drawings on walls that tell us the story of this world

What we liked!

  • Visuals: The visuals for Weakless are impressive! They are colorful and very detailed, making you feel truly immersed in its jungles and ruins. The characters also have a great level of detail, showing how much care was dedicated to the creation of this world. Their animations are also very interesting, making the bound between our heroes almost tangible in some special parts of your adventure. There’s one more aspect worth mentioning about the visuals of the game, but we will talk about it in another topic.
  • Audio: The same level of care from the visual area of the game can be seen – or better saying, heard – in the audio department too. The music from the game has a calm and relaxing vibe, using very unusual instruments like marimbas and udus (sorry guys but you will need to Google it) in its compositions. The sound effects are also very good, with especial care to our characters’ footsteps and a special bell one of our characters carries around. And there’s one more thing worth mentioning about the game audio aspects that we will discuss in another topic.
  • Deaf and blind mechanics: The main mechanic from the game consists of alternating the control over our characters back and forth: when controlling the Deaf one, you won’t be able to listen to world sound effects and the music will sound muffled. During your adventure, he will be making drawings about the world and things he sees, keeping a journal of your journey. He can also use the big bulb over his head to interact with elements from the scenario. The Blind one, as you can imagine, can’t see the world around him. When controlling him, the color from the world vanishes and your visual field becomes limited to his surroundings in black and white only, which symbolizes he can sense the world around him. You can always knock your staff on the floor to increase the range of his perception and, with it, “see” the world around him. The Blind one is also a musician, always ready to try the many musical instruments you will find hidden in the world. With his staff. You can also activate some special sound-based switches. This way, the cooperation between our characters becomes fundamental to advance in the adventure and to fully admire the beauty of this game.
  • Feeling of discovering: The exploration in this world is extremely necessary, encouraged and rewarding: this is the only way you can fully discover the magic story of this world. It’s necessary to address that this isn’t a game that will take you by the hand (except by your early moments where a few commands prompt will be shown on your screen). You will really need to explore every corner to find the solution for your puzzles or – if you are aiming for the 1000G – all the drawings and music instruments for our duo.
This is the world as the Blind one “sees” it

Somewhere between

  • Duration: When a game feels short, I usually consider it a bad thing, something that will surely subtract points from its final score. But Weakless will be an exception: The game took between three and four hours to be completed and it would take you even less if you follow a walkthrough, what I strongly discourage you. This way, you will finish your adventure before it gets tiring.
Working together to find the path

What we disliked

  • Visual glitches: Yes, there are some bugs and glitches in this game. They aren’t game-breaking but will definitely break the immersion of your adventure. The most noticeable was the collision detection: when close to an edge, your characters can float. That’s right: they seem to step beyond the edge, like if they were floating. Or when you notice that the law of physics that states that two bodies cannot occupy the same space at the same time doesn’t apply to your characters. And it happens all the time. Again, not game-breaking bugs, but it something capable of blowing away your immersion.
Can I refer to them as ‘treefolk’?

Score: 72%
Weakless is undoubtedly a beautiful 3D puzzle game with some clever mechanics that will surprise and please fans of the gender. With its beautiful world, carefully crafted soundtrack and sound effects and charming characters that, even without saying a word, will have your fondness and affection. The adventure may feel a little short, but it will be rewarding for those willing to know this magic adventure about friendship.