Mosa Lina

I first head about Mosa Lina from a friend who praised it for... Well, to be honest, I don't remember. Its unique design perhaps? Finding it in my look-through queue later on and seeing its overwhelmingly positive rating, I decided to give it a try in co-op.

Mosa Lina advertises itself as an immersive sim, and while I believe the definition of that genre is debatable, I would most certainly not classify it as such. It is a 2D puzzle platformer plain and simple. You are placed in one of many levels made of blocks, with potential for spikes, cannons, and some other things. In general your goal is to touch all the fruit and then get to the portal. For this task, you are given 3 tools at random, and this is where the game really gets its essence. These tools are generally very unsuitable to help you pass the level. The path through the level is usually not particularly difficult, but your character has only a measly jump. You must really learn to improvise utilizing the random junk you're given to get through the level.
If we want to get a bit more specific, then each run means you have to complete several levels and you're given 3 of about 8 items. If you fail then the selection of the 3 is randomized and you get to try a level you haven't beaten yet. Beat all the levels and you beat the run. Using fewer items or beating a level in fewer tries gets you more points. The difference in co-op is that both players have 2 items (1 shared) and some fruit have to be touched by both players.

I love the concept and the idea that the design is counter to the game design trend of every ability being made to solve some specific problem. It is a lovely concept and sparks your imagination in a way not many games do these days. Yet I can't say I found myself having a lot of fun. There's the initial novelty of figuring out what items do and realizing you really can beat these tasks which may seem impossible at first with a pile of garbage. However, rather than having frequent moments where I felt I had come upon a creative solution the problem I was handed, it's as if every level was trying to be as unsolvable as possible. It reminded me a bit more of rage games, and that's not a genre I enjoy.

Do I give it my recommendation? Not really. I always appreciate novel games and they've certainly executed it well, but fun is paramount. Perhaps most game design trends exist for a reason, and while, sure, following them too tightly leads to your games being boring and uninspired, avoiding them entirely can also make your games unfun. I think the solutions to the puzzles in Mosa Lina really are hostile to the players, and ultimately I can't enjoy that.