The Master's Pupil - PC (Steam) Review

The Master's Pupil by developer Pat Naoum and publisher Pat Naoum Games Pty Ltd—PC (Steam) review written by Valerie with a copy provided by the publisher.

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes.

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When I found out that everything was hand-painted in The Master's Pupil, I just had to have a stab at this game. Being a student of art I learned a lot about the great artists including Claude Monet whom this game is based on. He struggled in his life with loss and grief which you can follow along in this game.

Pat Naoum took 7 years to make this 2D puzzle platformer and all the visuals were hand-painted by him. He also had to learn game coding! I thought it very ingenius to scan in all his works. They are the continuity throughout the game.

Upon opening The Master's Pupil I was expecting at least an introduction, but I can understand the developer's reasoning that anything would take away from the beauty of the scenery and your character to play as. The mystery in exploring without any hints or other clues as to how to proceed drew me right in with switches, wind drafts and jumps that guided me through each section. I found out that spikes are my enemy. I had so much fun with so much color and a wondrous feeling when I arrived at that first painting!

Now, one thing to note, I have a jumpcraft of zero. So I did many, MANY runs just to get over the first hurdles in The Master's Pupil. And WOW the artwork! So well done that it left me breathless because I am an artist. I am truly amazed at the quality of the graphics in this game right from his own paintings!

The first hurdle in this game had to do with color and this funny nozzle that blew me away when I encountered it. Onto the next section I came across a red ball that almost looked like a ball of wool! As I continued through to the next section I came across updrafts with levers that helped me in getting up, over and around only to fall to my doom between pillars of color.

The next swing at my character's life came in the form of a black poof or puff of colored steam. That made me feel like a deflated balloon as I watched my character fade from the screen and I'd have to start the section over again. At least it wasn't from the very beginning of the game! Yay!

The puzzles got harder as I progressed through The Master's Pupil where I discovered that the physics in this game were an advantage for the home team! Well, team of one that is! I played through this game to halfway on PC where I was wishing for a joystick (not a controller) to play. Somehow, I swear my fingers like to tie themselves in knots on the keyboard! All I have to do is use the AD of the WSAD on the keyboard for left and right direction and the space bar to jump.

The soundtrack in the background reminded me of my first tour of the art gallery in my home town. Then as I listened more closely it sounded like a group of people discussing anything and everything in life. Claude's life. I could also see by the painting progression that Claude's style of painting changed over the course of his life. Even the bitter end for him in that his eyes developed cataracts. What a blow to an artist to lose one's sight like that.

I give huge kudos to Pat Naoum for keeping me both on my toes and engrossed in the puzzles of The Master's Pupil. After a couple of hours playing this game I am at a painting I have to reassemble. So satisfying to note which of Claude Monet's works it was. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to step back in and continue on. So much to see and do.

Final Thoughts

Not everyone would like this game as it is solely about Claude Monet, an artist. I'm sure quite a bit of the puzzles would keep you occupied, but it would also depend on your knowledge of art. Do you know which two colors combined make purple? Me, the artist, being a puzzle addict had its advantages during my playthrough of The Master's Pupil. Art is my thing! I'm invested to complete one puzzle to go on to the next and the next and the next. Beware the poof of doom!

Score: 9 / 10

Author's Note: The image below is the first painting I had seen of Claude Monet's works in an art history booklet at the museum. This one is called Water Lilies and the Japanese Bridge. All artists have inspirational places. This was Monet's and he had created it on his property in France.

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Solo - PC Review

Steam describes Solo as “an introspective puzzler set on a gorgeous and surreal archipelago”. This game was suggested to me due to it’s visual similarities to Yonder: Cloud Catcher Chronicles. I was eager to play given the unique premise and art style, and I was immediately impressed by the options available for character creation - this is the first game (that I have played) that allows same sex relationships while also allowing you to change gender at any point in the game.

Plot

I think “plot” is a strong word. There isn’t really a clear story, because it is closer to a “choose your own” rather than an established narrative. But the game doesn’t really give you anything to work towards, or any semblance of progression - which why after 6 hours of playing, I have idea how close I am to the end. When you get past a puzzle, you get a new question from a totems, then a remark from your ghost partner, and then you move to a new island and solve another puzzle. You eventually hit a lighthouse, and then move on to a new section of islands.

Given that I only played as a female in a same-sex relationship, I can’t speak for other players or plotlines. The questions may or may not differ. The essential premise of the story, I think, is to learn more about how you love, but I was really discouraged by some of the remarks made by my ghost partner. There’s something about a guilt-trip that really takes you out of the game, ya know? They encourage you to be honest in the responses you give, but I wasn’t expecting to be judged for it.

Gameplay

The game is controller supported, but it assumes you are using an XBOX controller, which is standard. I didn’t have one on hand, so I used a PS4 controller. It worked out fine, as long as I was able to remember the corresponding buttons.

As I mentioned, there isn’t a lot of variety in the gameplay. You get to an island, you use a few types of boxes to find a way to reach the totems and then start all over again. You get a camera (mostly to take selfies, which I totally did), you can play the guitar (to change the weather or to remove color, for example), and you can feed the animals if you so desire.

The animals are really cute, so I fed them anytime I came across one. The parachute is handy, but aside from that, the accessories really don’t matter in the grand scheme of things. The guitar is finicky, and you can’t always tell if you have been successful in playing the tune. You aren’t reminded of the note pattern, so it would be worthwhile to write it down. Random NPCs will ask for a favor, and sometimes you need to help animals or plants, but it seemed that I was able to skip these sections without any penalty.

I had a bit of a tough time trying to accurately place the boxes, especially the sticky ones. On numerous occasions it would prevent certain boxes from being placed next to other ones, but after 3 more attempts, it would work. The camera angles aren’t great, so I frequently had to drop boxes and try again to be able to place them at the angle I wanted. You can’t really look “up” in the game, which is quite frustrating.

The game seems to have only an autosave and not a specific save point. Nowhere was it explicitly stated how to save. There was a fountain I could drink out of but I have no clue how or if it affected the game. After playing for an hour or so, I waited for the autosave to run, and then quit the game. When I restarted shortly after, my character was spawned in the middle of the ocean and the screen was entirely blue. The only way I was able to regain control was by pulling out my guitar and it reset the screen enough that I could to swim back to a shore miles from where I had just auto-saved. Luckily, this only happened that once and future restarts were unproblematic.

Overall

The game definitely has a some unique qualities, including the premise and the gender considerations. If you enjoy puzzle games and are entertained by repetition in a very pretty setting, then this might be right up your alley. Unfortunately, these few good elements really don’t outweigh or make up for the glitches and lack of compelling story. That being said, I won’t give up completely - I’d like to know how it ends. Hopefully some improvements will be made upon release.

Game Information

Platform:
PC
Developer(s):
Team Gotham
Publisher(s):
Team Gotham
Genre(s):
Adventure
Puzzle
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
NA

Source:
Provided by Publisher

Article by Lauren

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