SELINI is the first game by CYMBAN, and it is an atmospheric 2D puzzle platformer with a dark, unrelenting mood. You play as a small, unnamed, and hooded character who needs to make their way through the world without dying while solving a number of environmental puzzles. At present, the game is only a Kickstarter, and the preview build was rather short but enough to get a taste of the game.

Immediately, you will likely compare the overall style to games by Playdead, the developers of Limbo and Inside, and there are some similarities there. An oppressively dark world, a small childlike character, and many ways to get killed while having very few ways to defend yourself. However, unlike Limbo, SELINI lets you fight back in a much more direct way.

The fighting in SELINI is one of the weaker aspects of the overall experience as it is very simplistic. However, that may not indicate the end product’s full combat system as, despite the simplistic combat system, SELINI has boss fights. There was only one boss fight in the preview build, but that boss fight did not give the best indication of things to come.

The boss fight entailed repeatedly hitting one spot on a deadly machine that’s trying to kill you, but the problem was that the boss fight gave no damage indicators of any kind. You don’t really know whether you’re hitting the right spot until the boss is defeated and the fight is over. The boss combat in SELINI is lacking in any real weight.

It doesn’t feel like you’re fighting anything with any kind of heft, and it instead feels like waving your weapon until the boss dies. The combat against regular enemies is not quite the same though as there are damage indicators for regular enemies as they freeze when hit. So, fighting regular enemies feels more satisfying than fighting the boss.

Once the boss fight was done, a new ability was unlocked that allowed for additional traversal. So, presumably, boss fights will lead to new abilities that will expand on the overall moveset of the main character. Hopefully, that is the case because, as it stands, SELINI lacks anything that particularly distinguishes it from other darkly atmospheric puzzle platformers.

It has great tone, and the environmental puzzles are good, but it does feel like something that has been done before. If you’re itching for more in line with games like Limbo, then SELINI has what you need, but outside of that, the game needs more. However, this may simply indicate that the preview build did not show enough of the game for it to differentiate itself from the crowd.

The world of SELINI is one that appears to be some kind of post-apocalyptic machine future. The robotic enemies somewhat resemble some of the monsters in SOMA, but without the fear factor or the biological aspects. Instead, they appear as hulking masses that move slowly and lumber around the world. Their design is, overall, rather superb, and they give off a sad energy, almost like a sci-fi Dark Souls.

Similarly, SELINI presents its story in a more non-verbal, allegorical fashion. With only the preview build to go on, the narrative is unknowable. You are some kind of a hooded person or creature that is, in some way, cared for by a different, less hostile robot. Whenever you die, you return to the last of these robots you saw. Perhaps you are also a robot, as there is a set piece that involves a crowd of these hooded figures getting blown to pieces by a robot’s laser cannon. This is all, with the scant information provided at present, entirely unknowable until the full game releases.

What we can know is that the game is rather gorgeous to look at. The animation is simplistic and the jumping and attacking don’t appear particularly smooth, but they are functional. SELINI is not a colorful game, but when it does decide to use color, the color is used to make the enemies and environments pop. So, the visual design, while not wholly unique, is good for what the game is trying to accomplish with its tone. Dull greys and browns punctuated with bright blue sparks really helps the color leave its mark.
 

If you’re interested in checking out SELINI, the Steam page contains some of the information you’d want, especially if you want to Wishlist the game, but the Kickstarter is there for any additional notifications. The game, while it certainly is on Kickstarter, has seemingly not launched a Kickstarter campaign yet. So, if you are interested in the game, go check it out and wait for it to be properly shown off.

SELINI has potential, but that potential is hidden behind the short runtime of the preview build. The atmosphere and unlockable abilities certainly do provide some indication that SELINI may turn out to be a great puzzle platformer, but there simply isn’t much to go on at present. For now, we can only wait and see.
 

Justin van Huyssteen (@LC_Lupus)
Senior Editor, NoobFeed