Solo

If you clicked on this review hoping to hear my thoughts on Han, Chewy, Lando and the Millennium Falcon, then perhaps I should start out with an apology. The new game Solo from Team Gotham isn't an action-packed romp inspired by this summer's blockbuster film, but rather an introspective puzzle game that has you navigating a strange world with only your memories (and a few adorable animals) to keep you company. In other words, it's the exact opposite of the new Star Wars movie. Well, except for the adorable animals.

This is one of those times when I'm not sure if the game is depressing, or if it's me. Solo is a mix of solving a bunch of box moving puzzles and answering a series of probing questions about your past relationships and matters of love. You can lie, of course, but the game wants you to be honest and go along for what proves to be a small but emotionally satisfying adventure that seems designed to bum you out.

Based on the character you choose and the answers you give, the game will craft a compelling story around you. It does a good job of forcing you to seriously consider your past relationships with increasingly personal questions, all of which materialize later in bits of dialog you read from your past loves. It drills down into the toxic things you've done to doom relationships and leads you through an introspective adventure that I found to be weirdly cathartic.

As a puzzle game, Solo isn't nearly as emotionally draining. The idea is to touch a lighthouse in order to activate a nearby statue that you will use to unlock the next puzzle. Of course, it's not as simple as it sounds. In order to reach the out-of-the-way locations, you'll need to stack a bunch of boxes and climb up a series of hills. If you can figure out the right order to stack the boxes, you'll be able to climb up and interact with the lighthouse.

The puzzles get tougher as you pick up different items along the quest. Early on, you'll find a parachute that lets you glide to hard-to-reach islands. There's also a magic staff that lets you pick up and move the boxes all around the level. This proves to be the most important addition to the game, as it expands the puzzles in a bunch of creative ways. It's also one of the most frustrating parts of the game, but we'll get to that in a moment.

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Along with giving you different items to use, the game also mixes things up with a wide variety of boxes. For example, you'll find that some boxes will create large planks you can walk on, while others have suction cups that will stick to the walls. There are boxes that will divert water and even more that will boost you into the air with a gust of wind. You'll have to spin, rotate and stack these different kinds of boxes in order to open up new puzzles and sail to the next island.

What I like is how the game ties the love and relationship elements into some of the secondary puzzles. Beyond simply interacting with lighthouses and statues, you'll also spend a lot of time helping a bunch of cute animals find their mates. These cuddly creatures can be a little skittish at first, but will warm up to you if you give them an apple or help water their garden. And this is on top of the underground puzzles that have you stacking boxes to line up with the shadows. Team Gotham has done a lot to add new wrinkles with each new puzzle, and I largely enjoyed figuring them out.

What I don't like is how buggy Solo is. It started out with me losing all my progress after the game crashed and the boat sailed off without me. This bug has been squashed, but there are still plenty more that dog this otherwise charming puzzler. I found myself running into the problem where the boxes would glitch out when I accidentally dropped them into water. And don't even get me started on how the game remaps the buttons when playing with an Xbox One controller. If you're going to play with a controller, I strongly recommend the DualShock 4.

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But no matter if you a game pad or the mouse and keyboard, you're still going to spend a lot of time trying to get the staff to work properly. It's easy to use, in theory. There are no problems when all you're trying to do is place a box on the ground or something simple. But the moment you start dealing with the depth of a 3D space, things start to fall apart. Some of the later puzzles made me wonder if this game might be easier in VR or with motion controls. The sometimes clunky gameplay isn't a deal breaker, but they probably could use a little tightening up.

If you can get beyond some of the gameplay and technical issues, you'll find that Solo is a delightful puzzle adventure with a lot to offer. It's the kind of game that wants to not only challenge your box stacking skills, but also the way you remember and process your past relationships. This is an emotionally draining and heartbreaking game, but only in the best ways possible.