One of the many advantages of IndieSmasher comes from its diversity, covering news and reviewing games ranging from the most hardcore titles, to the simplest and most accessible atmospheric and poetic experiences. InnerSpace belongs to this last category. The game intends to make you discover the secrets of a lost civilization via the exploration of the aerial and underwater regions of a very strange world.

Like a bird in a cage

Strange is the term that best defines the series of levels you will explore as you progress. Indeed, they take the principle of the spheres of Dyson, that is to say a set of planets whose ecosystem would be located on the inner layer: no sky, no horizon, but a series of environmental puzzles  and a lot of exploration are on the agenda.

In InnerSpace you control a kind of mechanized glider to explore the remains of several worlds that were once populated by the above-mentioned lost civilization. In your quest, you will have the assistance of a mysterious explorer who, not content of being the only interlocutor likely to provide some answers to your questions, will also guide you in your progress. On one hand by analyzing the relics you will recover in the environment to provide you with various bonuses (underwater navigation, increased jump and flight speed, etc.), on the other hand by orienting you on the next task to lead.

The universe portrays no mystery.

Exploration consists of moving from one world to another, each time finding a way to activate the dedicated portal. For that, you will have to oscillate between environmental enigmas and pure exploration, since a great part of the relics and elements to be harvested are only discovered by strolling in the heart of the spheres. The construction of the levels proves to be very successful in this respect, since despite an atypical form that may be confusing at first sight, the worlds explored are carefully constructed and always centered around a major element serving as a landmark.

On the other hand, InnerSpace sins through its ability to orientate us in the objectives: if its enigmas are generally simple and logical, the erratic indications of the explorer push us to constantly explore even more, to the point where we waste a lot of time on the way to roam for no reason. This constant lack of indication can be both frustrating and alluring.

If its narration does not shine by its originality, it brings enough unanswered questions to this succession of worlds to encourage you to continue: it is also these questions that will make you want to persevere despite some phases of boredom induced by the problem mentioned above. The ensemble is also supported by a visually successful universe, brilliantly accomplishing its task of visual and sound scenery.

Conclusion

With its peaceful, non-punishing, exploration-and-discovery universe, InnerSpace is an adventure full of good intentions designed for gamers looking for relaxing experiences and unbridled universe secrets. It will struggle, however, to captivate some players because of the lack of clarity of its objectives that will regularly require you to go around in circles, explore a map to exhaustion. This is truly too bad, because this is the one fault of InnerSpace, which remains a pleasant experience.