Now, I should start off by saying that I'm a big fan of Metroidvanias, but I have a limit to how cryptic I like them. I wouldn't say that Visual Out, exceeded that limit, but it got close at some points. Still, I want to set my biases aside and give the game a fair portrayal.

Because in all honesty, I am very impressed how much information this game was able to convey with the little guidance that it provides. With almost zero text and tutorials, I was able to deduce most of the mechanics through clever level design and experimentation.

It was an uphill battle for sure, but it's very satisfying to gradually go from understanding almost nothing about your environment to developing a sense of familiarity to it. This level of familiarity might vary with how lost you get, which I got very lost I should mention. But I also always found my way again without having to resort to a guide at all. 

There's one part at the end, with the randomized glyph rooms, that I'm not sure I get the point of and some of the mechanics, especially the limited energy, really worked against the experience. That being said, I do understand that those things help contribute to a very oppressive atmosphere, which ties into the idea that you're some kind of intruder in this computer environment. I also discovered that most of these issues were addressed in an accessibility patch.

Still, I don't regret having played the game without that patch, because it forced me to get thoroughly acquainted with the world and its mechanisms and I feel like that's the real bread and butter of this game. Not effortlessly dashing through some vaguely atmospheric levels, but slowly and somewhat clunkily making your way through an interconnected, ominous computer world.

Speaking of atmosphere and ominous, I can't go without mentioning the visuals, oozing glitchy and classic computer aesthetics, and the soundtrack which captures that oppressive atmosphere perfectly. Major credit to Abstraction Music for delivering these chilling tunes.

So to round things off here, I don't think Visual Out is a game for everyone, not even every fan of Metroidvanias. I had my fair share of frustrations with getting lost, but all in all, I'm glad I was able to get lost in this world.