Su and the Quest for Meaning‘s visual clarity, lack of UI, and lofty platforming jumps are an amazing combination.
It has been a highlight of my two most recent visits to Gamescom – a game which I have had to be moved from (as other people just might have wanted to try it) each time I’ve played.
Equipped with a stark red scarf and the ability to triple jump, Su journeys through a series of challenging jumping puzzles. Each level is made up of looming platforms which burst out, and retreat into, the clouds that compose the bottom of the screen. As the retreating action is caused, or accelerated, by the character jumping from them, it is easy to get caught up in a non-existent beat, pulled faster and faster by your confidence. Su and the Quest for Meaning has that hypnotic ability present in most rhythm games — the ‘zen’ or ‘the zone’ -inducing state which fires off all of those little tingly emitters in your brain.
As I said earlier, the game features no UI. In fact, your success in levels builds up the corresponding hub levels, adding new platforms and elements to navigate. Once there are enough elements to the area you can opt to pass onto the next hub, slowly changing through the seasons.
But, let’s stop for a moment and talk about my favourite thing in the game. Narrowly beating out the rush which comes from remembering the triple jump, and narrowly dodging a collapsing platform to land on another, comes Su’s red scarf. Impossibly long, and trailing behind as though the sky-islands are being battered by gale force winds, the scarf a marker for where you have been. It’s a simple-seeming fluid animation, but it gives a massive amount of character to the game world — making the world seem wind-swept and the levels more alive.
Su and the Quest for Meaning is due to release on PC, Mac and consoles in 2019. Those interested can follow the game on Twitter.
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