Review: The Sojourn - This First Person Puzzler Is No Walk in the Park

The Sojourn seems to have emerged from nowhere, but it's a pleasant surprise. It's a tranquil first person puzzle game that appears to be inspired by The Witness, with a similar art style and attitude to its storytelling. In practice, this puzzler has more in common with Portal; both are about reaching the end goal by cleverly navigating through increasingly tricky stages.

Instead of flinging wormholes at walls, the puzzles here consist of various statues, each with different functions to utilise while in the dark world. There's a statue you can swap places with, one that temporarily mends fallen bridges, and another that allows you to stay in the dark world while inside its one way beam. A blue flame lets you enter the other side for a limited time, and later on, archways allow you to stay there with no restrictions. However, you won't always want to be in this state, and you'll often need to find clever ways to swap between realities.

Of course, the game intelligently mixes all these (and more) elements together, and the result is a generally steady increase in challenge. A few hours in, you'll likely find yourself scratching your head as seemingly impossible puzzles best you. This can naturally be frustrating, especially as you move so slowly, but you'll feel like a genius once everything clicks. Many stages have optional bonus challenges once you solve them, earning you collectable scrolls complete with philosophical mumbo-jumbo. The main story is more interesting, told wordlessly through a series of dioramas, but it's the puzzles themselves that will keep you playing. It's not exactly original, but The Sojourn is a solid puzzler with well designed levels and some nice ideas.