The Sojourn Reviews

The Sojourn is a well-made puzzle game with a firm challenge and fresh mechanics layered in throughout, but the symbolism draped over it all is vague and boring.

Over the past few years, hits like The Talos Principle and The Witness have carved out their own little brain-teasing subgenre. Of course, every breakout success inspires countless others dreaming of their own indie game glory, so we’re now inundated with first-person puzzlers boasting stylish visuals and lofty themes. Unsurprisingly, most of these games don’t quite measure up to their inspiration. Enter The Sojourn, the latest title to give the philosophical puzzler thing a go.

In elementary school, I remember filling out worksheets full of boring arithmetic problems. I know “practice makes perfect” and all, but once you understand the core concept of addition, solving 1+2 is functionally the same as solving 3+4. The components may vary slightly, but you don’t approach one problem any differently than another. The Sojourn faces an incarnation of the same problem; this first-person puzzle game gradually introduces new ideas, but reinforces each one to exhaustion through repetition, without the escalation that makes you feel like your understanding is evolving.

The Sojourn, despite its beauty and competent game mechanics, suffers from pacing issues and a lack of purpose. An impressive package initially, the game shows its cracks as it presses on.

Our review for the philosophical puzzler The Sojourn !

Anyone who knows me, knows that I’m a huge fan of puzzle games. This year alone has been an outstanding year for the puzzle genre with titles like Etherborn, Baba is You, and Horace. So naturally when I saw the trailer for The Sojourn from Iceberg Interactive and Shifting Tides, I was extremely eager to play it. Now that I’ve finally gotten my hands on it, the big question remains: is The Sojourn a puzzle game that sets itself apart from the other stellar additions released this year?

The Sojourn is a lengthy collection of puzzles with cool mechanics that demand you fully understand how they function. After about 11 hours, it was still introducing new challenges to take on. Puzzle game fans should take note. The game is out Sept. 20 for $25 on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and the Epic Games Store.

The Sojourn elevates simple mechanics and creative level design to create a thoroughly enjoyable puzzling experience and a game any fan of the genre should play.

If you are looking for a puzzle game with a relaxing setting and score, then The Sojourn is a must-play. However, if you want something with more narrative driving the gameplay, look elsewhere.

By their very nature, first-person puzzle games are pretty relaxing. There’s no time pressure, no enemies shooting you, no instant death spike pits. It’s just you, a few different tools, and a logical knot to untie. From the genre’s origins in Portal to more recent examples, its a formula that never fails. THE SOJOURN takes things a step further with a gorgeous vibe that takes the relaxation to new heights. The game’s obscured fable matches perfectly with the trippy visuals and dulcet tones on the soundtrack. It’s what would happen if the burnout selling crystals at the swap meet made a video game, which is a compliment in this case.