Nomori springs to life on PC and Xbox

• Announcements by Jack Allin
• Published:

Demo also available for physics-defying environmental fantasy puzzler on Steam

If there's one thing you can always count on in this world, it's the laws of physics behaving as they should. You'd have to travel to another dimension entirely for that to change – like, say, the titular realm in Nomori, the newly released environmental fantasy puzzler by indie Dutch developer Enchanted Works.

A "curious" girl named Kiko suddenly finds herself far from home in a "whimsical Spirit world in trouble." She's soon joined by the rabbit-like Yuki, and together the pair set off to explore this "eccentric" place comprised of forty islands across four distinct locations, each representing a different season with its own distinct puzzle mechanics. Along the way Kiko will meet up with many other unique Spirits who share their powers with the young protagonist, enabling her to "see beyond the limits of reality." Players must make strategic use of these newfound abilities to "twist the rules of time and space" in order to "bridge the shattered islands of the Spirit World together" and finally allow Kiko to return home to her grandmother. 

Presented in a charming low-poly 3D art style and promising a "heartfelt story inspired by Japanese folklore," Nomori is a third-person 3D adventure in which you'll freely guide Kiko and her companion via keyboard/mouse or controller. At first the gameplay will feel quite linear, as you'll encounter obstacles you're not equipped to overcome yet. You can run and jump and interact with special flora that allows you to suck up bouncy "goo," for example, but how can you rescue Spirits trapped on surfaces perpendicular to your own? As you progress and acquire new abilities, however, you'll learn to master the "M.C. Escher-inspired mechanics" as you "take shortcuts through portals, rotate your perspective, and control the flow of time to solve puzzles that are out of this world." You can even "combine your Spirit Powers to create new outcomes" that enable you to progress further along or backtrack to previous areas to "navigate them through a brand new lens."

Originally begun as a university project before being refocused as a full-scale commercial release, Nomori is now complete and available on Steam for Windows PC, along with a console version for Xbox One and Series X|S. A playable demo can also be downloaded from Steam if you'd like to take a tentative first step into the Spirit World.

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