Personality tests which determine the building blocks of a person’s goals and drive have been popular since the 1900’s with the works of Freud and Carl Jung. In the First World War, those personality tests were used to help soldiers with ‘shell shock’ symptoms, all whilst attempting to build teamwork.
In more modern times, the industry of personality tests has boomed. It’s with that in which we get to how FINIS works – you are taking part in a big personality test. But as the game states this isn’t a real one and shouldn’t be considered true. But what is true?
I’ll start off by proclaiming some love for FINIS, mostly due to it being very unique from start to finish. But that’s not to say that it’s not a very short and odd experience.
The game developers have provided a gaming test based on the Lüscher test. This is a test based on how we see and perceive colours and what that says about us as people. However, FINIS doesn’t tell you what to do or what the controls are; it’s up to you to work it out.
You start in a strange machine, choosing a colour. That machine will then open up to a level and it’s then up to you to solve the puzzle found within, as you hope to escape. You start the game with eight different colours and paths to choose from and by going down those paths you will take in a few levels before the game is finished. It’s here where you get your personality evaluation. After the game is completed you can go back and try different combinations or you can play each of the levels again in order to solve them. Whether you believe in the evaluation at the end of the process is up to you, but my one has been quite revealing.
The gameplay takes place in the first-person, working as an adventure set up in a small area in different arenas. All of these have a fantasy or a sci-fi location. At one point I found myself on a rock in a world surrounded by water and a beautiful sky. Another was on Mars, left to solve a puzzle using maths and codes. These locations and different puzzles are the most exciting part of the game, as you go about attempting to work out codes or decipher clues and guides. There are small clues found in diagrams scattered around and you do have to use your brain to work out what to do next.
The control system isn’t explained very well. There aren’t any notes to say what buttons to press to activate certain things and it took me a while to get used to FINIS; it certainly didn’t feel as intuitive as I would have liked. Sometimes I was just button-pressing and hoping for the best. However, the first time you take FINIS in, it’s probably going to take you under an hour, so a lack of handholding is rarely an issue. And of course, you can replay things, or take in further levels as you so wish, giving a bit more bang for your buck.
FINIS has a nice graphical feel to it with some great landscapes and beautiful strange sci-fi visuals. The interiors are great with bewildering drawings and a mixture of retro and futuristic themes. It shone in a level in which I was in a cityscape with broken tower blocks, left to try and send coordinates to a tower needing help. It’s a great example of visual storytelling without the need for words or explanation.
The soundtrack is calming too, capable of seducing you into a state of being that is perfect for solving puzzles.
FINIS is a very short experience, yet the price tag manages to justify the content. But it must be said, once you’ve been ‘evaluated’ there’s a chance you’ll be done with FINIS, left to leave it on the shelf forevermore. Perhaps that would be down to the muddled control system or lack of explanation, but if you’re a fan of the genre, you should find something to like in this short experience.
I know one thing, going by my personality results, it’s probably time to make some changes to my life choices.
