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[SparkTR]

Developer: Phosfiend Systems
Platform: PC/Mac
Price: £11.99/$14.99 ($13.49 now)
Genre: Exploration/Music
Release: 23/04/2014
Stores: Steam, GOG, Humble (comes with Steam key), Soundtrack

FRACT is a musical exploration game. You arrive in a forgotten place and explore the vast and unfamiliar landscape to discover the secrets of an abandoned world that was once built on sound. As you start to make sense of this strange new environment, you work to rebuild its machinery by solving puzzles and bring the world back to life by shaping sound and creating music within the game.

• Explore and decipher a beautiful open world.
• Make music and shape sound as you progress through the game.
• Compose your own music in the Studio.
• Save, export and share your musical creations with others.
• Experience unique TRON-inspired visuals.
• Enjoy an evolving score composed by Mogi Grumbles and you.

What is FRACT?
GOG Trailer

Edge - 8/10

It can be too obtuse at times, but the rewards are quite unlike anything else in games: the music peaks, a laser beam rockets off into the sky, and you turn, heading off after that distant synth, in search of your next project deeper in the neon unknown.

Eurogamer - 8/10

If you do like games that challenge you to work out the rules for yourself, to find the edges of the world by falling over them, then Fract is a unique and often remarkable experience, best savoured in the dark at full volume. Go on, get lost.

Saving Content - 3/5

FRACT OSC is a unique experience worth having, but the nonsensical puzzles and time spent will leave many wanting more than what you were given.

TwoDashStash - 4/5

As a game, FRACT doesn’t really have any weak points. Every aspect was well done and with a specific purpose in mind. It’s highly recommended for music lovers or for people who enjoy exploration and puzzles. FRACT’s strong presentation would only fall short with people who are not fans of this specific genre. Otherwise, it is most definitely worth checking out. Even the price point is perfect for what you would be getting out of it.

Game Revolution - 9/10

“Playing it is like walking through the Drive soundtrack, with its '80s pastiche and varying shades of luminous pinks, greens, blues, and yellows, with its art style, sound design, and gameplay complementing each other far more competently than most other games in recent memory.”

Twinfinite - 8/10

“Somewhere between the open world of puzzles hearkening back to Myst and the sleek, electronic aesthetic of Tron, this intriguing and mesmerizing game places players inside the heart of a massive synthesizer, rife with wide areas and complex brain-bending puzzles to bring music to life.”

 

[ambientmystic]

Looking forward to getting this on GOG.

Those minimum system requirements though:-

Windows 7 / 8, Core i5 2.2 GHz or equivalent Processor, 4 GB RAM, Radeon 5850 graphics card or equivalent, DirectX 9.0c, 1.5 GB HD space, Sound card required. Headphones and/or external speakers recommended.

 

[Lingitiz]

Gonna check this out, the Giant Bomb guys had good stuff to say about it on the last bombcast (or livestream i forget).

 

[SparkTR]

Looking forward to getting this on GOG.

Those minimum system requirements though:-

The devs commented on that on the Steam forums:

Sorry for any confusion you guys. The game will run on a 4GB RAM system if said system is running with most of that RAM free. Equally, if that RAM is being shared with a integrated GPU, then things could get tight. That's why 8GB is recommended. I suspect 6GB would be just fine with an integrated video card (if it were powerful enough).

As for the CPU, the audio engine we've developed does ask more than most conventional audio engines due to the realtime in-game synthesis. We've also tested the game a fair amount on core i3 CPUs as well, but not enough to be conformable making that the min spec just yet.

As for GPU, a cursory google suggests that it would likely be the most limiting factor in playing the game on your system, and looks (at least based on my initial impressions, thanks Bob for the link) to be well below our minimum specs. Sorry about that, makes me sad to think some people can't play the game

Should things change we will update the specs accordingly.

Thanks for asking!

 

[SparkTR]

Eurogamer is up, looks reviews are going to be coming in over the next few hours. The game unlocks in ~8 hours regardless.

Personally I'm hoping this is something like Antichamber. I've played a bunch of atmospheric exploration games but none of them has sucked me in the way that game did.

 

[Dog Problems]

I've got this pre-ordered and am just waiting for a Steam key to be added.

 

[ichtyander]

Oh snap, didn't even know a release date was revealed. I'm really looking forward to this game.

 

[Atomski]

Giantbomb has a Quicklook up. It looks great.

http://www.giantbomb.com/videos/quick-look-fract-osc/2300-8770/

 

[Hawk SE]

Here's my review of FRACT OSC, a 3 out of 5: http://www.savingcontent.com/2014/04/22/fract-osc-review/

 

[ultron87]

This game looks so rad. Will definitely download tonight.

I really like the idea of something like Antichamber with a musical focus.

 

[CheesecakeRecipe]

I feel like I'm in ID(isneyland)M

 

[Anon67]

Didn't even know this existed. Looks pretty cool, so I'll check it out. Nice OT

 

[Zia]

Nice OT! A must own if you're into experiences such as Proteus and sequencers and synths.

 

[therealminime]

Yeah this game looks so awesome. Definitely picking it up.

Couple of quick screenshots. It looks so cool.

 

[Haunted]

Absolutely loved the prototype, can't wait to see how he's expanded on it for the release.

 

[Zomba13]

Saw the GB quick look adn it looked super cool. Love this type of abstract adventure/puzzle game like Kairo. I'm liking it so far (going down the Cyan branch for now) but I've hit a road block. On one of the cyan branch puzzles I just can't get all the purple thingies and the thing to power the next one to go at the same time and I can't even see a possible way to do it and it's driving me nuts. Can't find any guides or FAQs yet ;_;


EDIT: Welp, never mind. Didn't look behind me in 'puzzle vision'.

 

[boredJonathan]

I'd heard FRACT mentioned on and off for awhile now it seems, but I never got around to looking into just what the heck it was. However, since every time it did get brought up it was to say so-and-so couldn't wait for it to be released it stuck in the back of my mind.So when I saw the Giant Bomb Quick Look this afternoon, (home from work sick as a dog!) I figured I'd finally look into it. Basically as soon as the video was finished I loaded up Steam and bought the sucker. Just spent the last 2 hours screwing around with it, mainly focusing on the Red/Magenta path.

Absolutely loving it. The world is crazy abstract, but in the literal definition of the word. Everything is coherent, to the world's own internal logic but alien to our own. At least down the Red path, the puzzles have a nice balance between the physicality of shifting block puzzles, and aural music sequencers. My only complaint so far is that the music sequencer sections are more rigid than I would have liked or thought. When you get to some of the more complex sequences, it seems less like puzzling out the solution and more like brute force. Since the complex sequences have more room for error, it can seem like you are on the right path but not have the "correct" answer.

The music itself is great. It definitely matches the TRON aesthetic and reminds me good deal of the Drive soundtrack in it's influences. While working through some of the puzzles, certain phrases play repeatedly but never wear out their welcome - which is an accomplishment if you ask me. I'm not sure if this style of music has a definitive label, but you know it when you hear it. Otherwise, while wondering the world, things are more sparse and ambient in terms of music but that also works into the game play. Since a surprising amount of the game is spent wandering, the musical queues help a great deal in driving you towards the next objective. It's wonderful to be playing a game that trusts it's players to be able to figure out what to do and where to go, or to say fuck it and wander off a cliff looking at all the neon soaked scenery as it rushes past.

Hot tip: Take notes! My only other complaint about the game, so far, is that it doesn't clue you into this until it's too late and forces you to back track.

Spoiler

I'd been noticing the icons against the square grid as I played, and even recalled 3 out of the 4 locations correctly - but wasn't sure on the 4th. The last puzzle also asks you to put the answers from the music sequence puzzles in the correct order, so I felt I had to back track to all of the puzzles to jot down what pattern was used. It was a little off putting to say the least. In hindsight, the sequences definitely followed a progression of complexity, so I probably could have brute forced that. Perhaps that was why they made getting out of that final puzzle room on the Red path damn near impossible. Still the location of the symbols would have been a lot of guess work. Hmm.

At any rate, I'm loving the game so far. A exploration/music/puzzle game sounds like a weird hybrid, but they pull it off wonderfully so far. Having spent two hours just getting through one path seems to indicate the game itself should be in the 6 hour range which seems like a good value for the $15 asking price. On top of that you do get a pretty neat synthesizer to play with, although I'll probably barely touch that.

Totally recommended.

 

[Rodney McKay]

Giantbomb has a Quicklook up. It looks great.

http://www.giantbomb.com/videos/quick-look-fract-osc/2300-8770/

Totally, I had never even heard of this game, but now I really want to play it.

Shame about there not being a jump button, that always makes me feel a bit constrained in games like this.

 

[CheesecakeRecipe]

Guh, the last of the

Spoiler

laser/gasket/pressure

puzzles in the Cyan area is throwing me for a loop. I had to stop thanks to all the extra stuff thrown in to make it that much more difficult. It was a blur of fun little puzzles, light exploration in a simply massive map and trying to figure out the rules of the areas. Toyed around with the Studio some as well and I can see myself wasting a lot of time there once I have all of the tools unlocked.

 

[RelentlessRolento]

Was looking for the OP and glad it was made.

I need to hop on this but am going to wait a tiny bit just cuz i got other bills that are more important right now.

 

[Messofanego]

Great OT! Am on a backlog so this will have to wait.

 

[Slowdive]

Just watched the Giant bomb quick look, this looks really good.

 

[ultron87]

I love how this accentuates the satisfaction of solving a puzzle by having dope music kick in that utilizes the solution you had for the puzzle.

 

[MrTroubleMaker]

Giantbomb has a Quicklook up. It looks great.

http://www.giantbomb.com/videos/quic...osc/2300-8770/

yeah it does look neat.

 

[Atomski]

Hmm I am stuck on the second magenta tuning spot.. is there some sort of clue to what you should be doing on these?

 

[Marjar]

This feels like 2014's Antichamber.

Only better.

And with sick music!

I love crazy first person puzzle games like this.

 

[FantasticMrFoxdie]

This looks interesting

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

Glad there's a quick look up, because I don't know what to make of this.

 

[Messofanego]

This does look like an open world puzzle game like The Witness, where it's non-linear and you unlock areas as you get better. Obviously, the world isn't GTA huge but the travelling with the monorail implies it's all seamless.

 

[Andiie]

I greenlit this on Steam what feels like 1-2 years ago, didn't think it was ever going to come out.

 

[McFadge]

How are people going with this game? I've made it pretty far but find myself stuck on what I feel is the last set of puzzles. While I am stuck mentally on how to solve it, I'm also stuck 'physically' as I can't travel anywhere else in the world now except for switching between my current location and the Studio.

Spoiler

I've completed the three coloured areas and taken the elevator to the top room where I can reach a pink synthesizer and can see several more of varying colours out of my reach.

My first obvious thought was to fill the tiles where there are cubes, but I can only fill 1 tile per row, which made me think there was an element I was missing (as some rows have 2 cubes). I had a thought that it might relate to the selectable patterns in the final rooms of each colour, but I cant return there to see those patterns anymore.

Also, the angle makes it stupidly hard to select the tiles at a distance.

Spoiler screenshots:
http://i.imgur.com/ZdC2K04.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/QlaG8zm.jpg


Any ideas? Hints only if possible, I'd prefer a nudge in the right direction than a solution.

 

[ambientmystic]

Game is pretty heavy on my admitedly ancient Core 2, ATI Mobility Radeon 4670 HD laptop.

The initial portion of the game ran smoothly enough at 1080p, but the moment you hit the actual puzzle solving part it plunges from 60 FPS to the sub 30s. Had to turn it down to 720p just to get it up to a playable level again.

Also the game's RAM usage is pretty barking mad. (1.5 to 2 GB for the first level alone).

They weren't kidding around with those minimum requirements. I think I'll be using my desktop for this one.

 

[CheesecakeRecipe]

Yeah, the fact that it is running one massively consistent open world is pretty system taxing and they admitted their audio engine is more CPU heavy than most since it is tweaking a bunch of stuff on the fly.

I get some stutter and frame drops in the green pad area if I look back towards the hub zone even on my recently upgraded i5-4670k/GTX660 OC rig.

 

[ichtyander]

Just beat the game, took a few hours (4-5 tops, not sure) but I was hoping the game was a bit longer than that. But in any case, it's a very cool experience, the puzzles have a bit of trial and error going for them but once you understand the logic behind the few types of puzzles, the rest is orientation and logical thinking. There was a sequence in the lead synth path (pink) that was driving me crazy and I finally solved it by doing something I wasn't even sure I was supposed to.

It's a short and sweet deal. Loved the visuals and how the world reacts more and more to your actions as you solve the puzzles. As it's all one seamless world, some of the vistas look really great. Also loved the analog synth themes throughout the game, some of them were pretty catchy as well. But most of all, I'm pretty excited about the Studio portion. It's still simpler than a fully fledged DAW but it still has sufficient features to experiment with different styles and make some decent songs.

How are people going with this game? I've made it pretty far but find myself stuck on what I feel is the last set of puzzles.

EDIT:
A bit less spoilery I suppose -

Spoiler

Try walking over the blocks you fill.

 

[McFadge]

A bit less spoilery I suppose -

Spoiler

Try walking over the blocks you fill.

Goddamn I'm an idiot; thanks for that!

 

[ConfusingJazz]

This is one of the prettiest damn games I have ever played. The environment being the reward of solving the puzzles is just pleasure.

Still haven't found the damn

Spoiler

green triangle symbol tower, though I have beaten it.

 

[RelentlessRolento]

super bummed I can't play this since my computers (both a mac and PC) can't handle the game for two entirely different reasons

sucks cuz it's so damn good

 

[Protome]

Just finished the game this morning, loved every moment of it! Great music, great puzzles, great graphics and it's fun to explore. I seem to have missed a few optional things so i'm definitely going to explore more.

Hot tip: Take notes! My only other complaint about the game, so far, is that it doesn't clue you into this until it's too late and forces you to back track.

Spoiler

I'd been noticing the icons against the square grid as I played, and even recalled 3 out of the 4 locations correctly - but wasn't sure on the 4th. The last puzzle also asks you to put the answers from the music sequence puzzles in the correct order, so I felt I had to back track to all of the puzzles to jot down what pattern was used. It was a little off putting to say the least. In hindsight, the sequences definitely followed a progression of complexity, so I probably could have brute forced that. Perhaps that was why they made getting out of that final puzzle room on the Red path damn near impossible. Still the location of the symbols would have been a lot of guess work. Hmm.

Totally recommended.

Spoiler

The icons and the answers to the 3 colour end puzzles and then the final puzzle can be found in a much easier way than backtracking/finding all the pillars again. They're also the default settings in your Studio on the green/red/blue walls.

 

[Atomski]

Stuck on the very last tuning thingy.. no idea what I am doing wrong.

Spoiler

spoiler image Everything seems to match the clues. The green part is missing the bar though at the top but I can't figure out why..

 

[Protome]

Stuck on the very last tuning thingy.. no idea what I am doing wrong.

Spoiler

spoiler image Everything seems to match the clues. The green part is missing the bar though at the top but I can't figure out why..

Spoiler

It's the same as the end of the Green puzzles. Spoiler Image. It's actually also the only one which doesn't completely correspond to the default values in the studio, which is weird.

 

[ChryZ]

I followed this game since the developer kicked off a dev blog, the whole thing shaped up from something interesting into something really special. The player ends up in a Tron-like world that requires lots of 3D exploration and solving of logic puzzles that re-establish various modules of a synth. Brilliant level design, everything is connected and reachable by foot. Waypoints can be discovered, they interconnect all areas and enable fast-traveling on some kind of virtual tram line. Going from waypoint to waypoint is like flying through the machine's cyberspace. The sound design is fully synth driven and similar to what Daft Punk produced for Tron Legacy.

I just finished the game a few days ago and loved every second of my play through. Highly recommended!

It's heavily discounted for the next 24 hours, go go go

https://www.humblebundle.com/store/p/fractosc_storefront

 

[Amzin]

I started playing FRACT OSC last night and have a question that I'm hoping someone can answer without as much spoiling as a walkthrough would give me: I've found a couple different locations so far that have interactive objects with a glowing white "crystal" button inside them I can click (some stalagmites and some floaty pylon things), but there's no reaction from anything that appears to be a puzzle or problem when I'm interacting with them. Am I missing something obvious? Do I come back to them later? I think these have all been in the pink/red zone and the other puzzles I've completed were in the other zones so I'm assuming I just don't understand these ones yet.

I've solved some puzzles so far and these just struck me as super obtuse because there's no feedback that I can hear or see.

 

[Amzin]

So I unlocked the advanced controls and I still have no idea what those stalagmite and pylons are for. I'm guessing for some of the many achievements I'm missing

I really enjoyed the game overall. It was a fairly natural progression in my experience of growing to understand the game. Except for those mysterious bits.

The last puzzle room was my favorite part of the game by far though. Seeing it come alive as I progressed was awesome and had an awesome feeling of power manipulating things as you run around.