Etherborn becomes a very tricky game but the brain-teasing only lasts a couple of hours. The final riddle, however, feels surprisingly tame and not the big final exam it should be, resulting in a relatively anti-climatic finish. It also doesn’t help that cryptic story, centering on the complexities of human life, winds up being more confusing than profound. If nothing else, a New Game + adds mileage to old stages by placing nodes in new, harder-to-reach areas. Despite a few drawbacks, the positives of Etherborn’s design combined with its attractive presentation manage to just outweigh its shortcomings. Your noggin will ultimately be left wanting more of Etherborn’s mysteries, but that says a lot about its upsides–or downsides, depending on the angle you’re viewing them.
