Achievements

This was originally posted on the now-defunct Random Fury! videogame blog.

ilo and milo leave their houses every morning and meet up under the tree in the middle of the local park and eat maple leaf flavoured biscuits, then at night, they head back to their homes. Every day it becomes harder and harder to simply walk to the big tree in the park, because it seems as if someone re-arranges the park at night! It could just as easily be ilo and milo’s failing memories though… And this is roughly where you, the player, step in. Help reunite milo and ilo every day, find their precious mementos such as records and photographs, make new friends along the way, and restore fragments of their memories – maybe you can help them reunite for good?

I love having a great big dose of spacial awareness and I like to think I am adept at creative thinking, so this game was practically made for me. Dollop the delightfully quant art-style on top and I’m sold – Everything is plush, plump and home-made in this game, all the characters look as if they’d be great cushions, but delving into the making-of sketches that are unlocked later reveals a real macabre feeling which oddly enough sits quite nicely with the darkness of the later chapters – some of the blocks have very creepy smiles! The music deserves a mention as well, as it suits the overall tone of the rest of the game perfectly. Played with all the charm of a gifted but amateur brass band who only get to practise together once a month, the main theme sticks in your head long after you’ve walked away from your console. So much so, that the developers realised it is disgustingly catchy, and challenged you to earn an achievement by playing it with the main menu as your instrument.

Anyway, I’m taking far too long to get to the basics of the game, which should really be a priority. But here I am, gushing about comfy cushions and smiling blocks. So, to be reunited, they need to traverse levels made up of six-sided blocks, but their movement is restricted to the plane they are currently on. They can’t jump to lower blocks at all, and without the help of special tool-blocks can only move to a different plane by making use of special carpets. Here’s an advanced concept: Gravity in ilomilo isn’t an internally centralised, pulling force, it exists like the ozone layer, only with gravity instead of ozone, and feels like it pushes down on characters to keep them grounded. It doesn’t so much keep them rooted to the ground by pulling, but presses them against it with a gentle yet constant push, if you get me. Special tool-blocks are the best way to help the friends meet up, and not only using them with the character that collects them, but getting them from ilo to milo are often central to solving each level. These blocks range from stretchy, puppy-dog faced platforms to small, stoic, solitary blocks – from jolly and angelic looking elevator cubes to rusty, grimacing contraptions that burp when they rotate. Each one is so full of character – and for mostly inanimate objects, that’s no mean feat.