Selfloss Review – Indie Game from Russian Developers

Contents:

• Who shall we tell my sorrow to?
• I got lost in the sky - what should I do?
• Grief leaves only a feeling of emptiness.

If you are interested in indie games from Russia, then you are probably familiar with the game Selfloss. The first promotional materials for the project were presented back in 2019. Soon, gameplay gifs went viral on Twitter (now X), and developer Alexander Khoroshavin received a message from Jeff Keeley, host of The Game Awards. Keeley requested a demo of the game for the TGA festival on Steam. This helped Selfloss gain attention at one of the most significant events for indie developers.

Over time, the game underwent significant changes. Alexander expanded his team, bringing in two more developers, while the turmoil around him reverberated throughout the gaming world. On September 5th, Selfloss finally launched on PC, and just a week later, it came to Xbox Series, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch.

We've tested the game and are ready to share our impressions.

To whom shall I tell my sorrows?

Selfloss is a visually stunning game built on Unreal Engine 4, which even received a grant from Epic Games during development. The low-poly style, popular among indie developers, is perfect for this game, emphasizing the themes of loss and death. The game's title reflects its essence: characters lack clear faces, and the world loses its boundaries, becoming unclear and almost abstract. Skillfully chosen camera angles create striking visual moments, encouraging players to take screenshots and share them. Selfloss offers a unique experience that combines artistic expression and deep emotional charge, drawing attention to important themes of life and loss.

When developing the world Selfloss' creators drew inspiration from both the Icelandic fjords and the natural beauty of central Russia, with its distinctive rustling birch trees. These two cultures blend harmoniously: runes coexist with Kashchei, and killer whales with traditional huts. During their travels, players will explore a variety of locations, including marshy areas, wide river estuaries, port villages, and mysterious dungeons. Each new chapter of the game brings a change in color palette, preventing boredom and immersing players in the world's atmosphere. Selfloss's visual aesthetic is captivating and delightful, as evidenced by the popularity of screenshots and animations on social media. Undoubtedly, the game's graphics are its most significant achievement.

The story follows Kazimir, an elderly doctor who decides to end his life after the loss of his loved ones. Unable to come to terms with his grief, he unexpectedly receives a chance at a second life. Death refuses him and offers him a unique opportunity: to heal himself, Kazimir must help others cope with their losses. To this end, he returns to the world of the living. Gradually, the darkness in his eyes and the tightness in his throat begin to fade, giving way to hope. Shouldering his knapsack, Kazimir sets out, determined to help those grieving and find his own path to healing.

The humanistic and emotional message of Selfloss, unfortunately, is not fully realized, despite the exciting plot. During his adventures, the protagonist, Casimir, encounters various characters in need of assistance. Among them are a flying turtle who lost her child, a mermaid left without her giant husband, and other creatures who have lost their purpose in life. However, despite their tragic stories, no emotional connection is formed with these characters. Their fates are revealed in just a few sentences, after which the player is drawn into searching for the items needed to perform the Selfloss ritual. This approach reduces depth and hinders full immersion in the game world.

The ritual is designed to help a grieving creature cope with loss. It requires a memento associated with the deceased, as well as the essence of a mourning fish, which can be obtained through "spiritual fishing." Although one might expect the search to deeply reveal the grieving character's story and reveal new aspects, this does not occur. The search for the desired item and essence turns out to be weakly connected to the main theme of loss, and Casimir finds himself drawn into a multitude of mini-stories that often seem arbitrary. This approach can distract from the main idea of ​​the ritual and fail to produce the expected emotional response.

This is an important, but often overlooked aspect of games of this genre. Selfloss doesn't create an emotional connection with the player. The story, the experience of loss, and its acceptance—all these elements should interact harmoniously, but here they are only hinted at. When this connection is lost and the player realizes that they are not hooked, the game begins to fall apart before their eyes, despite its visual appeal and high quality of execution.

The developers strove to create a world rich in lore. During his travels, Kazimir discovers scrolls containing information about various creatures and phenomena. These texts, although they add variety to the generally terse game, fail to generate much interest. Perhaps this is due to the lack of interconnectedness between the elements of the world or the fact that the lore does not bring it to life. Knowledge of the world is fragmented, but, unlike the works of FromSoftware, a studio known for its disjointed narrative, in Selfloss the player lacks the desire to piece these fragments together into a coherent whole. The lore does not captivate or immerse the player in the atmosphere, leaving a feeling of incompleteness.

I'm lost in the sky - what to do

When the plot is unsatisfactory, many find solace in the gameplay. Selfloss's gameplay appears engaging enough at first glance: players must solve spatial puzzles, battle Miasma-infested creatures, and navigate turbulent rivers by boat. The variety of activities maintains interest and suspense. The game's creators clearly paid special attention to gameplay flow, which must be mastered to fully immerse the player.

The core gameplay mechanic of Selfloss revolves around the use of Casimir's Staff. This unique tool not only serves as a weapon in combat, but also functions as a flashlight and can heal the old man from the local radiation equivalent of Miasma. Players can place the staff in specific locations while maintaining control over it, a key element in solving many puzzles. The separate control of the staff and Casimir is reminiscent of the gameplay in Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, which underlines the influence of this game on the developers of Selfloss.

Gameplay, despite Despite its complexity, it doesn't deliver the expected enjoyment. The character Casimir moves slowly, making progress difficult, especially when the game requires returning to previously explored locations. The controls sometimes don't respond properly to player input, and some environmental elements interact poorly with the staff's light source, which is annoying. Puzzles are mostly standard and not particularly challenging, instead forcing the player to wander slowly through locations for long periods.

The boat segments in Selfloss add variety to the monotony of walking. Swimming in this game is not only convenient but also enjoyable, and there's absolutely no desire to get out on dry land. The game involves "spiritual fishing": highlighting the desired fish and swimming after it, maintaining communication and pressing the right buttons at the right moments. This simple minigame is more satisfying than the main gameplay. While the main story may be good, the player lacks motivation to continue. Instead of the expected experience of accepting loss, the game puts us in the Casimir position: we feel we've lost something important, and there's no point in continuing. As a result, we move slowly, on our last legs, only because we have to, and not because we're truly committed to exploring the world we've found ourselves in. This highlights the lack of depth in the gameplay and the need for a stronger motivation for exploration.

Navigation in Selfloss may raise more questions than the puzzles. Players can struggle to figure out which direction to take. At the end of Chapter 2, Casimir finds himself on the high seas, deciding whether to follow the lighthouses or the jellyfish. This process requires a lot of trial and error. Frustration in moments of loss is natural, but in Selfloss, it manifests itself with unusual frequency.

Grief Leaves Only Emptiness

This section contains general spoilers for the ending of the game. If you do not want to spoil the story, we recommend refraining from reading. The ending of the game involves key events that can dramatically change the perception of the entire story. The main characters face moral dilemmas, and their choices determine the outcome. The ending emphasizes themes of sacrifice, friendship, and betrayal, leaving the player with deep reflection on the consequences of their actions. Be prepared for unexpected twists that may change your understanding of the characters and their motivations.

If you can overcome the discomfort and boredom, distracted by the impressive graphics, Selfloss will try to surprise you with its unexpected ending. By the end, the story narrative, which initially evoked little response, radically changes its direction, leaving players in a state of shock.

This unique gameplay technique, capable of surprising the player (as in the famous Braid), in the case of Selfloss is more repulsive. Do you think you were helping others? In fact, your actions were dictated by self-interest, and once the game reveals this truth, the end credits will roll. Few games make you feel guilty and deceived, but Selfloss succeeds in this task. It is certainly an achievement, but one that you do not want to remember.

Unfortunately, the developers did not choose the best path. At first glance, Selfloss could compete with acclaimed titles like Journey, Inside, or Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, but its flashy cover conceals numerous problems. Alexander, one of the creators, noted in an interview that the development process begins with finding a visual style, and then the story takes shape. It seems that at some point, the Selfloss development team realized the shortcomings of the plot and attempted to "strengthen" it with an unexpected ending during the game's development. This decision could have negatively impacted the overall cohesion and perception of the project, making it less appealing to audiences.

Players are often misled in both small details and major plotlines, creating unexpected twists. However, the sincerity of players' actions cannot be replaced—it is the fundamental principle of the game. If you try to deceive players in this aspect, the game loses its integrity and plunges into emptiness.

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