Clea is a game that I've been following since it was a mere concept art from the developer. At the time, I wasn't very interested in the project; mainly because the original art wasn't very beautiful (sorry XD). But then, all of a sudden, the character designer which worked with InvertMouse on his previous projects came back. And then... I saw it. The new version of that original concept art; and it looked fabolous. I was stunned; those eyes, that direct gaze at the player, almost emotionless and soulless, devoid of any life, made me think: "Wow. This... this is fantastic! Maybe it's for the best if I follow this project, it may turn into something very interesting."

And man, was I right! Clea is not just a game, is not just a survival horror with BOO-JUMPYSCURE (sarcasm). Clea is a game made with PASSION and LOVE, and this can be noticed by playing through it. Every level has a different aestethic, ambience, puzzle to solve; and the enemies are, in the beginning, simple. But just to give the player the sensation that "huh, this is okay. I can make it." But then BOOM, past level 2 all changes! And that is where the trouble begins; in fact, my first death the first time I played was in level 3. Probably because of the fact that a certain character made me jump from my chair (and there are no scripted scares, remember) and lose control of the controls. Which, by the way, are, in the beginning, a little awkward (I played with my keyboard, but it is playable with a controller too, and controls can be changed in the options menu at your leisure) to use, but after a short amount of time you'll get used to it, believe me; another important thing to say is that they are responsive. Given the fact that Clea is a survival horror, responsive controls are really important, aren't they?

Enemies in Clea ARE NOT STUPID. Make just a little sound, and they'll hunt you down almost immediately; there are some cases in which you'll end up cornered if you don't pay enough attention to your objects in the inventory or the enemies' routine, and your surroundings. And now, enters the most beautiful mechanic in Clea: hearing. All the game is based around hearing the footsteps of the enemies, trying to understand all the time the distance and the area in which they are. If you get spotted, you can hide, run away, or... use other methods, which I won't talk about, because it would be a spoiler. And there are various types of enemies; some common, some... let's say special. Especially at higher difficulty levels, these last ones will cause real trouble to you; you'll end up swearing, trust me.

Since I don't want to go on forever writing (even if I'd like to, I love Clea), I will talk just a little about graphics and sound. I mean, aestethically the game is really good, and the sound design is obviously really good; even though when there are maybe multiple enemies nearby, judging enemies' distance can become a bit of a... chaos. He-he.

There are secrets and easter eggs scattered here and there, all for you to uncover. Puzzles are well done, they're simple but effective. And I like this.

There are multiple levels of difficulty, and they are: Light, Dark, Chaos. Chaos is locked at the beginning, and Light is your Normal difficulty setting. While Dark is Hard. And Chaos is... uhm... let's see, have you ever played the original God of War? Okay, now replace the word God with something like... let's see, Clea is a young girl, so, maybe... Maiden? Maiden of War; yeah, that sounds nice, doesn't it? Chaos is like God difficulty in the original God of War; you'll have little time to breath between an action and the other. Trust me.

There are multiple endings, and they all are interesting and well put into the story; they're never strange or out of place. Hell, there's one which would probably be what a real person would do, it he/she was in Clea's shoes. The only bit of disappointment is that there isn't an ending which I hoped for; I even asked the developer after beating 100% Clea, and he confirmed that there isn't such an ending. Unfortunately. I'm sad :(

But I'm happy at the same time, because I got a glimpse of that possible ending in a secret scene which I unlocked by pure, sheer luck. I'm not joking, it was just a matter of luck XD

Sorry if this was too long, but I usually don't write reviews on games, and so I wanted this to fell special. Hope you liked it; see you around, and I hope you'll play Clea as I did \^o^

You can post a comment if you want to ask me something, by the way :)

I'll be playing Clea now, there are one or two things I'd like to see again :D

Clea is a game that I've been following since it was a mere concept art from the developer. At the time, I wasn't very interested in the project; mainly because the original art wasn't very beautiful (sorry XD). But then, all of a sudden, the character designer which worked with InvertMouse on his previous projects came back. And then... I saw it. The new version of that original concept art; and it looked fabolous. I was stunned; those eyes, that direct gaze at the player, almost emotionless and soulless, devoid of any life, made me think: "Wow. This... this is fantastic! Maybe it's for the best if I follow this project, it may turn into something very interesting." And man, was I right! Clea is not just a game, is not just a survival horror with BOO-JUMPYSCURE (sarcasm). Clea is a game made with PASSION and LOVE, and this can be noticed by playing through it. Every level has a different aestethic, ambience, puzzle to solve; and the enemies are, in the beginning, simple. But just to give the player the sensation that "huh, this is okay. I can make it." But then BOOM, past level 2 all changes! And that is where the trouble begins; in fact, my first death the first time I played was in level 3. Probably because of the fact that a certain character made me jump from my chair (and there are no scripted scares, remember) and lose control of the controls. Which, by the way, are, in the beginning, a little awkward (I played with my keyboard, but it is playable with a controller too, and controls can be changed in the options menu at your leisure) to use, but after a short amount of time you'll get used to it, believe me; another important thing to say is that they are responsive. Given the fact that Clea is a survival horror, responsive controls are really important, aren't they? Enemies in Clea ARE NOT STUPID. Make just a little sound, and they'll hunt you down almost immediately; there are some cases in which you'll end up cornered if you don't pay enough attention to your objects in the inventory or the enemies' routine, and your surroundings. And now, enters the most beautiful mechanic in Clea: hearing. All the game is based around hearing the footsteps of the enemies, trying to understand all the time the distance and the area in which they are. If you get spotted, you can hide, run away, or... use other methods, which I won't talk about, because it would be a spoiler. And there are various types of enemies; some common, some... let's say special. Especially at higher difficulty levels, these last ones will cause real trouble to you; you'll end up swearing, trust me. Since I don't want to go on forever writing (even if I'd like to, I love Clea), I will talk just a little about graphics and sound. I mean, aestethically the game is really good, and the sound design is obviously really good; even though when there are maybe multiple enemies nearby, judging enemies' distance can become a bit of a... chaos. He-he. There are secrets and easter eggs scattered here and there, all for you to uncover. Puzzles are well done, they're simple but effective. And I like this. There are multiple levels of difficulty, and they are: Light, Dark, Chaos. Chaos is locked at the beginning, and Light is your Normal difficulty setting. While Dark is Hard. And Chaos is... uhm... let's see, have you ever played the original God of War? Okay, now replace the word God with something like... let's see, Clea is a young girl, so, maybe... Maiden? Maiden of War; yeah, that sounds nice, doesn't it? Chaos is like God difficulty in the original God of War; you'll have little time to breath between an action and the other. Trust me. There are multiple endings, and they all are interesting and well put into the story; they're never strange or out of place. Hell, there's one which would probably be what a real person would do, it he/she was in Clea's shoes. The only bit of disappointment is that there isn't an ending which I hoped for; I even asked the developer after beating 100% Clea, and he confirmed that there isn't such an ending. Unfortunately. I'm sad :( But I'm happy at the same time, because I got a glimpse of that possible ending in a secret scene which I unlocked by pure, sheer luck. I'm not joking, it was just a matter of luck XD Sorry if this was too long, but I usually don't write reviews on games, and so I wanted this to fell special. Hope you liked it; see you around, and I hope you'll play Clea as I did \^o^ You can post a comment if you want to ask me something, by the way :) I'll be playing Clea now, there are one or two things I'd like to see again :D