Maquette - A Review

Maquette is an indie video game that explores the relationship of a faceless couple through a series of puzzles. The world is built inside a dome where you have to manipulate objects' size to progress. "Normal" sized objects can be placed inside a central miniature, which will reflect through the larger world. 

With the utilization of size in the world, the puzzles were challenging, yet enjoyable. Though at some point, there was one puzzle that was quite frustrating due to it's dependence on placement. 

Controls are sometimes iffy, where usually when you press square to interact and grab objects, the game just decides it's circle. Turning objects can sometimes feel weird especially in enclosed spaces. Although the game does utilize the PS5's DualSense controllers, it's the bare minimum.

Since downloading the game, it has had some updates within a couple of days. Throughout my playthrough, I found that the game is still quite buggy. At some point nearing the end, I had to lookup how to solve a puzzle, only to find out the game wasn't doing what it was supposed to at that given time. It was very frustrating. 

The first half of this game plays very differently than its second half. The polish wears off once you venture out of the dome, and it feels like the game should have utilized that section more rather than what it ended up with. 

Overall, the game took about 6-8 hours to finish with an estimated 2 hours of doing absolutely everything but solving the puzzle. The general plot of the story was okay, but felt too simple. At least, the soundtrack was good. 

Looking up the meaning of title, a maquette is a scale model or a rough draft of an unfinished sculpture, which is exactly how I feel it is. The game is free for PS+ subscribers for the month of March, which makes it easier to recommend rather than buying it.