Refunct Review

Don't Cry Because It's Over, Smile Because It Happened
​By Edwin Velez
Reviewed on Xbox One
​Released on June 7, 2017 for Xbox One (Also Available on PC)
​​Developer: ​Dominique Grieshofer
​Publisher: ​Dominique Grieshofer​

There is not much that $3 can buy now-a-days, unless it’s a couple dollar menu items or a simple mobile game. On Xbox One, budget titles are starting to become more of a common site, with a solid amount of titles launching at $5 or less lately. While I cannot speak to their merit or quality, I can tell you that Refunct is quite the quality title, even at only $3. While it will only last you about a half an hour, the experience speaks for itself and is easily worth the time and money. While I did not want it to end, I am more than happy to have gotten to play the short but sweet title.
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Refunct is a relaxing first person parkour style game. With no context or direction, you will quickly learn to jump and slide your way across a barren waterscape filled with gloomy gray structures. Upon landing on the tops of these platforms, life will be breathed into them, and they will fill with color.  There are buttons atop some of these structures which raise more platforms from the water, allowing you to further progress in your experience. It’s a somewhat magical experience to see these pillars and platforms raise, emulating a sort of fantasy like embrace. There is no real difficulty to be had with the platforming, but rather just an investment of more time if you want to visit every untouched platform as well collect the oh so mysteriously floating cubes scattered about. In addition to running, jumping, and sliding, there are tubes that you can zip through as well as some platforms that will either elevate you or bounce you up to your intended destination. You can also explore underwater without penalty, but aside from the sites, there is not much lurking down there. Refunct controls quite well, and while you will not see any bit of your characters body image, it is still quite easy to get a grasp on the balance and weight of who you are.
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The whole experience is backed by a calming and well composed soundtrack. My 30 minute break I took with the game was just that, a break, a break away from everything else I had played this year.  Refunct managed to calm me as well as make me feel rewarded for my time, all in the same time it takes to watch a typical episode of some television show.  Though I did not pay for this time, it is easily worth the respectable $3 price tag. It is a beauty to see, hear, and just to be a part of.  I would gladly play a sequel, but there does not need to be one. It’s all about the lasting experience and what you take away from it, and just like a good rollercoaster, it manages to peak in a short time but make an unforgettable memory.

Final Score: 9/10

+Calming Experience
+Brief But Beautiful
+Excellent OST
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