Down in Bermuda Switch Review – Down, Not Out

Down in Bermuda is an interesting puzzle game with point-and-click or hidden object elements. Developed and published by Yak & Co (the team behind Agent A another hybrid puzzle, point-and-click adventure with a cartoon style).

So is Down in Bermuda a vacation worth saving up for? Let’s count our coins as we dive in and find out.

Down in Bermuda wasn’t on my radar at all, perhaps due to some triangle-based anomaly, but as soon as I watched the trailer, I knew I was going to have some fun playing the game.

Spoiler alert, I was correct.

The basic concept of the game is that you need to escape the Bermuda triangle. Why are you there? So the game opens with a pilot flying his plane, but a severe storm shorts out his instruments and the plane plummets down into the titular triangle. Thirty years later (that’s right thirty years), the pilot who is now an old man decides it’s time to enlist some help in solving a puzzle so he can escape from the strange island he’s been on this whole time.

And the help he enlists? Why, it’s the player of course. As the player is not shown and seems to have some god-level ability over the area (flying around in an isometric view about the island), the main character would be the tiny pilot from a plot perspective.

The objective is to get the little pilot through each island and out of the triangle. Doing so is easier than it sounds, as the islands are filled with puzzles that need to be conquered to progress.

Each island contains a certain number of Sun orbs that need to be collected to unlock the next island, and there are a number of methods for obtaining them. In a way, it almost feels like the 3D Mario Games, especially as each island has a common orb that requires the collection of Star orbs, which is somewhat reminiscent of the coloured coin collection stars.

Other Sun orbs can be found by completing a series of changing puzzles that range from working out combinations via locating matching images to destroying giant creatures that aren’t too happy about your presence on their island.

There is one major difference between this game and Super Mario 64 (Other than the genre of game, gameplay, character, etc), and that difference is that all orbs must be located to move to the next level.

While you can leave an island at any time, you will need to collect each orb before the next island becomes available. For someone that is enjoying the puzzles and wants to complete everything, that’s not a problem. However, some puzzles are significantly more complex than others, and a casual player or child may get stuck on one to the point they might give up on the game entirely.

It’s not a deal breaker per se, but it would have been nice for the islands to require a lower amount of orbs so the player can skip the occasional tough puzzle and the completionists can feel good about completing optional puzzles.

Overall, the game is quite accessible for most age groups, with bright and colourful cartoon art, and no real ways to lose other than just giving up on a hard puzzle. The music in the game is quite relaxing, and for the most part the puzzles are fun and interesting.

During my time with the game, I did find that a number of “puzzles” contained a lot of sections where you just pulled switches and pushed buttons almost like it’s trying to stretch things out or just show off the mechanic. It’s not really a problem though, and the number of creative puzzles on offer outweighs this by far. In fact, the good aspects of the game outweigh all the negatives (Including the somewhat frustrating control scheme).

At the end of the day, if you like puzzles, appealing artwork, and a humorous story, then definitely take a look at Down in Bermuda. You are likely to get lost, but getting lost in a good game is a good thing!

Down in Bermuda Review Provided By Nintendo Link
Developer: Yak & Co
Release Date: Jan 14, 2021
Price: $19.99, £19.99, €19,99
Game Size: 432 MB