Like its predecessor Limbo, Inside is a simple to control puzzle platformer where you guide an extremely athletic but rather fragile young boy through a perilous world towards an unknown goal, with every success likely interspersed with frequent, and sometimes horrific, deaths. But as enjoyable as Limbo was to play, Inside is simply better.

The setting is more interesting - dystopian factories, control rooms, laboratories in the midst of conducting bizarre experiments, ruined buildings, flooded underwater sections, and a handful of outdoor areas, all filled with weird, creepy, and occasionally stunning visuals, creatures, characters, and events. The puzzles hit that sweet spot of requiring contemplation and experimentation, but not requiring a walkthough, and it's thoroughly satisfying to walk into a new area, initially without a clue as to how to proceed, but then with a lever pull here, or a crate move there, have things slowly fall into place (sometimes literally) until suddenly it all makes sense and you can move on. There's a few timing-based puzzles that can get a bit frustrating, but they're nothing more than a minor negative, and are more than balanced out by some truly creative ones. Like Limbo, Inside's world is primarily black and white, but the graphical style is superior, with many areas featuring an incredible visual depth, and detailed, well-populated backgrounds. Your young avatar might be limited to moving in a 2D plane, but Inside's inhabitants are not, and sometimes a character off in the distance who initially seems like nothing more than interesting window dressing will unexpectedly rush forward to pose a significant threat. And the various character animations are excellent, particularly towards the end of the game.

And what an ending it is. Inside starts out good, gets REALLY good, and then the last half an hour is simply some of the most enjoyable, memorable gameplay I can recollect. It's all backed by a great story too, but one that's told without a single line of dialogue or written text - everything is left to your interpretation. It's the kind of game you'll find yourself thinking about after finishing, or hunting down fan theories to try to determine what the heck you just experienced. There's a brief alternate ending that can be unlocked as well, and while it's not especially impressive by itself, it certainly will supply some serious fodder to the theorists.

I expected Inside to be a solid puzzle platformer, but it's more than that, and has become one of my favorite games of 2016. If you liked Limbo, if you're a fan of the genre, or simply want to play a good, interesting, different kind of game, I highly recommend it. The only caveat is that for a game that will likely take you about six hours to complete, the current $20 dollar price tag might be off-putting. But I for one found it well worth it.