7 different persons walk into The Cave, searching for their heart's desire. But will they like what they find?
You start outside, and get an overview of seven different people. The Cave explains who they are, and you can choose three to take on the quest. Will you choose the knight? Or maybe the time traveller? Perhaps the hillbilly is more to your liking, or you are curious about those creepy twins. Whoever you choose, it's obvious from the start that this will be a funny game. After all, one of the people involved with the legendary Monkey Island series had something to do with it.
As you progress through the many puzzles in this platformer game, you will notice the many different area's. There is a specific place in the Cave where each person can find his/her heart's desire. Depending on which three you choose, you will take different routes through the Cave. Mostly, it will take two or all three working together to overcome an obstacle.
Sooner or later, you will get to the area specifically for a certain character. Here, you will undoubtedly have to use his or her special ability. For example: the scientist can hack computer terminals, and the monk has a limited telekinesis to reach levers which are too far to reach. In this level, you will find out what their story is, and what evil thing they did. And you can be sure: every single one of them has the potential for great evil.
During the course of the game, you will also find certain symbols. Every character has a specific symbol, and activating them will show you a cartoon- like panel, showing something about the character's past. As you find more, you'll discover their potential for evil, and how it started. That does not mean they can't learn to be better persons though...
Progressing through The Cave is fun, with original puzzles. Sometimes it will make you think and observe for a moment, but the puzzles are never too hard to become frustrating. The only downside is that sometimes you have to go back and forth several times, especially in the house of the twins.
In any case, it's a fun(ny) experience navigating through the very different levels of the Cave. After several hours of playing, you'll find yourself near the exit again. Did you learn from the experience, or not...?
All in all, The Cave is a funny little platformer with nice graphics and great humour. The characters are diverse, and the puzzles fun to navigate. Warning: little spoiler coming up! As I hinted at before, there is an evil ending for everyone. If you think it through a little bit, you'll find a good ending as well. Maybe this will make you curious enough to replay the game, but it did not in my case. I did replay it with three different characters, but apart from the specific levels, the other puzzles are just not enough fun anymore since you know the solution.
So, the replayability is not very good. You might want to play again to see three other endings, but other than that, there's really no reason to. You also have the option to make this a two- player game. That will make you two juggle the three different characters. The first time you play, this is actually fun. I have read a review where the reviewer complains that one person will usually clear a specific area where the other one just sits and looks at the screen. In my opinion, this is not really true, as most levels require more than one character to navigate through. Also, when someone is exploring, the other one might see something you missed, and give advise about a puzzle. This, to me, improved gameplay a bit.
So, to wrap up this review: The Cave is not bad at all. I had fun figuring the puzzles out, laughed at the situations and the comments of The Cave, and was looking forward to the next symbol so I could find out what the story of the time traveller was. My girlfriend played this with me, and both of us had a good time. It's still just a PSN game, of course, so don't expect miracles. If you're a Plus member, you can get it for free now, and with a price like that, I can highly recommend this one to fans of puzzle platformers.