METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN
METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN
Game
Game2022Published by indie.io
Broken Pieces
Developer Elseware Experience, Benoit Dereau, Mael Vignaux
Broken Pieces is a psychological thriller taking place in a french coastal village somehow outside the flow of time. Solve the mysteries by putting the pieces of the story back together by figuring out the enigma behind this mystical place. From the Steam store page
207 reactions from 3 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon) · newest Oct 5, 2026 · last updated Oct 7, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
65
Fresh
124 positive · 68 negative
95% range 58–71%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 124 | 68 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
15 newer reactions are still waiting for a label.
Steam's own rating
Mostly Positive
398 of 548 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What people are saying
Mixed reactions: praised for atmosphere and puzzles, criticized for combat and story.
Many players praise the game's atmosphere, visuals, and puzzle design, with some calling it a worthy adventure mystery. However, others find the combat clunky and the story unsatisfying, with an abrupt ending that leaves questions unanswered. [1][4][10][12][18][27][29]
Some players report game-breaking bugs that hinder progress, while others note the small development team's achievement. The game's identity as a puzzle adventure rather than horror divides expectations. [7][20][32][35]
Praised atmosphere and visuals · puzzle design · story intrigue
Criticised combat · story resolution · bugs
Summary drafted by an AI model from the 36 reactions it cites ([n] links open each post), then checked by code: every paragraph cites real posts and every quote is verbatim. Written Oct 7, 2026. Method
Reactions
60 of 207 · most liked firstA real time waster. This is a pixel hunting "find the key" adventure game. 1000 locked doors, click on everything in sight, miss the one thing you need to progress, go back through all over again and click on everything in the entire world until you find the one key. Open the one door, gain access to more rooms and more locked doors. Keep clicking on everything in sight and hope you find the next key. In the first 90 minutes I did not encounter a single puzzle, just locked doors. I love…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I have spent a bit of time debating myself about this, but at the end of the day, I just couldn't bring myself to give this game a recommendation. My main issue with this game is that it, in essence more closely relates to games like "The Park" as opposed to classics like "Resident Evil" or "Silent Hill" but has a system setup meant to replicate 3rd person horror games of the PS1, Dreamcast and PS2 era. What didn't work for me: The Story: I liked the approach that the developers went with…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Spoiler free Not a Survival Horror game. Not a horror game at all really. It's a puzzler. Closest thing I can think of might be Siberia. It's a good puzzler. Story is intriguing. + Visuals are overall gorgeous + Solid music + Story is overall intriguing + Decent puzzle design + Cool Weather mechanic, both involving storms and the other seasons + English voice cast is pretty good. + Puns - Combat leaves something to be desired. Maybe should've been left out altogether. - Another game that…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →All in all nice game, but I'd put it as neutral, if I could, as I couldn't recommend it. It simply has too many things wrong with it. There's a good game hiding in there, but it's hiding well. And it's not worth $25 Some level areas are beautifully made. Some areas like the museum feel like there should have been more, but in general, the game looks nice and has many nice details. The journal with the clues and objectives was nicely done. collected all the clues related to an area in a…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Pros. Feels like an old game. Cons. Feels like an old game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The atmosphere is nice and it kinda feels nostalgic and fresh at the same time. But what kills the game in my eyes is that after finishing it not even the smallest detail is explained. Even if it was the prologue to a longer series that wouldn't have been enough. You have to give the player something; anything. You can't just stack mystery upon mystery.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The 90s had some of the most frustrating horror games, and this seems to emulate them. "You can't advance until you find what you need." No mention of what you actually need, and just walk around clicking on absolutely everything until you get what you need. Clunky movement, slow storytelling, pass.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'll try to be brief. I don't recommend the game. I put "thumbs up" to support the developers, who I hope will read my comment. I'm an system's analyst, developer; have experience in writing, working in the media and several environments. I'm also very much a gamer. So I will try to give my point of view in a constructive way. I see a lot of work was put into this game There were plenty of good ideas laid on the table. Interesting mechanics, a lot of things to take advantage of. Main…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I want to recommend this game but after spending the time I did in game I just can't. The story OK the mood great, the puzzle mini game is nice. The sound direction is amazing and the music fits perfectly. I like and enjoy the main character. The problem is the mystery and story just kind of stops. Many questions are left unanswered and you get to the ending and it just kind of feels like your missing a ton of content. The Main character then "explains" things over the credits and still…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →In short: - If you expect an RE/SH experience: You will be disappointed. - If you expect an interesting adventure mystery game with easy-to-medium difficulty puzzles: You will love this. - Expect horror? The game has its emphasis elsewhere in storytelling and that field it does surprisingly well. This has potential to be the "next Siberia" series so to speak in my opinion, but with more varied gameplay. *** Longer review: Small team did miracles with this, but even with its flaws this is a…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →There are game breaking bugs that have you loose progress, the bugs are well know and never attempted to be fixed. Please Steam, do not sell unplayable games for any denomination.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really like the mystey of the beginning of Broken Pieces. The Story unfolds the more you discover, but the ending was disappointing tbh. Gameplay is 3D Point and Click with some weird shooting combat in between and some survival aspects like collecting stuff to craft ammo. But that combat happens not that often and is not that meaningful. Most annoying was the inventory management, did not like that in an adventure. Unless there is some sequel that explains all the holes in the story, I…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Hoped for a good classic Point &Click adventure - got a game, not worth spending time on it. Story is low, at no point voltage comes up really. Bird quests are nerving and the games way too short anyway. My personal rating: 4/10 | Time-stealer
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →What a very strange game. I really respect how much the developers did to make this game different, even if a lot of those choices don't always result in a cohesive package. I wasn't sure what to expect when I got started with this one, and it took me a while to get accustomed to how the game worked, but once I did, despite a few bumps along the way which I will get to later, I found myself really enjoying it. There is an excellent sense of place established early with the location of the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →For the most part, I felt genuinely immersed by Broken Pieces. It actually puts many pieces of the great adventure game puzzle in all the right places: the visuals, the location design, the narrative, the gameplay mechanics (well, most of them) and the side activities altogether deliver an enjoyable experience. Not outstanding, but definitely worth its time. There is also a nice old-school feeling to this game. It has a bit of a Syberia (or maybe The Longest Journey) touch to it which I…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Just finished the game, over the shoulder view, mouse and keyboard controls, normal mode. This game is an adventure game, it is not a psychological horror, or even really a thriller game, but a 3D point and click adventure game where you interact with objects and put together very obscure clues to learn about what is going on. The puzzles are enjoyable, the combat is basically a mini-game that feels like there was more planned with it (Has a crafting and upgrade system that I literally had no…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Female Protagonist Is what sold it for me, although as I played further in, the story kept building out in an intriguing way, a sad story that reminded me of Everyone has gone to the Rapture. Broken Pieces takes things to another level, weaving threads of culture, history and religion versus cultists. I liked the way pieces of the story drop into place and make sense as you go along. Set in a small French seaside town, makes for great visuals. Puzzles and Cassette Tapes The game has a fair…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Broken Pieces starts off with all the marks of being an interesting game with a compelling story, but in the end it all comes down to ugly storytelling and repetitive gameplay, not to mention the sluggish ending. The game just can't get into the storytelling. Broken Pieces tries to make me empathize with the main character and some guy named Pierre, but the only way of doing it is "let's say every few minutes how the main character misses Pierre" and that's it. Who is Pierre? Why should I…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →According to the store page, Broken Pieces was developed by a team of only 5 people, so with that in mind, it's a pretty impressive achievement. Sadly, this game seems to have flown completely under the radar. It definitely deserves more attention! The game was designed for a fixed camera view, but the latest update added a 3rd person mode. You can choose the camera placement at the start of the game, but you cannot change it afterwards. I actually really like this addition. Fixed camera…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really really wanted to like this game. I couldn't even make it through the tutorial due a game breaking bug. The atmosphere and comments that the main character makes reminded me of Life is Strange and were charming, the visuals are beautiful, the animation is okay. But I got to the gun part of the tutorial and, no matter what I did, she would not fire the gun. I could aim the gun, reload the gun and change ammo types but it would not fire. Unfortunately, the community for this game is…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Clunky movement, weak story telling, horrible combat and abstract sci-fi time loop crap, combined with puzzles that had me running around aimlessly, back and forth due to lack of information. A shame because the setting is lovely, the music is nice and voice acting is decent enough, but it's very frustrating and I couldn't bring myself to play anymore.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very fun game. Loved the puzzles and the play style. Beautiful art and the sound design was great. The story was interesting but a bit confusing, but still good. The combat has its quirks but I played on story mode and did not find it too frustrating to deal with. I was sad when the game ended, I had really gotten pulled into the world and the routine of the game. I look forward to more games by this team! If you like puzzle and mystery games I highly recommend giving this one a try!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If Jacques Demy and François Truffaut adapted Richard Matheson’s I Am Legend as a computer game… and were so overcome by good French wine, food and sunshine that they forgot to make an ending… that game would be Broken Pieces. The combat is awkward (a common problem for indie Fixed Camera games!) and the narrative ends somewhat abruptly (maybe Broken Pisces would be a better name?), but Elsewhere Experiences fixed multicam survival-horror-lite is absolutely worth playing for its sense of place…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game itself was ok-ish, the ending? Just downright awful. I feel like I spent twelve hours ploughing through this and in the end there was.....nothing? I dare anyone not to be disappointed when they finish this game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Finished a weird game called Broken Pieces. Story didn't really feel very intriguing and didn't really end up being particularly satisfying either. Strange unexplained supernatural elements that didn't really gel very well too. Exploration and puzzles were ok though and the visuals were pretty nice.
unlabelledView post →Terrible. The story is completely uninteresting and honestly stupid, the characters are boring (there aren't really any apart from the main character anyway, the others are only mentioned or heard on recordings). The combat is legitimately some of the worst I have ever experienced in any game. It's atrocious. The movement is clunky and slow. The puzzles are mediocre and solutions repeat way too often. Save your time and money, it's not worth either.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This became one of my favorites adventure games of recent. The area you start in is beautiful, a small French village and you get to explore all of it. But there is something dark going on, and you need to find out what. There is a nice sci-fi element to the game and story, which makes it even more intriguing and mysterious. There are also some nifty puzzles, but none too hard. And every so often you will meet a board game puzzles that you can solve for rewards later on. There is also an…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Unplayable if you don't speak French. Even though the game supposedly has English language, all textures with clues are still in French and no translation is provided after the initial reading. Apparently they didn't care about the rest of the world. Coding is subpar too. It slows down a lot on maximum settings and the graphics in general is nothing special to warrant the slowdowns. Textures and models are in fact rather ugly on close ups. Animations are extremely basic. The character doesn't…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Frustrating, tedious and ultimately disappointing. I found this game to be disappointing in part because the graphics are nice and it does a pretty good job or mimicking an older Resident Evil type game. The game lacks any map and while it has a journal for clues and objectives you find yourself constantly back tracking. A couple of the optional puzzles would not complete for me, even though I solved them correctly. The story has a lot of potential but seems to drag and ultimately falls flat.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very good game from the hands of a small dev. team. Nice visuals with vivid color palette, a charming small coastal town that recently suffered from disturbing events, pretty protagonist, interesting plot, really fun mini games, well thought puzzles all in fair difficulty. Absolutely recommend to the fans of the genre. (Just do not expect a sophisticated, fluid combat. It's the game's weakest (and needless, imo) element and do expect lots of backtracking)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →the idea is good, but the gamepla is just undercooked. the setting is nice, but the level design is awful, theres too much space for zero reason. Its like they wanted to make a village life sim game and instead of making that they had to remake the game into some lame survival without good survival mechanics
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I WANT to recommend this game. I WANT to encourage more people to create games like this. But I just can't. *) Camera angles and movement are just way too weird and janky. Walking along, camera sorta behind the shoulder and above you - all of a sudden changes to a different angle. AND the direction in which you had been holding the left stick to move Elise is all of a sudden pointing in a different direction, OFTEN the way you just came! So you hafta hold the stick in one direction,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Don't mind me, just having a little tea and taking some of my fave books out for some sunlight around the city. 🥰 🏒 Brutal Game by @jobrennerbooks.bsky.social 🎮 Pixel Perfect Pack by Sabrina Bloom 👩❤️💋👩🏳️🌈 All My Broken Pieces by @authorkittyrose.bsky.social #booksky #romancebooks #indieauthors
unlabelledView post →It was a disappointment for me. I was hoping for either a point and click game or an open world adventure. This was neither. Graphics look good and the atmosphere is intriguing, but the story lacks depth. Feels like there would be potential for so much more. I only put the thumb up because it wasn't a complete waste of time. This game has it's moments.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not my cup of tea I guess. The puzzles are okay and the graphics are nice, but the story and controls need work. Really hard to get absorbed in. Translations could use some work as well.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I played this in VR with the UEVR mod + the 'behind the shoulder view' game update, which take the game to a whole new level of immersion. I was very surprised by the quality of this title, really polished and excellent in pretty much every aspect. VR made it even more special and almost felt as if the game was always meant to be played that way. THE GOOD - Superb artistic design - Great sound - Fantastic puzzles with just the right amount of difficulty - Exploration is great, the way…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm loving it. Don't listen to naysayers. The combat is alright and makes perfect sense in the surreal setting. Very immersive adventure and clever puzzles. You'll get stuck from time to time, but not for too long if you review the clues and observe well. The game gives you all the information you need, but doesn't serve it on a silver platter and I think it's great. Big studios could learn a lot about excellent writing. I can't fault the voice acting either. Oh and it looks beautiful.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Cannot play this game. The lag is so bad. Thankfully I got it on sale for 5 bucks because since I am past the two week mark its too late to ask for a refund. My computer is a higher end gaming computer too.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is just not for me. Camera angles are just too weird and slow moving . i found myself unable to look up alot and trying to aim seemed like slow motion. the game itself seems all over the place with voice acting that never changes regardless of the situation . Im not gonna finish this game because Its just not holding my attention. nice visuals though.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Another lovely adventure game that I'm glad to have played. The best part is definitely the mystery presented. I took my time to gather anything that could help me understand what happened. And I would say it was well worth it. The premise (at least from what I can piece together) here is that you play as Elise who recently moved together with her boyfriend Pierre (who is mysteriously gone) to this coastal french village in the 90s. Apparently the village has a rich history of cultists,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →With less work on the DM's end, since they're actually designed to EFFING WORK IN THE FIRST PLACE AND NOT BE BROKEN PIECES OF SHIT THAT PUT THE ENTIRE LOAD ON THE PERSON RUNNING THE GAME. Screw 5.xe
unlabelledView post →So I genuinely enjoy the setup of this: small French village, the isolation of being the last person remaining, a mixture of behind shoulder Resident Evil and Alan Wake in gameplay. My issue is that, aside from the god awful combat, where dodging is largely ineffective—something I'd likely look past under a different scenario—I crash at the end of combat consistently; twice in the two and half hours I played. This issue was mentioned to the developer just last year in September by another…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Broken Pieces, developed by Elseware Experience in collaboration with Benoît Dereau and Maël Vignaux and published by indie.io, is a moody, atmospheric narrative adventure that immediately stands apart through its haunting depiction of the French coastal village of Saint-Exil. The game opens with Elise, an ordinary woman who finds herself inexplicably alone in a once-lively town that now feels frozen in time. The emptiness of Saint-Exil is not simply environmental—it is emotional, permeating…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A really immersive mystery set in a small coastal village in France. I played with the french VA, which i recommend, and it really felt like a weird confusing tale where everyone had no idea what was happening or what was going on. The little puzzles that give you museum coins were fantastic. I could play a game of just those puzzles alone. I love the special power you gain to help you solve puzzles. It's a unique mechanic that forces you to think about puzzles in a new way. A lot of…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →this game is meant to be played on a Console .. PC is very clunky .. i tried playing this game but just couldnt after 10 mins or so .. it was just way to clunky ... not smooth at all .. even on sale @ $3.74 this game wasnt worth it .. thumbs down BIG TIME on this one .. Also all the meaningless comments in game when observing things .. useless
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Broken Pieces is... a weird one. This is one of those moments where I wish we had a more granular system of rating as opposed to the binary "yes/no recommend." I do think it's worth playing but you have to understand what you're getting into. I initially thought this would be a survival horror kind of game, and on the surface that's the look and feel the game has going for it. But in reality I'd liken this more to something The Adventure Company may have made or published back a few years ago…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Think twice before buying this game. Almost nothing about this game works. I guess the atmosphere is nice and that's all. An annoying heroine who makes ridiculous bad jokes about literally everything around her. Bad voice acting. A plot that explains nothing at the end. There are a ton of bugs, some of them will not even allow you to complete the game, you will have to start over. Ridiculous opponents and battles. There are few locations, but even in them it’s easy to get lost, how bad…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very interesting and great game! Def not survival or psychological horror so don't be mislead by the tags :| It's more of a mystery action game with mby some very light "horror" elements (don't except anything like Silent Hill or Outlast or to be scared generally) + Great puzzles and side things to do. Very nice job devs!! + Nice story + Great location (wish there was more areas tho) + Mystery from start which u try to uncover during the game. Very well done! - Game is kinda short (took me…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Upon the 2 hours that I played, 40 or so minutes was of trying to figure out a game bug that would not let me progress forward. After that time I came to the discussions to find a solution. I found that indeed my game had glitched. I started a new game and got past the glitch only to be thrown straight into another glitch. I cannot recommend this game in the broken state it is in, no matter how peaceful and pretty it is.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →6/10 artwork, atmosphere, environment is really good. ending is abrupt, rushed? Combat is weird? (Cannot move while aiming?) one particular clue requires you to change the camera mode? very strange? unfortunately these elements out weight the good ones, I feel bad for the thumbs down, sorry devs.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I finished the game out of principle. A lot of things made me dislike this game. -Horrible camera angles -Extremely bad combat, wish janky controls that didn't serve any purpose. -Time forces you to return to your house, for what seems to be no reason. The story and puzzles were okay, but they were not worth the issues I've stated above. I would only recommend this game if they fixed the camera angles, redid the combat and added an option to look at a map for all the shortcuts that lead to…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a very fun game. You have the choice of a lot of shooting or minimal. I sometimes prefer to enjoy the art and little details rather than fighting. Great puzzles meaning codes to open different doors and you need to pay attention to clues. The graphics are great and being able to see from her view point is very cool too!!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I would give it a "neutral" review if that was possible. I really liked the setting, views and the music in this game. Some of the mechanics had a cool concept to it, the other were quite repetitive. Puzzles and things you need to get to progress weren't difficult, and you got a lot of clues along the way. Combat is the worst part of the game, it's terrible and clunky. Limited inventory in a way that you needed to get rid of stuff to pick up story items was really annoying. The ending was a…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Offbeat indie title here that combines Resident Evil/Silent Hill camera work (with actual switchable fixed angles! Pretty cool!), gorgeous yet desolate scenery ala Kona and Firewatch with a plot-line that toys with post-apocalyptic Omega Man/Logan's Run sorta themes...and there's a dash of tentacled Lovecraftian malice bubbling under the skin. Everything that I mentioned is something I enjoy quite a bit, so Broken Pieces was an instant pick-up whenever screenshots and the Steam bio caught my…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I have no idea why people here compare this game to Resident Evil. It’s not even close. Before I start, I should say that I didn’t really like the game. As some reviews put it, it’s “broken pieces.” And that’s pretty accurate. The game feels like a patchwork made from completely different elements. And while the puzzles are mostly fine, the gunplay and the story are awful. The plot itself is intriguing, but it has neither a proper beginning nor an ending. It feels like they just dropped the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Teaboy's Basic(ish) Reviews....I read a lot of reviews when looking at games on Steam, and it quickly gets tiring – those who write involved, down to the micron scale reviews, although helpful, end up like looking at War & Peace when you’ve only got time for a quick 5 minute dump! This is middle of the road and to the point – not easy for me as I tend towards sesquipedalian loquaciousness! Vociferously Verbose? Alright, verbal diarrhoea. (Although I hate panning a developer’s work and all…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good enough game. Visually very nice. Cannot understand the "have to go to sleep 8pm because night dangerous..." mechanic. Made the backtracking stupid. I get it, it had to be there to extend the game time, but still. And the ending. Didn't get it. Especially when it was winding up to be something interesting and maybe awesome. So two problems with the game. Got it on sale for 4 eur so no regrets. Still hope to see something even more interesting and polished from this studio.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Solid game. Looks good and sounds good. Voice acting can be iffy, missing emotion at times (A lot of times), but the story, while confusing, is pretty solid. I really liked the location you were in but some of the things you had to do could be quite tedious at times. And while you get clues, some of the puzzles and objectives were very hard to fins at times. Manipulating the change of season to solve a puzzle or make your way around town was pretty cool. Overall a pretty deep game.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Ok so this is a beautiful old school adventure game at its heart. It felt like throwback to a 1990s adventure game, but updated to modern standards. If you love adventure games, and do not get bored easily searching around for items and solving puzzles, then this game is a 9 out of 10. If you crave lots of action then this score will drop down to around a 5 or 6 out of 10. The graphics are absolutely gorgeous on ultra settings. The voice acting is superb, best I've heard in a long time. The…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Solid game - good visuals, great story. I'm about 2 hours in. I'm in the park near the house and everything is stuck - saying "I'm going to need something to break those" for everything. Game is caught in a loop, stuck. Can't proceed. Pretty ♥♥♥♥♥♥, frankly. I mean that's approaching "I want my money back" frustrating. Nevermind when you're battling the ghost guys that the dodge action is dumb. Like, you have to be aiming to dodge? What's the point of that? No game does that. Just dodge. Push a…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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