Retrace the Light: A Hidden Gem That Deserves Your Attention

Every so often a game comes along that flies completely under the radar, and Retrace the Light is exactly that kind of hidden gem.

This indie action-adventure blends satisfying combat, clever puzzles, and a unique central mechanic into a tight, memorable package. The developers have cited Zelda: A Link to the Past, Death’s Door, and Tunic as inspirations, and you can feel the DNA of those games throughout.

But Retrace the Light carves out its own identity with a time-rewinding mechanic that makes it feel genuinely new.

I went in with modest expectations and came away impressed after roughly ten hours with nearly everything completed.

Story & Setting

The game takes place in the far future where humanity has developed a program to treat psychological disorders.

Patients enter a “Mirror Maze,” a surreal, dangerous space constructed from their own psyche and an A.I. operative goes in to defeat the manifestations of their obsessions.

You play as that A.I. program named Decem, diving into the minds of different individuals to help free them from what haunts them.

The story isn’t overly complicated, and it doesn’t need to be. T

he premise is compelling enough to keep you invested and provides a wonderful framework for the game’s level variety.

Along the way, the narrative explores thought-provoking themes like free will and artificial intelligence without ever becoming heavy-handed.

The cast of characters is small but each one is interesting enough to make you care about the people you’re helping.

Gameplay, The Retrace Mechanic

The heart of the game is the Retrace mechanic, and it’s what elevates this from a good action-adventure into something special.

At any point, you can rewind yourself back along the exact path you just traveled.

It sounds simple, but the way this single ability weaves into every aspect of the game (puzzles, combat, exploration) is brilliantly executed.

What makes it truly stand out is how it changes the way you think.

Instead of looking at a problem and finding a solution, you often have to envision the end result first and then work backwards to figure out how to make it happen.

It’s a mental framework I haven’t encountered in any other game, and once it clicks, it’s incredibly satisfying.

Puzzles

I’ll be upfront: I’m not typically a fan of puzzles in games.

They often feel like pace-breakers that get in the way of the parts I actually enjoy.

Retrace the Light completely changed my mind.

The puzzles hit a perfect sweet spot, they’re challenging enough that solving them makes you feel genuinely clever, but they never cross into frustration.

Many are physics-based, which immediately brought back fond memories of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

And just like that game, some puzzles can be brute-forced or solved in ways the developers clearly didn’t intend.

There’s a special joy in finding an unorthodox solution and feeling like you outsmarted the game itself.

Because the puzzles revolve around the Retrace mechanic, they feel fundamentally different from what you’d encounter in other titles, that “think backwards” approach keeps them fresh throughout.

Combat & Difficulty

Combat in Retrace the Light is straightforward but effective.

You can equip three skills at a time, and for most of my playthrough I ran a fast light attack, a slower heavy attack, and a ranged ability in the third slot.

The system isn’t overly complex, but it doesn’t need to be, the Retrace mechanic adds a whole extra layer of tactical depth.

You can bait an enemy into chasing you, then instantly rewind yourself behind them to strike their weak spot.

It turns encounters into something more strategic than your typical hack-and-slash.

The regular encounters aren’t particularly punishing, but the bosses are a different story entirely.

These fights are hard, genuinely, teeth-grittingly hard.

You’ll need to master the Retrace mechanic to dodge attacks and create openings.

If you’re a fan of Souls-like games or any title that demands precision and patience, you’ll feel right at home.

However, if difficult boss encounters aren’t your thing, consider this a fair warning: the bosses will test you.

Progression & Customization

Leveling up is clean and uncomplicated.

You earn experience, gain levels, and each level awards an Iteration Point that you spend across a few different skill trees.

On top of that, there’s Computing Power (the in-game currency) which you use to purchase primary skills (active attacks and abilities) and secondary skills (passive bonuses).

Between the skill trees and the purchasable skills, there’s a decent amount of room to customize your build and playstyle.

It’s not the deepest system out there, but it complements the game’s scope perfectly and gives you enough meaningful choices to stay invested in your character’s growth.

Art Direction, Sound & Performance

Retrace the Light uses a 2.5D isometric perspective with a stylized art direction that strikes a nice balance, neither cartoonish nor striving for realism, and it looks great in motion.

Where the visual design really shines is in the Mirror Maze levels. Because each maze is built from a different person’s psyche, every level has its own distinct theme, aesthetic, and unique mechanics.

One level draws heavy inspiration from M.C. Escher with a Rubik’s Cube motif, while another is a tranquil garden themed around Go, the ancient board game.

The visual diversity keeps each new area feeling exciting.

The music is excellent and perfectly tailored to each environment, enhancing atmosphere in a way that feels intentional and considered.

There’s limited voice acting with options for English and Mandarin.

I’d recommend trying Mandarin, as the English performances are serviceable but unremarkable while the Mandarin voice work has a quality that felt much more fitting. The developers are Chinese after all.

Sound effects are solid across the board with nothing to complain about.

On the performance side, I ran the game at 4K and 60fps on an RTX 4080 Super and it was rock solid the entire time.

It’s not a graphically demanding title, so most modern hardware should handle it without issues.

Bugs & Rough Edges

In the interest of honesty, I did encounter a handful of bugs.

I had one hard crash to desktop, and a recurring issue where returning to the hub world would replay an old tutorial conversation that covered up other dialogue requiring a reload each time.

About seventy percent through the game, my manual saves started disappearing, though the constant autosave meant I never lost progress.

I also stumbled into a minor exploit where entering and exiting a save station repeatedly granted free experience.

None of these ruined the experience, and the developers have already been actively patching since launch. These feel like growing pains for a small indie release rather than fundamental problems.

Final Thoughts

Retrace the Light surprised me in the best possible way.

It’s a creative indie gem that punches well above its weight, delivering a unique gameplay hook that never wears out its welcome across its roughly ten-hour runtime.

What excites me most is the potential for more.

The Mirror Maze concept is a brilliant design framework. Since every level is based on a different person’s psyche, there are essentially unlimited possibilities for new themes, mechanics, and environments. The developers could easily create additional levels or DLC, and I would be first in line to play them.

If you’re a fan of games like Tunic, Death’s Door, or classic top-down Zelda, do yourself a favor and pick this one up.

It’s exactly the kind of hidden gem that deserves a much bigger audience.

If you’re just starting out the game check out the beginner’s guide with tips and tricks we wrote here.

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Images in this post are from the Retrace the Light page on Steam and used under Fair Use.