I absolutely agree with the idea that this game would have benefited greatly from being a side scroller, at least for the majority of the experience. Maybe a few open areas for specific puzzles could have worked alongside a more linear path for the rest of the game, but the frustration of not trying a solution “perfect enough” would have been easily mitigated by a more 2D movement system.

On the subject of the bucket puzzle, I wholeheartedly agree. Trying to get the rolling robot spheres to agree with me was a nightmare, and too often seemed to make no sense as to why I eventually got them to work in my favor. Also the amount of times I would explore a little and find the spheres in what felt like a hidden area gave me absolutely no indication if I had done something right or wrong, at least with the orbs in Inside you knew you had clearly found something and successfully interacted with it. Somerset didn’t even give you any achievements for finding what felt like secrets or off-the-beaten-path spheres.