A Little to the Left: Seeing Stars Review (PS5) – The original experience of A Little to the Left was a cozy organizational puzzler that was a wonderfully satisfying time if slightly hampered by the transition to a controller and this newest expansion is more of the very best puzzles from that original experience.
Gorgeous visual and sound design make for an expansion that fans of the original game simply shouldn’t miss, with some far more complex puzzles to boot.
This expansion is precisely the type of additional content I had hoped to see for this game and it more than delivers on its promise.
A Little to the Left: Seeing Stars DLC Review (PS5) – More Of A Cozy Time
Layered Organisation
Across the over 30 new sets of objects to organize in this DLC are 100 new imaginative solutions to discover and experiment with. Where the original game did offer stages with multiple solutions, with up to 3 being a rarity, this DLC regularly has levels that offer over 5 ways to organize the messes that are presented to you.
This speaks to the density of the new screens and the sheer variety being showcased.
The satisfyingly weighty movement and impeccable sound design once again contribute to an experience that is uniquely satisfying and relaxing – as well as a surprisingly good motivator for sorting out my own clutter!
Everything And The Kitchen Sink
Where the previous expansion – Cupboards & Drawers – was a relatively small expansion with a limited scope for its puzzles, this addition to the game offers a far meatier experience overall, nearly matching the original game in size. Similarly, the focus of the puzzles shifts around accordingly.
Where there are plenty of drawers to sort and stationary to reshuffle, there are also puzzles where you have to redistribute the toppings on a pizza. Or try to create the most perfectly balanced drinks with various ice cubes!
Between the original game and this one, I was surprised with the increased emphasis on transforming and changing objects as you play, with some interesting out-of-the-box thinking required to get to some of the more hidden stars.
This sense of interactivity was something I felt the original game lacked a bit of as you moved throughout and so I’m happy to see more of it here!
More Of The Same
Of course, everything from the original game that was good is also here in full force. If a puzzle doesn’t mesh with you or feels good to solve – you can “let it be” and move on to the next screen to organize. The game never expects you to deal with a mess that you find particularly unpleasant or hard to wrap your head around.
For players interested in seeing the whole of what Seeing Stars does have to offer, the comprehensive hint system returns to offer an insight into exactly how each puzzle should be arranged and each arrangement has a dedicated hints page for you to use at your leisure, and to the extent that you want.
You can expose a tiny bit of the solution to give you a starting point or look at the whole picture to see what needs to be done.
Throughout this DLC, the complexity of particular challenges does ramp up so having this to fall back on is a nice way to ensure that everybody can enjoy the game at their own pace.
This does unfortunately extend to the slightly fiddly controls that marred the original experience and the slight frustrations that arose due to them. In my original review, I drew attention to how these small moments of precision led to friction that took me out of the clear angle towards relaxation and the same is true here. And this unfortunately lies in the inherent limits of stick control in a game like this.
Without retreading too much ground, these issues do little to really sour the overall experience and relaxing energy that the game basks in but was noticeable as each mess increases in complexity.
Luckily – there was a higher amount of the iconic cats throughout this campaign! Rejoice!
A Little To The Left: Seeing Stars DLC is now available on PS5 and PS4.
Review code generously provided by publisher.