Tarsier Studios, a studio that always releases unique yet funky games. Tarsier developed Ragdoll Kung Fu: Fists of plastic, Little Big Planet 3 and DLC for the first Little Big Planet. Tearaway Unfolded reminds gamers that there are still unique video games out there. Creativity in the world, story, the involvement of the player and even the music make Tearaway a warm game that earns respect.
Storyline
Our story presented here is simple but sweet. You have a choice of either picking Iota (a male) or Aota (a female), and this character is the Messenger. The Messengers duty is to deliver The Message to the hole that opens in the sky. Along with the opening of the sky, little small enemies known as Scraps are invading the world. You as the player, who is introduced as “The You,” are responsible is helping The Messenger. The player has a significant presence throughout the game which creates an attachment with you and the character. In my case my partner was Iota, and I am quite fond of my paper friend.
Gameplay
Classic platforming is prominent in this game. Jumping what gets from area to area puzzle solving is what makes the game appealing. There are no real intense problems to solve just enough to where there has to be a little thinking. The cherry on top is the involvement of the player as if they were a secondary character of the world.
“The You” as the game refers you as, helps by having abilities to shine a bright light to hypnotize enemies, create gusts of wind, and even aim throws where the messenger can’t make. You obtain new abilities as the game progresses and puzzles become a lot more interesting to solve and attack. New capabilities also make battling enemies more fun and move you to think of creative ways to defeat them. Gameplay may be pretty similar but you can’t over on how cute the character can be.
Graphics
The look of the world is very reminiscent of the world of Nintendos Yoshi Story. The characters and the world are living paper, all the way from the characters to how the water and the wind behave. There is nothing that looks out of place in Tearaway everything flows that way paper would if it were alive. Colors are very vibrant or dull to represent the seasons of the levels. We have soft red, and yellow colors of fall included with white and blue to showcase winter. Therefore, it is quite a marvel to look at because not many worlds suck you in the way this game does just by only presenting itself.
Sound
Every sound in the game is spot on, but that has to be the case for every game because if it weren’t, it would be embarrassing. However, everyone must rave at the soundtrack composed by Kenneth C M Young and Brian D’ Oliveira. There wouldn’t be a Tearaway world without the fundamental component of music. The two composers bring life into the world by organizing a quirky, cute, creative and sometimes emotional sound sounding tracks that this would be complete with out. Prominent instruments like violin are heard but complimenting it is the cousin of the flute family giving it an almost childhood story vibe to some tracks.
Many more instruments make the score, but these composers always keep in mind that the world is that of a goofy almost childlike one. Musical cues are always spot on giving the music a comedic value that composers today seem to miss out.
Verdict
Tearaway Unfolded is such a unique with its paper like presentation, simple, cute story, and its expertly creative use of music. Not many games can carry itself like this, and not many are unique like Tearaway is. On a personal note, I would have enjoyed for the game to be a bit compressed solely because the platforming elements are repetitive but the positives surely out weigh the negative. The games earn respect with its massive creativity.
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Mario Bertrand
Mario's an individual who appreciates the craft of video games as a form of art. This art has become the catalyst of obtaining his dreams in music and video games. Being a nerd till the end of time, he will always expand his horizons by diving headfirst into new types of music, film, TV, anime, manga, and even comics. As long as its entertaining he'll take it, with a grain of salt of course.
