Puppeteer: Review

Yes, we are almost at the terminus. At the end of a console generation, there are generally two types of games that take precedence over the other: those who exploit fully the hardware squeezing the last drops, the swan song as God of War 2 or Shadow of the Colossus, and of course a whole host of titles dedicated to children.

The life cycle of a console not end up becoming a machine inevitably more accustomed to children, just think of the classic ritual the gift to my brother or costs less, at Christmas.

I’ll take it to my son. And while Westerners Naughty Dog will donate a work well-kept and adulthood like The Last of Us, on the other side of the world, Japan Studios realize Puppeteer, platform valuable work that embraces both goals: technically remarkable but also and especially to the most suitable small.

To be honest we are faced with a dark fairy tale, a story surreal and magical but rather gloomy: play as Kutaro, child turned into puppet (Collodi claim damages) which has the task of saving the princess of the moon by some evil figures , including a teddy bear hellish, a tiger wood and a witch who pretends to ally but plot in shadow.

Right at the beginning of the game, the nemesis of our hero hard to detach the net with his head a bit, so that we can recover in the course of the other heads in place, a bit as happened in the old Dynamite Headdy Treasure.

All this, incidentally, is represented in a puppet theater (hence the title of the game) where bizarre scenes and visual inventions alternate continuously. The device also recalls the recent Black Knight Sword of Suda51, but Puppeteer deviates markedly from the latter title is in form and content.

While the game of Suda aimed more on the bizarre and the discomfort of the player, both from the point of view audiovisual for mechanical distinctly hardcore adventure Kutaro, it is much more convenient for all.

This is already evident at the beginning, as we will see long sequences narrated like a fairy tale, accompanied, very comfortable that will pop out also during play, to highlight the changes of environment or the arrival of a new opponent.

But it is the gameplay to be more immediate and understandable by any age group, even you can play in two to simplify, one will control the hero jumps and between shredding scissors by magic, while the other will move each time a supporting actor.

The first of these is YinYang, a ” Cheshire Cat ” Eastern accompanying our little hero helping. In fact, the cat Wood is simply a pointer (so that it can be controlled either with the pad with the Playstation Move) which you can move objects on the seabed to activate them and make it appear so by collecting gems or new heads wear. In short, a cross between Lego Harry Potter (which is activated furnishings to get tokens), which will make the happiness of children were playing with the big brother or with my father.

And since the actor is still important to advance, even playing alone, you can control it using the right stick and R2 button. Unfortunately, you cannot use the Move Navigation Controller for one player, a real shame.

But Let’s go better in mechanical: Puppeteer is basically a platform with three distinctive points. The first are the magic scissors, which have the dual role of a weapon to attack enemies and hold: shredding features on the bottom such as drapes or leaves you can climb, or ” fly ” to overcome wide chasms or reach high points and continue.

They have particular weight during the boss battles, which typically use this gimmick to baste fun dynamic climbing and simultaneous offense. The second characteristic point is interchangeable heads, which indeed play a more marginal role than expected: they serve as both hit points (fall if we are affected, and we can recover as did Sonic with its rings) that certain keys to secrets: using them in special places marked to activate each time passages, small bonus levels or treasure.

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The third and final feature of the game is the aforementioned actor driving: The issue is that if we will be two to play, the second participant will have a very marginal role (click around, collect gems with the pointer) while playing alone intake the character will be even more limited (cannot not collect gems), but it will be a burden which must be used, aggravated by the controls on the pad less comfortable than the Move.

Finally, we have some other special weapons that collect during the adventure, like a shield, a hook or bombs: in short, the depth of it all comes out on distance, because initially the gameplay seems too elementary, which could give an erroneous impression. The game is not particularly difficult, indeed it quite facilotto then escalate a minimum in the last levels. Longevity is good: there are more than 20 levels long enough, distributed in seven acts.

To finish the game it will take around 12 hours abundant, net of nice extras (bonus challenges, the book of fairy tales) and the ability to replay levels to get the souls, the challenges and the missing gems. Too bad for the presence of only one difficulty level, especially that, despite claims to the contrary by Sony, coincides with the desire to produce a headline addressed to the less savvy.

Regarding the aesthetic factor, Puppeteer is technically very advanced and well-kept, since the character design, to the detail and animation in particular.

The effects of light and shadow are extremely valid, as well as the rapid alternation of environments and scenography, so that in some situations can be the doubt of being in front of something pre-calculated.

Since this is still a game in 2.5D (substantially horizontal scrolling but made with polygons) the impact graph is deliberately different from that of the platform in three dimensions, but there are also found as spectacular environments that flow by turning on themselves or change of scenery sudden.

In this, we see the very desire to create a game oriented 3D stereoscopic fact the shots are often fixed but rich perspective effects, sudden surprises and effects ” in your face ” (the stuff goes against the screen) designed specifically for viewing on a panel in three dimensions.

Among other things, this is one of the few games that halves the frame-rate in stereoscopic mode, as it uses a revolutionary 3D system that does not recalculate the whole scene.

Similarly, the mixer is beautifully kept, by driving soundtrack and sound effects. Adaptation level finally professional (now in the field of gaming, we have gotten used to approximate translation) and acting excellent, with only a few small slips in a couple of occasions.

In a game designed for a wide range of public and oriented so even the very young, the presence of a convincing narrative is crucial, and Puppeteer gives us the impression of a ” fairy tale sound “, although darker and bizarre than usual.

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