Looking at the level horizontally, at a 90 degree angle instead of at an elevated angle, creates blind spots due to the lack of depth perception. If you’ve played any 2.5/3D platformer over the last five years or so, you’ve probably seen this issue before. If you pair the controls with the fixed camera, this makes it incredibly difficult in areas to see the path of traversal. However, since death isn’t much of a punishment in A Tale of Paper, this is a relatively minor complaint. There were several deaths that could’ve easily been avoided with tighter controls. Moving the analog stick slightly in one direction will only sometimes allow you to adjust on screen. Moving your character on screen means shifting the analog stick, almost fully to one side or the other. There are a few jumps in the game that require you to get relatively close to the edge of the platform. One thing I noticed right from the beginning, was the inability to make minor movements. Other than these, the main enemies in the game are in the controls and the forced camera. I will say that this section, as well as a few others, do a decent job of ratcheting up the tension. The closest thing would be a small section that is heavily based on the chase levels from the Crash Bandicoot series…and I mean heavily. There are only a few and, since there is no combat, there are no actual boss fights. Enemies in this game are relatively scarce and there isn’t much in the area of diversity.

I chuckled to myself when I saw that this enemy was a demonized Roomba that chases you around the room without reprieve.

Once you have progressed past the first few areas, the first enemy appears. The similarity to Limbo is front and center. Each form is well implemented and the level, as well as puzzle, design compliments each one. There are several forms, and each comes with a pretty big trade off to prevent overuse and abuse. The ability to jump much farther comes at the cost of not being able to take individual steps. For example, the first form learned, is that of the mighty frog. All of these forms have their pros and cons. At times, these forms have to be changed back in forth in quick succession. None of these are new to the genre, but the addition of using several different forms helps keep it somewhat fresh.

All of these puzzles come in the form of your typical platformer positioning elevators to the proper elevation, lowering water levels to open the next path, etc. The hook for this title is the ability of your little origami figure to change shape and turn into several other forms that all serve to complete the numerous puzzles along the way. These, along with tiny mushrooms that illuminate once you get close, serve as your guiding beacons along the way, as well as serving as nifty ways to brighten up the darker areas further on in the game. Moving around the room reveals the path rather quickly and the environments are used in a clever way to run you through the basic premise and expectations, with crude diagrams scribbled onto sheets of paper. We are given control of a small origami figure and not given much other guidance. However, there were several, huge, factors that left a sour taste in my mouth and not enough positive ones to balance it out.Īfter awakening on a dusty bedroom floor, in an empty house, the adventure kicks off without much of an introduction. From the first five minutes of playing, I wanted to love this game, I truly did. As an origami figure brought to life, this simple 2.5D puzzle plat-former has tons of heart and it’s obvious that OpenHouseGames has a lot of pride in this title.

A tale of paper pc