This is a good experience. :)
Graphically this game looks interesting, with a cute cardboard - style aesthetic, and I am a sucker for a unique art style. :D Everything is themed around this style: your character, NPCs, and the environment. It looks good. Some environs can be a bit dark at night, and there's nothing splashy to grab & hold the attention of the audience, but this is not a game meant to wow you with its technical FX, it's really more about making you smile using a unique artistic style. Aside from the regular in-game graphics there are also short snippets of video interviews with the main character's parents. A touching addition. :)
Audibly this game is nothing special. Music can be nice but nothing memorable, and nothing I'll listen to outside of the game. Sound design is okay. A cool graphic effect is that whenever the main character moves, she curls up into a paper ball and rolls everywhere, and when this happens there is a paper crunching noise to accompany it, which is clever and cute.
Story is slightly above-average, and honestly a bit hard to rate. The trailer I've seen for this game sets up its premise to be an innocent dive into the story of the game maker's dad, as to whether he was a spy during the Cold War. At game's conclusion it folds out into something else. It seems to be more about the game maker wanting to know more about both of her parents, who they are as people in multiple ways, and not just who they are as her parents. This certainly includes their jobs, but it also delves into 'why' they did what they did, not just 'what'. The story also includes bits about her parents' love lives and other aspects of their past that aren't directly work-related. It feels like this is a story made by the game maker as both an excuse and as preservation. An excuse to get her parents talking about something big, their work life, to get them enthused to open up about their past & personality in general. This game is a quest for the game maker to gain a greater understanding of who her parents were, their choices in life, and how they became who they are; to shift her perspective from daughter to family chronicler, and preserve their tales. This is quite touching, however, some might find it boring. I am grateful to be allowed in to this game maker's family, to be brought in to glimpse their tale, but not everyone will be. If you can appreciate a family tale, are a very big Cold War buff, or are specifically related to the game maker's family, then the story will be charming & interesting, and can rate slightly above-average. If you do not fall into one of the previously mentioned categories, then you may think the tale to be dull. I liked it, though. :)
Gameplay is okay. Rolling around is fun, though rolling backwards can feel painfully slow in comparison; I would've kept the rolling speed the same in all directions. The jumping also feels weird, unnatural, more like you're being thrown than jumping. I think the jumping was influenced by the game maker's story of her father throwing a shot put, and her wanting to give the player a similar feeling. I understand her logic, but the jumping movement still feels awkward. Bonus points for being able to control some paper airplane segments with the PlayStation 4's motion controls (if you want to enable them).
Overall, an above-average experience, but your mileage will vary depending on your appreciation level for the tale.
keyboard_arrow_down
Comment