I’m a certified pretentious person, and I’ve got the advanced degree to prove it. So, whenever I chat with other pretentious people about video games, I note that video games can be art because they allow the player to explore moral choices and take journeys driven by their own thoughts they might not otherwise engage in. Which can go to some weird places, when you’re talking about Tearaway Unfolded and its bizarre, maybe-accidental-maybe-not religious overtones.
Yes, the game with the little paper people. No, I am not making this up.
Tearaway Unfolded (PS4)
Artistic Achievement
Like I said in the headline, this game is adorable. Everything about it was painstakingly crafted out of paper before being animated and put into the game, and that aesthetic, while it may not be for everybody, is unique. You’d never know this game was designed for the Vita; the graphics are gorgeous and the soundtrack, best described as what happens when a drum and bass band has to play a Morris dancing gig, is even better. It’s a beautiful game.
Innovation
Any first-party game for a console has a problem wherein it has to show off the console’s technical abilities. Media Molecule had a one-two punch here, too, as they had to adapt this game to the PS4 from the original Vita game, essentially taking the same levels and retooling them for entirely new mechanics.
And they not only do that, they pull it off with panache. This game uses every aspect of the PS4’s controller in creative, and more importantly fun, ways that almost never feel forced. Towards the end, when you’ve got a bunch of tilt controls, it feels a little sloppy, and some mechanics are a little too wing-and-a-prayer to feel truly slick, but there’s a reason Sony keeps these twee drama kids around: They may be cute and be all about creativity and yay positivity, but they’re not shy about making an actual game to go with it.
Execution
That said, though, I really wasn’t expecting to see a story about the search for God in a video game about adorable paper people fighting little papier-mache boxes, but here we are. It starts from the beginning of the game, where it’s announced that inside your PS4 is this adorable paper world. You start in darkness; your first job is to bring light.
And then you lead your little hero or heroine through a lengthy quest that involves parting waves, wandering deserts, and ultimately having them ascend into the real world. One of the game’s central conceits is that your player character is this own separate creature listening to and obeying your will, and is in fact explicitly encouraged to by other characters at multiple points. You can find a conversation in a bar where characters in the game debate whether or not there is a gamer; yes, there are agnostics. It’s not preachy or anything, but boy is it unexpected.
That aside, though, in most cases, a game this explicitly meta is a bad sign: Game developers generally only get cute when they know they’ve got a terrible game. So, it’s a pleasant surprise that Tearaway Unfolded is an excellent platformer that slowly ramps up the difficulty from “You don’t even have a jump button” to the final tough-as-nails levels that you’ll have to complete flawlessly to 100 percent finish the game. It’s a lot of fun, and they hide secrets and little gags everywhere.
Staying Power
I sunk ten hours into this game before hitting the end, and finished only 74 percent. If you’re going to find all the hidden items, and finish the game’s brutal quasi-escort mission where you have to deliver some gopher to its home across the game’s areas, I can see this being twenty hours. If you’re into papercrafts and creativity, you can expect even more time out of it.
Bullsh*t Factor
The game is a little pushy about using its companion app; I refused, because I hate second-screen apps, and it’s not necessary to play the game. But beyond that, Sony and Media Molecule don’t nickel and dime you. Hell, they don’t even want $60 for this game and they’d have every right to demand it; it can be yours for $40.
Final Thoughts
No matter how you feel about the metacommentary, or the religious overtones, or Media Molecule’s relentless desire to be cute, the simple fact of the matter is, you scrape all that off and you’re left with a damn good platformer. In fact, it’s the best platformer I’ve played in a heck of a long time, even if the ending loses the plot a little. If you love platforming, this is a must-buy.