Something went wrong. Try again later
    Follow

    The Unfinished Swan

    Game » consists of 7 releases. Released Oct 17, 2012

    A first-person puzzle game for PSN revolving around mechanics that allow the player to slowly reveal the world around them.

    liquiddragon's The Unfinished Swan (PlayStation Network (PS3)) review

    Avatar image for liquiddragon

    The Unfinished Swan - Review

    I bought The Unfinished Swan when it was 75% off as a PS+ member and I do think its regular price at $15 is a bit steep. That being said, I can't recommend this game enough. I do think Journey stole it's thunder and it shouldn't have because there is plenty of room for both of these small games.

    I won't go into the story of the game as you can read it on the wiki page but it's beautiful, charming and well told. What's more is that it's incredibly well integrated to the visual style of the game which combine to form an unbelievably engrossing world. Of course, great visuals should be backed with great audio and this game does. Soothing narrators, beautiful music, and terrific sound design. Developer Giant Sparrow pretty much knocked it out of the park. However, there are some unfortunate slow downs that really take you out of this immersive world and I will say there are too many for a game this small and short.

    What's really impressive is that The Unfinished Swan is a cohesive experience. From the visuals to the audio and the gameplay is all connected and come from one source that is the story. The gameplay is puzzle based with some exploration. The puzzle is light but clever and satisfying. The exploration is delightful because it's hard not to want to see more and more of this world.

    I want to note that I'm not a big fan of the 1st person perspective but this game made it a bit more enjoyable for me. You play as a little boy named Monroe and they manage to really make you feel that way with many little obvious and subtle queues that doesn't just feels like another floating head.

    So I have very little negative things to say about this game. I wish the game was longer and I wish the game is priced lower. I also think the performance dips are unacceptable in a game of this scale. If the price and length doesn't concern you, please please pick this game up.

    P.S.: The Journey nod in this game is awesome! :D

    0 Comments

    Other reviews for The Unfinished Swan (PlayStation Network (PS3))

      The Unfinished Swan: Negative space meets positive vibes. 0

      The Unfinished Swan(PlayStation Network (PS3)) by opus on November 15, 2012

      The credits are rolling, the book is closed, seats are emptied as crowds and players alike march out of the stadium. Did you enjoy yourself? More than likely, you saw it through to the end and you aren't that much of a masochist. Why do you feel so empty then, guilty, even? When you aren't actively engaged you start to second-guess everything, it's self destructive and self motivating in a whirlpool of conflicting emotions. This self loathing is perfectly normal, if you didn't occasionally exper...

      0 out of 0 found this review helpful.

      Unfinished Thoughts 0

      The Unfinished Swan(PlayStation Network (PS3)) by 42manz on October 24, 2012

      There’s an emotional and poignant throughline in Giant Sparrow’s The Unfinished Swan. Whether this is coping with the loss of a mother, reconnecting with one’s father or an artist’s inability to finish his work, however, is never clear. The first reaction may be to say all three, as was clearly the intention, but the theme and plot in The Unfinished Swan feel incomplete, as do the play mechanics of the game. Perhaps this is the problem with putting the word “unfinished” in a game title. The game...

      0 out of 0 found this review helpful.
    ×

    Pick a List

    Close

    This edit will also create new pages on Giant Bomb for:

    Beware, you are proposing to add brand new pages to the wiki along with your edits. Make sure this is what you intended. This will likely increase the time it takes for your changes to go live.

    Comment and Save

    Until you earn 1000 points all your submissions need to be vetted by other Giant Bomb users. This process takes no more than a few hours and we'll send you an email once approved.