Tearaway Unfolded

On paper, Tearaway Unfolded seems like - oh god is that how I'm starting this? No, I'm not - just no.

I always love when games focus on being creative. Anyone could make another boring old shooter, but making something stand out takes talent. When done well, this approach can show just how clever developers and even players can be. I think some creativity-focused games are among the best for showing what this medium can do and what makes it unique.

That's why Tearaway stuck out in my mind when I had some extra cash to spend on the Playstation Store. Developed by Media Molecule, Tearaway has a papercraft art style where everything in the world is made out of construction paper and other arts and crafts stuff. The look of the game is very cute, and I think they totally nailed it. Everything looks like it was hand-crafted with love, and every animation is adorably appropriate. Little effects like the peeling paper to represent flowing water and confetti pieces blowing in the wind add even further to the charm. I can't imagine how much work went into rendering these environments, especially considering how customization works in the game and the game's variety.

Having a look is one thing, but Tearaway goes the extra mile by having the player feel like a part of making the world. At any point, you can click the right stick and customize your guy. There are an overwhelming amount of prefabricated items you can use, from face pieces to decorations. These can be stamped anywhere on your character.

If that wasn't enough, you can create whatever you want with the crafting feature. What this amounts to is sketching shapes with the touchpad and forming an image which you can then stamp anywhere. The process isn't perfect, but I'll get to that later.

Customization is doubly implemented in the game world itself, which was the source of a lot of surprise joy every time it happened. Characters will frequently ask you to customize something for them, whether that's drawing a logo for the research lab, an inspiring war symbol, or a nice had. My interpretations of these prompts can be seen above. You might also be asked to customize the character themselves, for which you have the same options you have for your own guy.

The best part of that is how the game continuously puts your work into the world. The crown you make early on will reappear throughout the game. Sonic showed up on tv screens for the whole level. Stamps you used to mess up characters will persist when they reappear later. The game is always reminding you of your own creations. This truly makes the player feel like they are creatively contributing to the world. It's a perfect way to express the theme and central conceit of the game.

So, you have an art style like Yoshi's Wooly World with drawing mechanics reminiscent of Drawn to Life. Seems like a great recipe. The biggest tragedy of Tearaway is how the central gameplay is executed, and it makes me question who the game is for. When not creating, Tearaway is a fairly simple 3D platformer. This should be fine, but unfortunately the "standard Video Game stuff" obviously took a backseat to what the team really wanted to focus on, and excelled at.

For starters, the platforming in this game is loose and cumbersome. Jumping is inconsistent: it feels like the same jump can make you land on a platform or fall seemingly at random. From what I can tell there's no drop shadow, further adding to the confusion. One mechanic involves walking on walls, which is extremely unreliable. The game keeps pushing you off when you get anywhere near the edge of the walkable surface. Checkpoints are erratic in their placement. There are also fairly frequent combat encounters with groups of enemies called scraps. Out of all the creative constructions in the game, I found scraps to be uninspired and boring. This is a shame, since the few varieties of scraps are the only enemies.

The vast majority of the game mechanics are tied to some function of the Dualshock 4. It makes use of every pointless bell and whistle on that thing, in the process making the game even more frustrating. This includes moving the light bar to guide things, swiping the touchpad to make wind and throw objects, and rotating the controller to move platforms. When the already poor platforming is combined with the awkward hand convulsions needed to activate these mechanics, frustration follows. Even customizing is made more difficult than it needs to, requiring motion controls that make picking up and moving pieces unresponsive at times.

There are also some side quests in the levels, which can range from quick and painless to... just the worst. Many will just ask you to briefly customize something. However, there's also the Displaced Gopher. He's the worst. You need to take him from his start to his house, but if you die you have to start again. By which I mean reload the level and sit through the loading screen. Getting through even the easiest gopher quest was a tremendous pain, and the reward is confetti pieces that quickly become meaningless. As I reached the end of the game, I outright avoided side quests because they just weren't worth the effort.

I have to wonder if my issues with this game would be so pronounced had I known what to expect. When I picked the game up, I expected a quick experience under ten hours. Lo and behold, the place I thought the game would end was in fact only a third through. In fact, I can count at least four times the game telegraphed an ending, only to yank it away with a "gotcha!". Each time this happened, I was dreading the prolonged frustration rather than anticipating the extended opportunities to create. I can only see this as a failure on the developers' part. If they had clearly telegraphed the length of the game upfront, I might feel less annoyed. I don't know how much was added to the original Vita version, but in any case the problems only compound with time.

Which brings me to questioning who this game was for. The art style and delightful story suggest it's a children's game, but I have to imagine young kids getting even more annoyed than me at the platforming. So I have to assume it's meant for parents to play with their kids, and handing the controller over to create, but that isn't really suited to the original Vita. Either way, the real magic of Tearaway is seeing the joy of creation, both from the developers and the players. This being the case, I'm now very curious to see more of Dreams, which looks like it's taking this mantra to a whole new level. If it ditches the annoying drawbacks of Tearaway, there's potential for a modern creative classic.