The Last Tinker: City of Colors Playstation 4 Review
The Intro:
The first thing you might find yourself thinking when you start playing The Last Tinker: City of Colors is “I’ve seen that before.” This game is a collection of gameplay mechanics taken from various other platforming games, and unfortunately, none of those mechanics are executed particularly well here. The game looks great at first sight, and is full of bright colors and good-looking landscapes. But once you actually start moving around the world, you’ll find that the cracks begin to show. The framerate isn’t always up to par and you begin to see a few glitches in the map. The game features a decent storyline and some good looking environments, but the total package doesn’t amount to much because of the unimaginative puzzles and decidedly average combat.
As mentioned before, you’ll have more than the occasional burst of nostalgia as you make your way through City of Colors. It draws inspiration from various hit platforming games from years gone by, filling its world with bubbly characters and cute voices. The protagonist looks like a hodgepodge of several fan favorite characters from platforming games. There are plenty of boxes to punch too, so that’s another box you can tick.
What I didn’t Like:
When platforming games first made the leap from 2D to 3D, the transition wasn’t very smooth. Eventually, developers figured out the magic formula and managed to create gaming experiences which retained the charm and challenge of their 2D brethren, while taking advantage of more powerful consoles and technology. As a result, gamers were treated to classics like Super Mario 64 and Donkey Kong 64. The Last Tinker transparently attempts to recreate the magic of these retro video games, but it doesn’t have the substance to seal the deal.
The Game Play:
You don’t really have to jump forward and grab a ledge by judging the distance perfectly, as you might have had to in some other games. Instead, there is an automated mechanism that allows you to cross platforms like these simply by holding down the forward button. You need to time your movements, because some elements of the environment disappear if you’re too late. But there’s not really that much of a challenge associated with these tasks in general. You can swing from vine to vine, traversing canyons in a smooth motion, and it all looks good, but it’s very artificial. There isn’t anything that can bring you the excitement of judging the distance between two platforms perfectly, landing on the very last inch of a platform and continue your journey, knowing that you were a hair’s breadth away from your death.
The little fighting that is present in the game is similarly uninspired. There aren’t too many challenging enemies you will run into, and the ones that you do face can be disposed of by pure button mashing. There are a few combos, unlockable abilities and upgrades you can look into, but they don’t make too much of a difference to the combat overall.
Our hero also has another weapon in his arsenal other than his fists. You can unleash an ability that causes your enemies to freeze in sheer terror, leaving them immobilized for a short period of time, during which you can make quick work of them. In the greatest moments of combat, you can string together hits, dashing from enemy to enemy, a la the Arkham series of games. Unfortunately, even these brief moments of fun are often marred by framerate drops. The framerate issues are a serious problem in this game. While you can understand the occasional glitch in moments where there are lots of enemies or frantic action on the screen, there is no excuse for the framerate dropping when you are quietly walking around.
When the framerate isn’t bringing your enjoyment level down drastically, The Last Tinker does have quite a few good-looking visuals. The environments in different districts are delightfully unique and have their own specific color scheme and visual palette that lends them a lot of character. The story touches upon the different districts being divided due to their color, mirroring our real world. The world of the game was once bustling with activity, but has been stifled greatly due to an evil that has swept across the land. It is up to Koru, the protagonist, to visit the different districts and convince their leaders to come together and fight as one against this evil that threatens them all.
There are quite a few likeable moments in The Last Tinker. It isn’t the cleverest or the most innovative game, but it has a cute charm to it. The game as a whole, however, never manages to rise above mediocrity. The puzzles you face during your journey feel like obligatory entries and are lazily designed. It almost feels like the designers realized that the formula for platforming games needed puzzles to be a part of the game, and then added them as an afterthought.
The Conclusion:
The Last Tinker: City of Colors is a visually appealing game that doesn’t really provide too much in the way of actual gameplay. The puzzles are uninspired, the combat is generic, and the platforming lacks charm or challenge. The different districts you will visit as a part of the story look great, but that’s about all you can really say about this game. If you’re looking for platformers on the PS4, there are literally dozens of better options available, as The Old School Game Vault has reviewed.
Game Score: 4.5 Out Of 10