Review

Developed by:Mimimi Productions Published by:Unity Games Genre(s):
  • Action Adventure
  • Platform:
  • PC
  • Sony
  • Cost:$19.99 ESRB Rating:RATING PENDING Players:1 Release date:May 12, 2014 Reviewed on:PC
    7.8

    The Last Tinker: City of Colors

    If you’ve read my hands on preview of The Last Tinker: City of Colors, you’d know that I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed playing it. The bottom line was that I wanted to play the full version upon its release. After getting my hands on a review copy of the game, I have to say that it’s exactly what I expected it to be!

    The Last Tinker: City of Colors is all about the multicolored inhabitants of Tinkerworld and the dynamic between them. For some reason, all the differently colored individuals have cut off all contact with one another and segregated themselves into districts where only one of each color resides. Our hero, a young Tinker named Koru, happens to live in the last place where all the colors are welcomed. That doesn’t mean that it its void of the escalating conflict though. Just that no one color has laid claim to it. That is till the Bleakness arrives. After a series of unfortunate events it is released upon Tinkerworld, sapping it of its color and turning people into lifeless statues. Koru, being the last Tinker, is the only one that can fight back.

    As Koru sets out on his adventure, we’re slowly introduced to the game’s mechanics. If you’ve ever played a 3D platforming adventure game like Banjo Kazooie then you’ll know what to expect. Koru will take on tasks given by different NPC’s in an effort to mask the game’s tutorials. This includes the combat system, how to interact with particular creatures to solve puzzles and traversal mechanics. There is a decent amount of hand holding but it isn’t terrible. And though things moved slowly at the start, it didn’t bother me too much as I was enjoying my time in this new world. Speaking of which, it’s also here where you learn about how things are created in Tinkerworld. Paper, glue, and color are the prerequisites for making everything, even the dialog boxes. When a NPC talks, their words pop up as crayon scribbled on cardboard cutouts – you can actually walk around them and see the back of the world bubble. Some of the characters you run into, namely the bleakness monsters take on a clay-like appearance. The result is an imaginative, papier-mâché, -cartoony-looking world full of charm.

    It is also here where we get a sense of how bad things have become for everyone. The red lizard-like creatures are hostile, often roaming around in gangs while the green turtle bunnies are afraid of their own shadows. They’ve gone so far as to seal up their district, laden it with booby traps and install an overzealous security system. The blue bear-like people are either depressed or extremely pessimistic. They don’t do much of anything anymore. Because of these characteristics, they are each cut off from one another. The problem is that each group is responsible for providing the materials needed to create new inhabitants, items, machines, you name it. They weren’t always like this though. Something happened to them that made them this way.

    Going back to the gameplay, players will have to go to each district and free them from the attacking blobs of bleakness. Usually that means solving a few puzzles before fighting a group of monsters. The combat is simplistic in that mashing the attack button will do combos; Koru will bounce from one enemy to the next in quick succession as he dispatches foes. Occasionally he’ll need to dodge a strong attack or flying projectile before going back on the offensive. Eventually, Koru will unlock different powers based on the spirits of color in each district. For instance, the red spirit allows Koru to do more damage to enemies and break shields with a powerful punch.

    While they do offer different ways of taking down baddies, they don’t really change up the flow of combat. This is most likely due to the fact that most encounters aren’t that challenging. There are some tough enemies introduced later game (like a character that can kill you with one shot), but nothing that would stop a seasoned gamer for too long. Aside from fighting, there are other uses for the spirits, including special abilities that affect the world around Koru when activated; the green spirit can freeze time, allowing you to jump across a collapsing bridge while the blue one makes you immune to the deadly globs of bleakness covering the environment. A number of puzzles require the use of these different abilities. Just like the enemy encounters though, they are never really that tough to solve. Don’t get me wrong, they don’t insult your intelligence but they won’t really challenge your mind either. This didn’t really bother me too much as the aim isn’t to be really difficult. It’s to provide a family friendly game and in that regard it succeeds.

    One thing that did bother me though was the automatic jumping mechanic. There are some neat platforming parts that would have offered up a decent amount of challenge by way of their design, had I been allowed to control he range and height of my jumps. The fact that all you have to do is run towards a platform and Koru will leap to the right spot takes away from it though. This could have been tempered with enemies assaulting you or by tricky-to-time jumps. Just anything that wouldn’t make it feel like you’re just going through the motions. This is a relatively minor complaint but it’s worth mentioning, especially if you were looking forward to traversing Tinkerworld like you would in other titles in this genre. This brings me to my other complaint in that there isn’t a real need to explore your surroundings. There are hidden paintbrushes that, once collected, will unlock various concept art and novelty functions (like big head mode). But other than that there aren’t any secrets to find, side quests to tackle, or loot to acquire. It’s a shame that it’s mainly a linear experience because the world it so inviting.

    What we have here is an imaginative way of telling a simplistic story. I say this to mean that the writers aren’t beating you over the head with plot. There’s no political angle or hidden messages; everything is clearly laid out using basic forms of storytelling. Yet, at the same time, the overall theme is rather endearing. In an effort not to be overly vague without spoiling everything, I sum up The Last Tinker to be about how we should cherish people’s differences. All of the colors are needed if Tinkerworld is to survive. In terms of gameplay, we have a game that focuses on delivering great family friendly fun. Young kids will enjoy watching you play while the older ones will enjoy adventuring with Koru. For those of us who loved playing older titles of this genre, it offers a nice change of pace. There’s nothing inherently bad about the gameplay and though it won’t outdo the Mario’s and Kazooie’s out there, it’s still worth our time!

    Gameplay:

    8

    Though The Last Tinker misses a few beats that make this genre great, it does offer up a good time.

    Graphics:

    10

    Visually the game stands out; the paper-like world is full of charm.

    Sound:

    7

    The music is nice and the sound effects sound as they should. There isn’t much of note though.

    Replay Value:

    6

    While I can see the younger crowd coming back for more, the older gamers may pass on a second playthrough.

    Final Score:

    7.8

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