A narrative puzzle adventure that explores the lights and shadows of a distance relationship between folds of paper.
One of the keys to the notoriety of the indie market is the ability to explore emotions through original mechanics that do not proliferate in the most commercial titles. This is how the walking simulator began to stand out in the middle, with adventures that make exploration a narrative mechanism to develop a story, such as Gone Home or What Remains of Edith Finch. Also, we have titles that use other mechanics to wrap ourselves in a daily story narrated in a fantasy key, such as the construction and preservation of memories in The Gardens Between or the infatuation in Degrees of Separation. In this same key, A Lightning Rod launches this April 17 A Fold Apart, available for Windows PC, Apple Arcade, Nintendo Switch, PS4 and Xbox One.
The puzzle of a remote romance
Love is a theme with which a wide creative range is opened when creating a work that excites the player. In the case of Lightning Rod Games, his first film is a narrative adventure with puzzles in which we find a fairly common romantic situation: long-distance relationships; the fears and pitfalls facing a couple separated by miles that are difficult to cross. Defined as a studio that “creates entertainment that touches the hearts and minds of players of all ages, in addition to stimulating creative thinking,” Lightning Rod Games brings us a simple, original and highly sensitive title.
At A Fold Apart we have two protagonists whose color range transmits their personality and situation. In addition, we can choose the gender of each member of the couple, thus being able to build relationships between two men or between two women. And, although in the promotional material we see the orange girl with the young blue, we can also invert the genres of each role.
Thus, we witness the infatuation of two people and how they must temporarily separate because one of them (the bluish avatar) receives a vital project for his professional career. Throughout 6 chapters that complete a brief love story that will take between 4 and 5 hours, we will attend a romance narrated in a dreamlike key, but that we will feel very close.
An interactive illustration book
The perspective of A Fold Apart flees from both idealization and pessimism to place itself somewhere in between and realistic. It is not limited to portraying a relationship at a distance from the romanticization of daily calls and messages, nor does it fall into the easy topics of infidelity and consequent breakup. Our protagonist couple faces a challenge that those who have gone through a similar situation will identify, in which there are happy moments, but also fears, doubts and conflicts that will call into question the maxim of “Love can do everything”. All in all, the moral it conveys is positive and enhances the idea that maintaining a relationship is teamwork.
The world of A Fold Apart is the perfect framework for its main mechanics: interactive illustrated postcards, with two antagonistic paper worlds, protagonists made of paper and written text that accompanies the visual composition of each image. The reddish world is the rural setting where the couple met, full of trees in autumn and warm tones. On the other hand, the environment of the blue avatar is the industrialized city in cold and sober tones. Thus, we will travel through dreamlike landscapes where the scenarios are shaped according to the emotions our adventurers live, from hope to sadness, longing or desire. Even the pace at which we walk and facial and body expression will be affected by what our protagonists feel. The artistic section, thus, evokes the style of Pixar's 3D animation shorts, bridging quality distances, and manages to convey the proposed tenderness. Music, on the other hand, also accompanies every moment of the game: from the sweetness in the couple's most adorable moments and the darkest themes for the hardest moments.
The gameplay of A Fold Apart serves the narrative of the romance that the couple goes through. In each chapter two parts are interspersed: one in which we move forward while responding to the messages of our love, and another in which we must cross stages, climbing small obstacles until we reach the puzzle itself. Our avatar, on a sheet of paper, will aim to build a path or find the golden star that will take you to the next puzzle. Each riddle symbolizes one of our protagonist's thoughts, and we will have to fold the paper in different ways to alter the setting, modify the perspective and thus make it easier for each lover to reach their destination. Thus, we must fold the sides and / or corners, work with the reverse and rotate the position of the paper to achieve our goal. Each puzzle has a fair difficulty that tests the visual acuity of the player, and each one of the mechanics is presented gradually, bringing freshness and new elements in each phase. Thus, we have on one hand the heartbreaker posts that we must avoid, while in another phase we will have heart blocks to climb. In case of being stuck, we can resort to a system of clues in which the puzzle is solved step by step to the point that we decide. In addition, the game is saved at the beginning of each puzzle, so we have room to exit the game and rest the solution calmly.
A fleeting love
The localization to Spanish, except for very punctual failures, is very natural, and we will enjoy the realism with which the scenes of the couple have been written, in addition to the subtitles being appreciated with a generous font that does not become invasive. We will attend very daily moments such as being interested in the day of the other, the complicity of innocent jokes between lovers and erotic desire, although this last part is somewhat measured for reasons of focus on a family audience.
A Fold Apart, however, is a short game and can leave you wanting more. Of course, the brevity of a video game doesn't have to be an inconvenience. However, this title could benefit from an extra hour in which mechanics were further explored and the story between lovers could have been further enriched with an additional chapter. All in all, the most urgent fix that this title needs is to polish the technical flaws that we have seen in the last part and that impoverish the experience a little: sometimes, we have been blocked from controlling the character and have had to leave the game to be able to continue, and the precision of some movements with the folio is not refined.
But, although fleeting, the A Fold Apart experience leaves a good taste in your mouth. A magical tale that reflects the situation of many couples, as a portrait very faithful to reality and in a surreal setting that explores the lights and shadows of a relationship. And, as we get excited about our paper partner's storm of sentiment journey, we'll challenge our minds with exhilarating and witty puzzles.
This game has been analyzed in its version for Windows PC.
CONCLUSION
A Fold Apart is an example of how puzzles can be integrated into a beautiful narrative adventure. A love story at a distance, narrated through postcards and in an effective dreamlike setting, in which the player must fold and rotate each page to modify the perspective and ensure that the lovers reach their destination. With very ingenious puzzles that test visual acuity and a beautiful artistic section, we are faced with a beautiful and stimulating game that could benefit from a few extra hours more to give more space to the evolution of history and mechanics.
THE BEST
- A beautiful artistic section through interactive illustrated postcards.
- The narrative of a distance relationship in a daily and realistic key.
- Very ingenious, original and difficult difficulty puzzles.
WORST
- The technical failures of the last chapter.
- Its brevity leaves you wanting more.
Good
It meets the expectations of what is a good game, it has quality and does not have serious flaws, although it lacks elements that could have taken it to higher levels.
