Image via Complex Original
If there’s one thing Media Molecule knows how to do, it’s produce sickeningly cute content. Sackboy became a definitive character of the PlayStation 3 not because he was a cool in any way, but because he was so gosh-darned cute that you couldn’t help but fall in love with him. With their new game, Tearaway, the British developer aims to repeat that magic for the PlayStation Vita with their new heroes Iota and Atoi who live in a beautifully realized papercraft world.
Unlike LittleBigPlanet, the game doesn’t feature much in the way of customization and centers around a more linear narrative as opposed to a collection of quirky levels built to showcase game design elements that could be used in your own creations, but by no means have they lost any of their trademark sweetness in the process.
Cataloguing the various moments that made me want to adopt Iota right then and there wasn’t an easy task, but for your reading pleasure I’ve managed to pick 10 elements of the game that could kill a diabetic with its saccharine content. Get ready to feel all warm and cuddly inside, here are the reasons why Tearaway may just be the cutest thing you’ll play this year.
Music That Makes You Smile
Music That Makes You Smile
LittleBigPlanet 2 had a pretty good soundtrack, winning tons of awards and nominations including a nomination for best audio from the Game Developer’s Choice Awards. Tearaway keeps this trend alive with what’s shaping up to be another critical and fan favourite.
In the recently released trailer for the “Sogport” section of the game, you can get a taste of what’s to come with a cheery/folky track that you can’t help but tap your toes to. The game’s got a lot of character already, but the soundtrack just adds a whole other dimension to its appeal.
It's All Touchy Feely
It's All Touchy Feely
When Media Molecule aimed to explain the gameplay of Tearaway, the term “touchy feely” came out of their mouths a great deal and rightfully so. The game eschews a majority of traditional input methods to make great use of the Vita’s various functionalities, giving it a much more tactile, hands-on sort of feel that’ll leave you feeling all giddy inside.
It’s one thing for a game to feel immersive, but most of the time this comes in the form of tricking the player into thinking they’re a part of the game world. Tearaway has no tricks up its sleeve; it fully recognizes that you’re an outsider playing a game. However, its willingness to let you dig your nails in (literally) makes it feel like it’s adopted you as one of its own and that level of acceptance brings all sorts of warm fuzzies.
A Papercraft World
A Papercraft World
LittleBigPlanet won a lot of folks over with its use of real-world textures, familiar patterns, and appropriated elements of the real-world for its aesthetic. Tearaway has taken a page (oh, pun!) from the LBP book by adopting an entirely paper aesthetic that’s simultaneously fresh and cute as heck.
With lots of bright colors, simple geometric shapes, and folding textured elements will have you feeling like you’re back in kindergarten with your safety scissors and construction paper. It’s got a dash of origami and maybe a slap of Popsicle stick puppets, but the arts and crafts theme is definitely alive in Media Molecule’s latest.
Rolly Polly Protagonist
Rolly Polly Protagonist
Manoeuvring around the world of Tearaway brings plenty of challenges and sights, but one of the modes of transportation available to the player is having their little friend curl up into a ball and roll all over the place like a cutesy version of Sonic the Hedgehog. Watching your paper pal curl up and tuck away into nooks and crannies calls back memories of Metroid, but the animation is a hundred fold more adorable.
Part of what makes it so cute to watch is the fact that rolling is tied to the same button as jumping, meaning that when you want to access ball-mode, there’s a little bitty hop right before Atoi or Iota crumple themselves up and roll to your bidding. It’s such a small animation detail, but it’s the little things in a game like Tearaway that really make it magical.
Catch Me If You Can
Catch Me If You Can
Being such small little things, Atoi and Iota don’t really have too much in their arsenal to defend them from the harsh world. Wendigos, ancient beasts of fable, are the biggest of Tearaway’s threats and without any ability to fight back it’s up to you to guide your wafer-thin friend to safety through Benny Hill style run-abouts as the Wendigos chase you up and around obstacles, doing their best to catch up.
When aversion simply isn’t an option, you’ll have to lure the Wendigos into traps either through luring them with deliberate pathing or through baiting them with pearls (their favourite food). The adorableness of this process is amplified when you finally do manage to snare one and the cage bursts forth from the ground, wrapping the grumpy aggressors in a tidy little present with a bow.
Save The Whales!
Save The Whales!
You may not think of environmentalism as inherently adorable, but at the core of it is an earnest sense of caring and caring sure is nice. In the “Sogport” level we were shown during the preview, we caught a glimpse of the narrative behind the stage that included a small message for those playing it.
The town of Sogport is actually a little island, surrounded by an ocean of thick glue. As the residence of Sogport tore pieces of their paper home up to craft various things they wanted, they’ve invariably shrunken the landmass down a great deal, possibly never to be repaired. If that doesn’t make you want to go hug a tree, I don’t know what will.
Great, Goofy Gophers
Great, Goofy Gophers
Like most adventure games, Tearaway has a few collectables for players to find. Unlike most though, these aren’t simple coins or stars or anything, they’re happy little presents that unfurl when you hop on them. While opening gifts naturally has a childlike appeal to it, the contents of Tearaways little rewards make it even more silly and fun.
It’s uncertain whether this is going to be true for all of the levels in the game, but when I found one of these cheery boxes, opening it unleashed a miniature cube-like gopher that ran around the map as gophers are want to. Maybe this one’s an entirely personal fixation, but c’mon, how can you not like gophers?
Better Than Trophies
Better Than Trophies
People like achievements, but they’re inherently valueless due to their intangibility. No matter how many you unlock or how many games you achieve 100% completion in, you’ll never be able to physically hold and appreciate a memento of your time spent with a game. Tearaway aims to change this by allowing players to earn and print out special patterns for a build-your-own papercraft experience.
At the event held in Los Angeles, we got a glimpse at a few examples of what the game will offer including an elk the size of a small cat and a wearable mask featuring the likeness of the game’s wendigo monsters. This form of reward adds some uncommon physicality to the rewards, plus they look like a great deal of fun to build.
Best Buds Forever
Best Buds Forever
One of the most unique aspect of Tearaway is that despite being billed as a “light-hearted buddy adventure” the protagonist’s companion is not another in-game character. Rather, the friend guiding Atoi or Iota through their adventure is you! Yes, you holding the vita; you playing the game; you reading this right now!
The game doesn’t merely cast you as some distant, omnipotent force that guides the hero, but rather a friend of the hero to whom you have a special bond. The game is aiming to deliver more than just a likable character; it wants to deliver you a friend.
Discovering What's Inside You
Discovering What's Inside You
The core premise of Tearaway is that the main character is actually a little animated letter with a message within that it wants to share with you. The entire adventure is a typical coming of age story, but it’s made all the more potent by the fact that neither the player, nor their little papercraft hero knows exactly what the message is until the end of the game.
What makes this particularly adorable is that the uncertainty of knowing exactly what’s inside you – what you’re made of – reeks of the childhood innocence that’s key to this kind of story, but rarely so poignantly expressed. By making it hyper-literal with a message definitively unveiled from within Atoi or Iota, there’s a really good chance that we might see some amazing child-to-adult character growth without the usual overwrought exposition.