Developer: Uprising Studios
Publisher: HandyGames, THQ Nordic
Platforms: PC, Mac
Tested on: PC
Scarf – Review
Here is Scarf, a game that feels a lot like puzzle platformers from the early PlayStation days. Looking at some footage of the game, it’s quite obviously an aesthetically pleasing game that involves old-school platforming behavior. What is behind the cool-looking world and the obvious mechanics though? Is this a game that has some depth to it, or is it just another random indie copy?
Story
The game tells us an abstract story about good and evil. This is a story about a goddess-like dragon creature who gets stripped of her life and skin. The “evil” people used parts of the goddess to claim some of her power to create whatever they wanted. The daughter dragon of the goddess-like creature has a plan though. She created her own creature and uses him (you, the player) as a tool to reclaim what was stolen from her mother. You do this by working together as a team. You run around and give the daughter dragon some power every now and then by collecting rare energy spheres you find on the ground, and in return, the creature gives you new abilities. Most of this is explained by little artifacts scattered around the world, as well as via short cutscenes.
Outside of the one mystery that slowly unravels itself, you’ll be stuck with a very abstract story and plot. This is further enhanced by the lack of conversations between the two main characters, as they are limited to making fairly simple gestures.
Graphics
Scarf has a lot of beautiful sights to behold. In every bit of land you set foot on, there’s a dreamy environment waiting for you. The game has a massive world full of light and beauty, where you might be underwater at one moment and in a desert at the other. While it’s all nicely crafted with a lot of attention to detail, the game also sometimes feels slightly unpolished. For example, when going from land into the water, a lot of clipping issues occur. There are quite a few of these small issues that require some polish, and this is not only so in the graphical department of the game. Sometimes the sound is slightly too loud, sometimes the graphics are very slightly breaking down, and sometimes the gameplay (controls) feel a bit clunky.
Sound
Most of Scarf is a joy to listen to. Next to the dreamy landscapes that stretch out before you, there’s very atmospheric, mostly calm music present in the background. It’s actually somewhat meditative. With a wide arrangement of instruments, mostly soft piano and flutes, combined with soft sound effects on i.e. the picking up of objects, the overall sound design fits the game quite well. There are also environmental sounds such as wind or water, which complement the game very well. Sadly, the “voice acting” of the main character seems somewhat off due to slightly different tonations of grunts and strains.
Gameplay
In a 3D platformer with puzzle elements such as Scarf, the controls, and how natural they feel, decide a lot. After all, you don’t want to feel frustrated because the game does not feel fair by i.e. messing up the physics in its main mechanics. This would make it hard to calculate how far to jump, or when to step off a moving platform. Luckily, most of the game does alright. The basics are there, and you can essentially play without too much frustration, though the occasional invisible wall or miscalculated jump will still happen.
One of the biggest points of critique is that, while it makes the game feels accessible for all ages, it’s also very easy. Sure, there was a time every now and then that we were slightly confused about what to do next, but overall the game is very straightforward and without real challenges. Aside from the simple platforming, the puzzles are not much of a challenge either. The game also has some collectibles that you can search for, but we see this a lot in games such as this. It feels like they tend to compensate easy gameplay with collectibles to stretch the game’s length or replayability. This is not what a game should be about. Then again, as we said, the game does feel accessible and is already a bit meditative in its atmosphere. So maybe this is just a casual platformer that everybody can play, especially if they barely game at all.
Conclusion
Scarf is a fairly alright platformer, presenting the player with a simple experience for all in a beautiful world. The game remains rather abstract in what’s going on, seemingly focussing more on being artsy, than a game with an intense story or challenging gameplay. If you want something meditative that does not really stress you out, this might be something for you. If you are looking for a challenge, this is probably not the game for you.
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