Developer: Swordtales
Publisher: Versus Evil
Platform: PC
Tested on: PC
Toren – Review
Games are sometimes seen as shallow ways to waste time. This isn’t true of course, but some games have a story with a deeper meaning. Toren is one of these and will take you on an emotional rollercoaster. Be ready to climb to higher areas and face some memories.
Story
We begin our journey with a small cinematic, giving us a bit of detail what happened in the past but next to that, it gives us loads of questions as well. Why is there a big dragon on the roof of a big tower? Why is it so violent? Who is the woman that is fighting it? For what reason are they clashing?
There are loads and loads more question marks that rise, but the end of the cinematic is quite drastic. The woman gets petrified and is doomed for the rest of her life. As a final act, she stretches out her arm and holds out a piece of paper, made out of thin papyrus. It is not certain how much time has passed or if time is even ticking for that matter. Due to a combination of circumstances, the paper roll gets loose of the statue and travels downwards, into the tower. This is where it all begins.
You can see a baby, lying on the floor, covered in blood. With the touch of the papyrus on her skin, she suddenly grows and becomes a toddler. Small children like a lot of things and you need to chase a bird. Crawling and stumbling all over the place, you reach your goal but by doing that, you trigger another growing spurt.
This is the moment that you meet a mage and then your purpose in life is explained … a bit. It is your task to climb the tower, regain lost memories, find out the history of the structure called ‘Toren’ and do what others could not.
The story is the biggest asset the game has to offer, since it will take you on a journey to find the truth and to face certain memories. This is beautifully visualized and will get your emotions all pumped up.
Graphics
Graphically the game is a mixture of good and bad elements. Overall, the quality is quite good and the 3D effects are ok, but there are some downsides as well. The environment is made in certain gloomy colour tones and gives you a more depressed or emotional feeling. The state of the tower is something that emphasizes this mood, as a lot of the former glory is lost. Getting this feeling just by looking at the surroundings is great, there are some elements that seem quite flat or really not that well animated. Some areas look like good textured you’re playing an old fashioned Nintendo 64 title. Another remark is that some of the details pop on your screen when you get closer, which ruins the mood a bit.
The character herself stands out with her skin tone and the bright colours of her attire. Although she seems qualitatively fine when she stands still, certain movements aren’t that fluent and feel quite stiff. The same can be said about the facial expressions. At certain times, these are great and really play with your emotions. Most of the times though, the expression feel unrealistic and takes down a lot of the credibility.
Sound
Where the graphics fail, the music makes up for it. It has to be said, the music is superb and takes you on an emotional rollercoaster. The underlying tone just fits the overall setting of the game. The ‘memory’ parts have their specific music as well, making sure you are sucked into the emotion that area represents.
Next to the tracks, there are sound effects implemented as well. You will hear your main character grunt when she climbs on parts of the tower or hear her scream when she almost falls down. The dragon has his or her own set of sounds and they are actually really well done, since it gives you an authentic feeling (when this isn’t actually possible since dragons aren’t real).
Gameplay
Although you need to climb the tower, you will need to overcome obstacles and find solutions for certain problems. These will be the only things you actually have to do, which means that the story is the most important part.
It has to be said, the puzzles aren’t that challenging and are actually quite easy. You need to find a way to the top and there aren’t any hints, although you can use a neat function: the game turns the angle of your camera to your goal. This might not seem much, but can be handy at certain times. Another cool feature is that there you can advance in the story without finding everything. For example, you don’t need to find every memory to be able to complete the story. This takes us to the next point: you can play the game several times in order to find all the memories.
The developers advise you to play Toren with a controller. Even though you can use your keyboard and/or mouse, it is better if you listen to the advice and connect a controller. Overall, the moments of our main character are fluent, although she doesn’t always respond the way you want to. Sometimes it seems like there is a bit of delay and she reacts on your movements when it’s already too late. The same goes for jumping and will make you grumble at times. You can also interact with certain elements in the game and is marked by an exclamation mark.
Conclusion
Toren is a game with its story as its biggest asset. The graphics have both good and bad points but the sound makes up for that. Next to that, the gameplay is quite easy and though you’ll be busy for a few hours, it might leave you unsatisfied. You can also go for a second spin and take your time to find every aspect the game has to offer. If you like games with a deep meaning and an intuitive gameplay, Toren might be something you can try.
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