If I had to give a bottom line with one complex sentence in regards to this game, I’d most likely say “despite the fact that the world is harmless most of the time, there won’t be a distinct lack of challenge in game, and the colors, the quality of the soundtrack and the artistry of it is rather pleasant”.

I have to add that the game will lack violence. This game can easily be recommended to younger children as well. It’s true that The Last Tinker: City of Colors is rather unusual – and for several reasons -, but I would not call it a bad game. I find it kind of… charming, really.

RGB!

The story takes the player to Tinkerworld’s City of Colors. There’s a chance that you’ll probably consider this an acid trip at first sight because of what you will see. TLT is literally filled to the brim with colors, but it’s kinda expected. For some reason, the game reminded me of both the shovelware Ninjabread Man (the less said about it, the better) and the work-in-progress Sunset Overdrive.

The hero will be none other than Koru. I immediately recognized Sun Wukong, the Monkey king in him the first time I got to see him. Hey, it seems like Dominik Abé was inspired by the fact that Enslaved also built onto Journey to the West. Koru might be small, but he can be a dangerous fighter (sometimes you will have to use your fists to progress), but he also has the knack to maneuver platforms without problems.

Koru and his little friend Tap lives on the outer skirts of the city. This remained the only area where the colors are all available. Peace and harmony reigns in this little land. However, the other areas ended up rivaling with each other. The red, green and blue colors (each having an emotion attached to it) all ended up as factions segregated from each other. Of course, it will be our task to bring them back together… 🙂

Platformer?

It’s hard to put The Last Tinker  into one genre. Why? It’s true, some of the segments will require Koru to navigate through gaps and such, but there won’t be challenge in it. Basically, you can just go forward while holding a single button. So The Last Tinker has the 3D platformer root, but not in a way as you would expect after say, 1996’s Super Mario 64. I wouldn’t call it an action game either, since you won’t have to fight all the time. Don’t let the seemingly basic early moves give you the false illusion, that the game does mix it up with the colors later on, and by then, you will have to learn to effectively dodge and counter. There are also parts when you have to sneak through the guards too, but this isn’t a sneaking game either.

So is this game a platformer after all? Seems like it: the classic collecting will be here too, but in two ways. You can get those diamonds hidden in lots of the boxes and drums, or get them by completing tasks. This will be the currency. The brushes will also be spread scarcely throughout areas, you should explore every single corner to find them. Don’t worry, if you end up dying: The Last Tinker doesn’t treat mistakes harshly. You’ll basically respawn not far from the “accident”, without any other penalties imposed on you. Same goes for checkpoints as well.

Yay, puzzles

The game’s strongest features are the puzzles. There will be several of these tasks – some of them might start out easily, only to end up making you scratch your head later on. I wouldn’t really go into details, but you can be sure that the puzzles will make up for the rest of the gameplay.

Abstract – you’ll either like it or not

The colorful world will split the gamers. There’s definitely going to be some who won’t like the design, while the others will dig what they see. But there’s more than meets the eye… I didn’t talk about the music and the voice acting yet. The music is really good! All 32 songs are composed so well that I can only congratulate. The audio is kind of strange though: you’ll only get random mumbles with subtitles. Is it a problem? It’s subjective.

Don’t miss it

Don’t let the rating deceive you. It’s only lower because it’s another underground game. Sure, it has good moments, but I don’t think that Mimimi’s game will be a success story regarding its sales. But if you’re after an artistic game, which isn’t violent and has bright colors you’ll find it in The Last Tinker. Technically speaking it also won’t push the PS4 to its very limits either.

-V-

 

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Editor:LOOT Entertainment
Developper:Mimimi Productions
Genres:Action, Platformer, 3D
Publication: 2014 August 19

 

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