GTA V is out. The world already went crazy in the past four games made by R*, but this last one was able to break all sales records and to become one of the games with the highest average scores on Metacritic with the astounding average of 98, paired at the top with its mentor and predecessor GTA IV.
If your name is Rockstar (who spent over 200 million dollars to develop GTA V, another record), certain results are the minimum target in order to avoid failure; if you are not Rockstar and you don’t have a similar capital to spend, but bravely come out in the same period of the monster eats money, then you really need some good arguments to be noticed by the users.
Puppeteer is the proud title which, by chance or luck, made his debut during the GTA fever. That said, some people had SCE Japan Studio‘s last effort under observation for almost a year and I am amongst them.
In a fairy-tale world, filled with magical creatures and spectral castles, we literally move Kutaro’s wires, a young boy who had the misfortune of hitting the cruel King Bear which, in an act of profound cruelty that is part of its evil plan of conquest, took away both the head and the soul of Kutaro, making it a lifeless puppet. But Kutaro is not alone, his destiny is not that of ending his days devoured by moths and with the help of a magical cat, Yin Yang, he acquires the power to use magic heads; this is where the adventure begins, and the goal is clear: to claim back what King Bear has stolen from him.
The gathering and collection of more than 60 heads is one of the cornerstones of Puppeteer’s experience. Every head is equipped with a unique power that can be activated to open shortcuts within levels or to gain access to bonus areas that each frame jealously hides. But where to get all of these heads? Many are gently delivered as the story progresses, others are gained by beating bosses or getting into specific plot points that require a particular type of head to continue, yet others will have to be literally dug out from the scenario with the interdiction of Yin Yang. The magical cat may, in fact, be controlled by the right analog, or Move if you play with a friend, and by pressing the R2 button our friend will reveal the secrets of the scenario invisible to our eyes.
The heads, finally, also represent our energy: we can carry up to three heads and whenever we are hit, we’ll be decapitated and the head lost will disappear if we fail to take it on time. It will be particularly difficult to lose a head during a normal session, also because the game is really generous with seconds available, but during the boss a few heads may fall. Clashes with these huge creatures are quite challenging if approached lightly, but they don’t represent a real obstacle after having understood the pattern of the few attacks and the right moment to attack them with our unique weapon: Calibrus, a huge pair of scissors which literally break up the enemies and scenery.
With the power of Calibrus, Kutaro can explore the levels in all directions thanks to the motor function of the scissors. When we begin to cut a delicate surface like fabric, we will be free to move 360° during the cutting operation: in terms of gameplay, this possibility has been well exploited by the level designers who have entered entire sections of “cutting motion”; a great excuse, especially when the scene change.
The real and great peculiarity of Puppeteer, the main reason for all the attention received in the recent months, is its setting, which has been crafted around the idea of a Japanese theater. The player becomes a real viewer, a spectator of the theater, but at the same time it is both the writer and the puppeteer, so his actions can directly affect the scene on the screen. In the shoes of Kutaro, perpetually forced into that window which is the stage, everything around us changes at wind’s speed; the result is a platform that lives in unbridled dynamism, with rapid changes in succession that lead us briefly from the courtyard of a castle to its highest tower.
The duty to pay for all this wonderful image of a fairy tale is a very low challenge level. It’s just required to be familiar with the controls of the game and be particularly careful on your way to get through the game without particular hassles: the first run, lasting about 10 hours, is like a pleasant walk along the ridge of a hill of poppies that once done, you won’t likely repeat.
It’s true, you can always get back in the saddle to look for the missing heads and secrets, but it is an activity that probably won’t be as exciting except for the trophy hunters who want to hang Kutaro’s head in their virtual living room.
The magic of Puppeteer originates not only in the way the world is presented with an innovative garment that no one had tried before, but especially thanks to the flawless execution that galvanizes the techniques utilized even more. The work of Japan Studio resembles a fairy tale in many ways, with that very special cut (cartoonish but at the same time ironic and dramatic) given to the protagonists, exaggerated both in form and in attitudes. I’m sure that you will be so delighted in playing Puppeteer that sometimes you might want to drop the DualShock 3 (or Move), prepare some popcorn and enjoy the view, without bothering with your crunch of food.
Puppeteer is a feast for the eyes with that awesome art design, but the sound is not left behind as well, because what would be a theater without an adequate orchestra that emphasizes the scene with its acute and its downs, its fast and slow rhythms that alternate as the restlessness of a moth? Even dubbing deserves our applause, with every character using an appropriate voice which proves useful to reveal reveal their mood.
With a new generation of consoles on the horizon, it feels almost tender to speak today of these ones that accompanied our gaming days for almost a decade. An inevitable fate in technology, where research and progress are two unstoppable monsters that grind silicon transistors to ultimately bring into our living rooms always the best and most advanced digital entertainment. But a new console does not necessarily mean the death of the previous one and indeed, Sony showed a great interest in fueling PlayStation 3 with awesome games despite the upcoming launch of PlayStation 4: games such as The Last of Us, Puppeteer, Beyond: Two Souls and Grand Turismo 6 might just make this the best year ever for the third home console produced by Sony.
Puppeteer will not be acclaimed as much as a “swan-song” type of game, but it will definitely keep a special place in the playroom of any avid gamer thanks to some delicious and exquisite work that has the power to make us go back to childhood, when we remained enchanted to observe any puppeteer juggle with knights, dragons and princesses.
After the game completion you are immediately aware of how the hours spent did not present significant obstacles, and how everything there was to see was actually seen, thus giving little reason to replay the game. Regardless, you’ll be smiling anyway.
