I think I want to like Fragile more than I actually do like it. But the game has an allure that keeps me coming back hoping that the game will get better as I go.
The allure comes mostly from the atmosphere that permeates every decrepit train station, dilapidated mall, and ramshackle theme park in Tokyo years after the world has ended. You play as Seto, a human survivor who embarks into the ruins to look for other survivors after his lone companion has died. The developers put a ton of time and thought into building a crumbled world to explore.
The world itself is disgusting and beautiful, as it has begun to fall into disrepair. The environments are detailed. The lighting effects from the flashlight are pretty cool. The game opens with a beautifully animated scene of Seto departing on his journey. I didn’t bother with trying the English voice tracks. I’ve lost almost all faith in English voice work (for games) and English translations. The Japanese voice tracks also add much more to the atmosphere.
Seto finds little mementos of people who passed away when the curtains closed, and those mementos hold a little piece of their memories and feelings. Seto can listen to what they had to say when he sits by a little camp fire that are also the save points. The game is somber and lonely which makes the player long as much as Seto to find other survivors.
The primary tool Seto uses is the flashlight. The game elegantly uses the IR sensor on the Wii remote to shine on object, environment and enemies. The flashlight is the most useful tool Seto has because it is almost always dark. Also, enemies can only be revealed by shining light on them. You’d think it’d be inadvisable for Seto to travel at night, but the I guess the game developers didn’t rely on the premise to serve the gameplay on this one. Kudos to them for that.
The gameplay has been one of the major complaints about the game. Many outlets criticize the combat system for being too simplistic. I don’t mind simple combat. In fact, I think the combat works just fine, but the game needs less of it. It’s a little disruptive to the exploration aspects of the game. Different weapons (random stuff he finds lying around) he can use alter the combat a little here and there, bit I think the only adjustments the combat really needs is a lock-on system and fewer enemies to fight.
My primary issue with the game is the lack of puzzle solving. Throughout the game, Seto is mostly moving from point A to point B and must find a key somewhere in between to open the door at point B to proceed. Having some more difficult puzzles to solve would incredibly enhance the atmosphere of the game. Not to mention give it some actual gameplay. For an exploration game, the areas to explore are usually pretty narrow. Also, the environments themselves, while nice to look at, are not good for much else. There is virtually nothing to interact with. Being able to do so would draw the player in even more.
The game has a bit of an identity crisis. I think the developers thought they needed some combat to get people to play the game, but really they just needed to go all-out with an exploration game. Making a post-apocalyptic puzzle game akin to the Myst and Riven games would be fantastic. I don’t mean to say that there is nothing worth experiencing in this game. The game does have tremendous ambiance. Running along the rails of a roller coaster is pretty awesome too.
No comments:
Post a Comment