and one that leaves you sighing Its over!?
I may leave little insights scattered throughout.
APaper Trail, if you will.
Lets talk about it.
Paper Trail stars Paige.
All those hours-long study sessions have paid off in more mundane ways, too.
One of the characters in her village is a lighthouse keeper called Winslow.
This is where the folding comes in.
you’re able to preview the reverse side of a screen at any time.
This is a world filled with what I can only describe as puzzle dungeons.
Like an effective dungeon in an atmospheric crawler, they feel both oppressive and endless.
I’d solve a puzzle.
I’d walk to the next screen.
Some puzzles you’re free to look at, intuit, and solve them before moving anything.
Sounds satisfying, but it just feels like going through the motions.
Because how can I stay angry at a game with this art?
Its not just the overall colour and cosiness, but the underlying detail.
Places feel ancient and delphic.
Crumbling tiles and carved reliefs.
Trees that sway static in implied motion.
The use of colour and lighting, too, is marvellous.
The spaces are accentuated further with likeable characters that spout funny lines in a sort of bloopy simlish.
I would have devoured a graphic novel of this stuff, just to hang out for a bit.
Theyre all monologues from Paige where the writing takes an odd tonal shift.
Its suddenly overly twee and like its trying too hard to coax feelings out of me.
Theres no real plot, either, just these flashbacks and monologues tying a disconnected journey together.
You also have to fold these sequences to progress them.
By your third of fourth cutscene, the paper folding stops being cute and becomes tedious.
Ive just solved ten million puzzles and Ive seen the trick already.
Let me rest the controller on my lap and watch a cutscene.
Lets just say its …no page turner!
Ive kept you in suspense long enough.
The difference, I think, between finishing part of a game that makes you think I did it!
Stupid for not appreciating the screens I did solve without too much trouble.
Stupid for not appreciating the complexity of the ones I struggled with.
Its very possible Im just not good at thinking in whatever specific lateral way the game wanted from me.
It would have been cheerier, and it would have saved me admitting how bad at it I was.
That feels dishonest though.
And honestly, I had a mostly miserable time with this.
But, as a great plumber once said, Its a-me (problem).
I didnt finish Paper Trail.
Not useful for anyone, really.
My opinion wasnt going to change, it was only going to get louder.
And now I feel great!
I did itandits over!
I apologise in advance for my runaway verbosity here but, in conclusion: art nice.
This review is based on a review build of the game provided by the developer.
