A Fold Apart Review (PS4)

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key review info
  • Game: A Fold Apart
  • Platform: Playstation 4
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  • Reviewed on:
A Fold Apart key art

Indie games have an important advantage over big AAA titles: while the later focus mainly on epic themes and big time, big-scale narrative, the former can tell intimate stories, much smaller in scope. Such is the case of A Fold Apart which tells a very personal tale about human relationships, to which most of us can relate.

Everything starts with the eternal dance which defines all the species on the planet: boy meets girl, they fall in love and they start to plan their future together. Being the 21st century now the story of the game can be "girl meets girl" or "boy meets boy," the game covering all these options. After choosing the preferred couple the game presents its core thematic challenge: one of the lovebirds accepts a job in the big city and has to move there for a year putting an immense strain on the relationship.

These are the premises of a game which during its approximatively 3 hours length tries to cover both sides of this coin, presenting how difficult it is for both partners involved in a long-distance relationship. Despite all the modern communication technology, being apart can be really hard and even the most innocent and well-meant messages can sting the other.

A Fold Apart
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This is where the player gets involved: in certain situations he has to choose the words the lovers will send one another and he will have to guide them through the emotional aftermath of these messages. While the first action is more of a flavor element that does not really affect in any significant way the gameplay, guiding your heroes through their doubts proves to be a challenging puzzle.

The story is short and happy end is guaranteed, A Fold Apart emphasizing mainly the road taken from the 1st happy moments to the final embrace. The story while charming, is pretty simple and straightforward, the highlight of the game being the puzzles that require you to fold the images shown on screen so your heroes can find their way forward. At the beginning simple and easy, these puzzles become more and more challenging, the designers including gradually new ways of interacting with the image on the screen.

At first it will be enough to fold it to create a path, but later on you will need to twist it, tilt, fold it, twist it and fold it again so your characters can progress. Think of it as an origami challenge, which becomes more and more elaborate, but instead of forming animal or plant shapes, you have to fold the paper screens to continue to the next scene. At one part you will have even move some blocks and take into account gravity.

The game is ideal for all audiences, young and adult as well, since the creators of A Fold Apart were more than generous with hints. Practically, if you are very bad with puzzles you can finish the game as an interactive novel because the hint system can solve all the puzzles for you on the fly. Those who prefer to wreck their brains will find it possible, especially on the final levels where out of the box thinking is mandatory. Next to the hint system there is also an undo system that allows you to rectify the mistake of a bad fold, but later on, when gravity is involved the only way of correcting some errors is retrying the puzzle from the beginning.

A Fold Apart
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Length is the biggest shortcoming of A Fold Apart. Once you figured out the puzzles there is no reason to come back: the story while cute is not extraordinary, and once solved you don’t really want to repeat a certain puzzle. It is a shame that there is no replay value at all, since the characters are as cute as the story, and the visual style complements the game.

A Fold Apart is colorful and the paper cut-outs making up each puzzle scene confer a unique and easy to recognize visual identity. The sound design is nice and manages to convey the different emotions the heroes are going through. The control works fine in general, with small inaccuracies in some cases.

A Fold Apart
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The Good

  • Original puzzle concept
  • A story and characters full of heart and soul
  • A remarkable balance between story and gameplay

The Bad

  • Way too short
  • No replay value
  • Lack of depth makes it easy to forget

Conclusion

A Fold Apart is an indie game with heart and soul, which ingeniously tells a human story. Alternating the perspectives of the two characters conveys the intention of the producers of presenting the hardships of both parties involved in a long-distance relationship. Of course, the scenario dreamt up by the developers is an idyllic one, which assumes both persons have only the best intentions.

Unfortunately, taking into account the length of the game, and the lack of any replayability even the low price is too much for this indie game. Maybe an online coop would have justified it, but as it is A Fold Apart is a tremendous creative exercise, but way too short to offer a lasting experience.

story 7
gameplay 6
concept 7
graphics 7
audio 6
multiplayer 0
final rating 6
Editor's review
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A Fold Apart screenshots (32 Images)

A Fold Apart key art
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