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Sights & Sounds
- Quick confession: I have a terrible eye candy addiction. If a visually interesting game manages to earn even a room temperature critical reception, it will wind up on my Steam wishlist and eventually in my library once it gets bundled or put on a deep sale
- Papetura was certainly one of those games for me. Just take a look at some screenshots. Hell, if you don't mind sparing 5 minutes, look up the "making of" video on YouTube. You'll see the amazing papercraft, origami, and papier mâché world that took its artist 6 years to put together. It's a truly impressive artpiece, and getting to explore all the hard work is truly a unique experience
- If you appreciate attention to detail in visual design, it's hard to think of a game that checks that box as emphatically as this one. Every crease, fold, and wrinkle was carefully added by a single extremely talented artist. And even though things like lighting were touched up in Unity, much of the background and ambient lighting is actually real. It's just not something you get to see in most games
- Being an artsy puzzle platformer, you already know that the soundtrack is a moody mix of piano, strings, and synth. It's a pleasant enough collection of tracks, but none of them stand out enough to serve as a highlight. Serviceable, but forgettable
Story & Vibes
- Being a bite-sized experience, Papetura's narrative doesn't have much time or space to develop. You start off as Pape, a small scrap of paper that's been imprisoned for reasons that aren't ever explained. I'll choose to believe it's something benign like drug possession or tax evasion and not something sinister like murder or a series of DWIs
- The plot kicks off not long after you manage to escape. A flaming monster suddenly appears, threatening to burn down the paper world. In the chaos surrounding its grand entrance, you wind up rescuing a small cat-shaped creature Tura. Together, you'll attempt to prevent your entire civilization from being turned into a pile of ashes
- The vibes are moody, yet magical. Sure, the story is pretty dire and the visuals are quite moody and monotone owing the dimly lit paper setting, but it's hard to not just be constantly in awe of the fact that you're playing your way through an artpiece
Playability & Replayability
- In terms of moment-to-moment gameplay, Papetura isn't going to show you anything unique. It's a side-scrolling puzzle platformer without difficult puzzles or challenging platforming. You mostly just utilize Tura's ability to fire projectiles from his mouth to solve physics-based puzzles. Think of Limbo, but with much simpler puzzles and a much less depressing tone
- There aren't any clever mechanics or gimmicks to play with here, so there's nothing at all to distinguish Papetura from any other puzzle platformer you may have tried in the past. It's a shame, too. As impressed as I am that the game (including the gorgeous handmade setting) was made by a single person, I feel like a collaborator or two could have helped develop and enhance the gameplay
- You don't actually need a gamepad to play this game; Papetura permits point-and-click movement, allowing you to complete it using only a mouse. This proves to be a double-edged sword. On one hand, it allows you to beat the game on virtually any platform (even mobile). On the other, Pape shuffles around the screen at a glacial pace
- Given that I 100%ed the game, I don't really feel the need to revisit it any time soon. I may look up screenshots from time to time, though. Despite not being much fun to play, it's quite memorable
Overall Impressions & Performance
- This is sort of a hard game to score. In terms of presentation, it's one of the most unique games I've ever played. The only other title that I can think of that took place within a self-contained physical medium like this is The Neverhood, an old point-and-click that I wish was on Steam but is at least available if you know where to look and have an environment that can emulate Windows '95. In terms of gameplay, though, Papetura is overwhelmingly mediocre, if not kinda bad. Not awful, but merely bad
- It ran well on the Steam Deck and played fine with the gamepad controls, but I highly encourage putting this on as large of a display as you can. Make it easier to appreciate all that visual splendor
Final Verdict
5.5/10. Looks aren't everything, but they aren't nothing either. In this case, they're just enough to elicit a tepid recommendation if you want to spend 1-2 hours experiencing a beautiful and fairly novel setting