Review: A Tale of Paper – PS4

A Tale of Paper is an origami journey that will attempt to tug at your heartstrings. It can be successful there, but the rest of the game feels lacking in a platformer with some frustrating mechanics that can leave you fumbling in the dark
A Tale of Paper starts with a ball of light infusing a scrap of paper with life. That little scrap can run and jump, and you’ll need that to avoid the evil Roombas and other predators. The Roomba death animation is a harsh one.
As you explore, your paper pal will pick up ways to transform. The first one is a frog. It can only move by jumping, but that jump propels you higher than normal. You will gain two other forms and use them in conjunction to keep moving.
The environments are simple but not ugly. After starting at home, you’ll soar above the rooftops and delve into wet sewers. Each area has a hazard from deep water to the Roombas I mentioned. The sewers even have a chase scene with a giant spider. No matter where you are, the items and detail are sparse.

Getting to that next place can also range from easy to frustrating. The game frequently relies on jumps and walking across platforms. The jumping is OK, but not great. It’s also easy to slide off something. An early section of the game had me ascending a vertical room, and it was very annoying.
The worst part of the game is that it’s difficult to see where you are going. This is because parts of the level are too dark. There are areas you don’t realize are gaps until you fall or platforms you can jump to reach. There is no slider to change the brightness either. The other issue here is the camera. You can only change the perspective slightly. The camera can be in the way or not show you where you need to go until you venture out there and die.
The story is scarce and symbolic. It’s told through environmental clues, and the ending did manage to be sweet and briefly touching. There is another chunk of gameplay after the credits with more story, but it will probably take you less than two hours to complete everything.
A Tale of Paper is very short, but the foundation of a great game is here. I didn’t enjoy the platforming, and the dark areas of the world can be difficult to see. Even so, it’s not a bad game. It just needed a little more polish and some fleshing out to reach its potential.

A Tale of Paper PS4 Review

• 5.5/10
  Overall - Not Bad - 5.5/10

5.5/10

Summary

A Tale of Paper is a good effort marred by some annoying platforming and a camera that doesn’t show enough of where you are headed to avoid some deaths. The environments look decent, and the ending is genuinely sweet. However, the dark parts of the world are a little too dark, and there is no way to adjust it in the game. It’s not a bad game. It just needs a bit more polish.