Lets gets the main comparison out of the way straight from the off, Yes, TULPA does have that ‘Limbo’ feel to things. Aesthetically its a 2D side scrolling platformer, with puzzles, with standard back and forth gameplay, jumping, pushing, pulling elements, yet what differs TULPA from the likes of our main comparison here, Limbo, is that you have to control two characters to complete yourLets gets the main comparison out of the way straight from the off, Yes, TULPA does have that ‘Limbo’ feel to things. Aesthetically its a 2D side scrolling platformer, with puzzles, with standard back and forth gameplay, jumping, pushing, pulling elements, yet what differs TULPA from the likes of our main comparison here, Limbo, is that you have to control two characters to complete your journey. First, our main character is Ophelia, who, if she gets too upset over certain situations, she will ‘Shatter’ (die), to the point you need to try again, and after the first few puzzles, we also play as Oliver, who is there to help Ophelia on her way, and can help in a manner of different ways, but safe to say, throughout, Oliver is a bit dead on his feet.
Graphically TULPA has simple yet bold colours, from pitch blacks to cold blues and bright whites to stunning yellows. Backgrounds and the puzzle environments change throughout as you get to the next section, blue changing to a daunting purple, or piercing green to blood red. The game has a fixed camera angle,. and it is just you looking at the blacks and whites of the world as you traverse through here, and it does give TULPA a unique look, but as you look closer at times it can also look a little basic. TULPA is a standard 2D affair, and our playable characters are mostly a contrast in colour to our playing field, so its easy for you to see Oliver and Ophelia and work out where you are as you go along.
The puzzles vary in difficulty with some being down right easy, to some being beyond confusing. The likes of the first puzzle, where you are told a little about Ophelia that if she gets upset, there will be consequences (as in you die and to try again), is nothing hard at all, but as no gameplay dynamics are shown, its more down to the fact you don’t actually know what you’re suppose to be doing, but as it turned out it was a simple walk, back, walk, wait, proceed type of puzzle. Other puzzles are of the same, and when they use the background and the environments the puzzles can look really nice, for example the peacock, dream catchers, or one eyed person, and make aspects interesting and fun to look at and work out, but then you get some that in terms of difficulty or explanation race up massively, for example the lithographic puzzle or apple puzzle, which could end up the player just clicking on various objects until something moved or changed on the screen. Puzzles are the main bread and butter of the gameplay experience, and its by far not terrible, but also in terms of quality and differences in completion of puzzles its not up there with the best. The way around to completion of puzzles are all unique and interesting, but there is not enough substance here. Also when you look at the puzzles in numbers, there is only around 10 main story progression puzzles to work out, so its not a massive story that will have you coming back for more, or have you in this dreamlike world for very long.
At the start of the game, the first character you control is Ophelia, you have the basic controls of move forward, move back, jump, and pull. We start off with her walking through a house, where someone’s body looks to be hung up on a wall, with red markings or rituals on the wall, and candles lit around the room, and then you come to more bodies on the floor or hanging by nooses from bridges. We are then introduced to our second playable character Oliver, who from what we can tells seems to be a ghost like person, and along with Ophelia, its down to you both to work your way through the puzzles and find out what has really happened two these ‘Two Unique Lovers Pulled Apart’ (TULPA) (OK so that’s not what TULPA means, but something along those lines, well I like).
Oliver can fly around the screen, and complete actions that Ophelia can not reach or pass, for example moving blocks, or pulling levers, and then as Ophelia you just proceed along this path throughout this journey. Another gameplay element, as previously mentioned, when Ophelia gets upset, this causes her to shatter, which is also classed as her sanity, so when controlling Oliver, you need to remember not to stray too far from Ophelia, as you both will get too upset from being apart, and both shatter, to make you restart that section. Its can be annoying in terms or restricting you to play a certain way (as you move with Oliver, Ophelia automatically follows you, and the same if controlling Ophelia) but it keeps the gameplay tight, and allows the creators of the game to make you focused on one area at a time, and makes you as the player also think about two characters when controlling one.
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