Broken Age

 PlayStation 4
User Score
7.2

Mixed or average reviews- based on 211 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 117 out of 211
  2. Mixed: 65 out of 211
  3. Negative: 29 out of 211

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  1. wesker2012
    May 15, 2015
    5
    Broken Age starts off promising with gorgeous visuals and solid voice acting. The wildly imaginative areas introduced in the first act are beautifully creative. The characters you meet are quirky and mysterious. The gameplay starts pretty simple and typical of old school point and click games. The second act however is a total bore with hardly any new settings and characters. It alsoBroken Age starts off promising with gorgeous visuals and solid voice acting. The wildly imaginative areas introduced in the first act are beautifully creative. The characters you meet are quirky and mysterious. The gameplay starts pretty simple and typical of old school point and click games. The second act however is a total bore with hardly any new settings and characters. It also turns the original characters and areas into frustrating interactions. This is amplified tremendously with the ridiculous amount of backtracking required in the second act. After going back and forth between puzzles, there becomes little desire to even care about the overall goal or characters anymore. Also many of the puzzles in act 2 didn't make much sense and were a total clickfest. Its a real shame, because the creative artwork is gorgeous and the original concept seemed to have so much promise in the first act. It was especially refreshing to have such a cute and colorful world to interact with in contrast to all the mature and violent game worlds nowadays. The ending also was very abrupt and unsatisfying. Overall, the two parts felt very disjointed and the main plot/story suffered a lot in the end.… Expand
  2. drlowdon
    Sep 11, 2016
    5
    On the positive side Broken Age's hand drawn art style looks great, the story-line and characters are all pretty interesting and Double Fine's quirky sense of humour is on show throughout.

    Unfortunately as the game progresses it falls into the same traps that many of these puzzle orientated point and click games seem to fall into. The first act has a few issues but the second act was    On the positive side Broken Age's hand drawn art style looks great, the story-line and characters are all pretty interesting and Double Fine's quirky sense of humour is on show throughout.

    Unfortunately as the game progresses it falls into the same traps that many of these puzzle orientated point and click games seem to fall into. The first act has a few issues but the second act was full of obscures and it reached a point where the game started to become a bit of a chore to play to due constantly getting stuck and either just clicking on everything to see what works or even having to refer to online guides. This issue was amplified by all the constant back tracking required to find and/or use items you picked up elsewhere and you'll often have to just spend 30 seconds clicking back through previously traversed screens to get to where you need to be.

    A further issue for me was the conversations with the NPCs. These interactions where often fairly funny but there is no flow to the conversation and you simply have to just click on each of the options one by one to see if anything is said that will advance the story. To be honest there often seemed little point in even letting the player take any part in choosing what your character says.

    If you're someone who enjoys this genre, and can overlook the usual issues associated with it, then Broken Age will likely provide you with 8 hours or so hours entertainment. I personally found it equal parts fun and frustrating however.    … Expand
  3. Jimmydm90
    Nov 3, 2015
    6
    Broken Acts

    The art of the game is beautiful and there is solid voice work throughout. The writing is great, the worlds are extremely creative and the puzzles are pleasant enough in the first half... but it is at the mid-point that things take a turn for the worse. The second half of the game clearly feels like more of a rush job. There are very few new characters or locations in the    Broken Acts

    The art of the game is beautiful and there is solid voice work throughout. The writing is great, the worlds are extremely creative and the puzzles are pleasant enough in the first half... but it is at the mid-point that things take a turn for the worse.

    The second half of the game clearly feels like more of a rush job. There are very few new characters or locations in the second half. The assets are largely recycled. I can forgive all that because this a smaller game with a lower budget and I'm aware of the story behind its production.

    I have a much harder time forgiving the puzzles in the second half of the game. Most of them are so frustratingly convoluted and repetitive that it robbed me of any enjoyment I could have derived from the game's second half. The game went from a pleasant stroll to a mind numbing slog at the drop of an act break. The story also seems to take a bit of a nose dive in favor of the inane puzzles.

    I loved the characters in the first half but being forever trapped in a back and forth loop between these same NPCs again and again (as they regurgitated the same few lines of dialogue over and over) made me never want to hear their voices again.

    I really think releasing the first act and then allowing the second act to marinate in the criticism of the first, damaged the game as a whole. It's a shame because Double Fine has created a great world rife with (missed) opportunities.    … Expand
  4. SuperkenGaming
    May 4, 2015
    7
    Broken Age
    Great world, not so great game.
    Broken age is split up into 2 acts and 2 perspectives On one side you play as vella A spunky girl about to be honorably sacrificed by her village to a monster called mog chothra, but you have other plans Your sacrifice turns into a hunt to take the monster down. On the other side you play as shay A boy with over protective spaceship    Broken Age
    Great world, not so great game.
    Broken age is split up into 2 acts and 2 perspectives
    On one side you play as vella
    A spunky girl about to be honorably sacrificed by her village to a monster called mog chothra, but you have other plans
    Your sacrifice turns into a hunt to take the monster down.
    On the other side you play as shay
    A boy with over protective spaceship parents.
    Their goal is to keep you protected, but you come to realize that comfort and safety requires a sacrifice of itself, freedom.
    Shay repeats the same cycle day after day until hes fed up with it, ready to grow up.
    During the first act of the game you meet dozens of unique and charming characters.
    The characters and dialog are easily the highlight of this game, and the worlds seem almost magic and mysterious, sadly though the story, world, and characters are all this game really has to offer, and if im being completely honest.. I didn’t find the ultimate ending of act 2 to be worth the journey.
    Act 1 ends with a great cliff hanger, from that point forward I kind of fell out of love with the game and the adventure it was taking me on.
    Broken age is a very unique experience in the sense that it doesn’t really feel like you are in control, broken age feels in control.
    This is more of an interactive story than a game.
    When it comes down to it, you don’t do much in broken age but figure out ways to get around the obstacles thrown at you.
    Like other point and click adventure games, this done by listening to dialog and combining items, nothing really all too tricky.
    Broken age took me a little over 7 hours to see and do everything there is, and there are tons of cute and clever interactions to be found, but there is no reason to replay it, you have no control over the outcome, you have no influence in dialog, this game is really just, talk to everyone you see until the dialog options are exhausted and then find someone else to do this again, and then trade them what they want for what you want, nothing more.
    The second half of the game felt grindy to me and much less charming as no new characters are really introduced, while I did love the characters, I didn’t love them enough to want to keep seeing them over and over.
    Puzzles do get more challenging and clever here, but nothing that will have you searching guides for clues, all puzzles you can easily figure out on your own.
    I’m not the greatest with point and click games, but still found broken age to be a very casual and hilarious experience.
    This is some of the best writing I’ve ever seen in a game, I just wish there was more game here, something that required my input.
    Maybe point and clicks aren’t my thing, because oddly enough I still found this to be one of the best point and click games I’ve ever played, the pacing is really perfect.
    For what it is
    Point and Click Action Adventure: 8/10
    Overall: 7/10    … Expand
  5. JackKasket
    Oct 7, 2015
    6
    Not having to pay for a nostalgia trip? Great deal if you ask me, but I'm mostly just glad I waited for Broken Age to come on PSN+ than the actual game content.

    Alright, the gameplay and story are quite enjoyable, but the little something-something that made the Broken Swords, Day of Tentacles and Monkey Islands so great is just not there. The puzzles are ridiculously easy, and mostly    Not having to pay for a nostalgia trip? Great deal if you ask me, but I'm mostly just glad I waited for Broken Age to come on PSN+ than the actual game content.

    Alright, the gameplay and story are quite enjoyable, but the little something-something that made the Broken Swords, Day of Tentacles and Monkey Islands so great is just not there. The puzzles are ridiculously easy, and mostly you just end up franticly running between areas to gather and deliver the right items. Well, to be fair, there actually is very little puzzling in this game.

    I do enjoy the art and dialogue quite a bit, but as an adventure game, Broken Age just falls a little short. Double-entendre on the short, since that is what this game is.

    Get it free while you can.    … Expand
  6. Yerczeys
    Oct 14, 2016
    5
    This game certainly wasn't terrible, but it never grew even vaguely exciting for me. The characters weren't interesting, the atmosphere was whimsical and yet still boring, the plot was decent but never intriguing, and the puzzles were okay. Nothing great, nothing terrible. Well, maybe one big gripe. The puzzles near the end got old fast between the backtracking and the obscureThis game certainly wasn't terrible, but it never grew even vaguely exciting for me. The characters weren't interesting, the atmosphere was whimsical and yet still boring, the plot was decent but never intriguing, and the puzzles were okay. Nothing great, nothing terrible. Well, maybe one big gripe. The puzzles near the end got old fast between the backtracking and the obscure solutions. It really started bothering me when I had to flip back and forth between characters to find clues to the other's puzzles. Are they mentally linked or something? Found that downright upsetting. But in the end I did finish the game at least and I gave it a shrug before moving on to something more interesting.… Expand
  7. memus
    Apr 3, 2020
    7
    Double Fine being Double Fine. Beautiful art direction, good humor and pure creativity mixed with poor technical implementation, raw ideas and outdated gameplay.

    Pros: + Oh my, this watercolor art is mesmerizing. I don’t know how they made it, but it doesn’t feel digital. + I enjoy Tim Schafer’s sense of humor. It’s dark and kind and topical at the same time. He overuses wordplays    Double Fine being Double Fine. Beautiful art direction, good humor and pure creativity mixed with poor technical implementation, raw ideas and outdated gameplay.

    Pros:
    + Oh my, this watercolor art is mesmerizing. I don’t know how they made it, but it doesn’t feel digital.
    + I enjoy Tim Schafer’s sense of humor. It’s dark and kind and topical at the same time. He overuses wordplays (but I do the same). So tonally it’s perfect.
    + Voice acting is good in general. But Elija Wood is perfect as Shay. And Jack Black is welcome too, though he’s toned down here to fit into overall mellowness of the game (I want more of his eccentricity!). + If we started to talk about Jack Black, the subplot about the Cult of Lightness is the best part of the game. It’s funny. It’s smart. It’s very meta.
    + Solving some of the puzzles in Act 2 made me feel smart. Which was a feeling long forgotten in modern games which are very direct in their approach.

    Cons:
    - It’s a point-n-click adventure. And this genre died for a reason. This game has all genre problems: pixel hunting for missed objects, illogical puzzles and bad puzzle design in general (you will understand what I mean when you reach the knot one), monotonous backtracking through locations. Broken Age doesn’t propose any new gameplay mechanics and isn’t tested enough to avoid the old ones.
    - This genre is about puzzles. And puzzles are not great here. Act 1 is not a challenge whatsoever. But not in a feel-good ‘I’m making progress’ way, and more in a “there is no logic to what I’m doing, but let’s click here and see what happens”. Act 2 has more gameplay inside. But it’s very uneven. Some puzzles are nice. But others are undercooked (again, the knot one) or unnecessary convoluted. In the end, I referred to youtube 3 times to move forward, and each time it was not a disappointed “oh, why didn’t I think about that?“, but an angry “it’s just mean”.
    - Also, the studio made a questionable choice to make two puzzles the way that you’re need a peace of paper to solve them. At first, I felt annoyed and angry with. Cause it’s an outdated game design (especially after the shallow first act). In the end I appreciated it in the one puzzle (it’s more a nostalgia hit than good game design, but what works — works). But in the second puzzle I hated it. Because it wasn’t thinking in that case, just monotonous noting. And this old school puzzle design doesn’t fit the game world themes anyway. Common, it’s 2020 (ok 2015 at the original release). Be congruent, Tim!
    - As with any DB game this one is full of great ideas either executed poorly or dropped midway. Both story-wise, world-wise and gameplay-wise. The ”two worlds” mechanic is implemented poorly and un-evenly. The different towns feel like a pastiche not like a unified world. This technique worked in Psychonauts, because each level was in a new mind, but here there is no good reason for this. But it hurt the story the most. It tries to be very meta. But with no good internal storyline to support this. This game doesn’t have a hidden meaning or something. But it always nods that it does. And it gets old really fast and devalues all the stakes in the story.
    - And finally PS4 version is plagued by bugs. With some of them being unforgivable. Like not being able to see some of the items in your inventory because of the glitches above them or some lines of dialogue being muted. It feels like DF doesn’t care about its gamers at all. 5 years after release in such a small game some critical bugs are still not fixed. #facepalm    … Expand
  8. leventguller
    Oct 7, 2015
    7
    I like:
    The story
    The dialogues
    The characters
    Artwork and design

    I dislike:
    Puzzles which are not challenging

    I really want to see much more point-click adventure games and I think Broken Age is a very good business for Double Fine.
  9. Nel
    Jan 11, 2017
    7
    Fun art style engaging game semi puzzle game, that takes brings back some old school gaming, but with great visuals and funny dialog. The game is fairly short, but will keep you entertained during the playthrough
  10. surenm
    Sep 2, 2017
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game had tremendous potential but failed mostly because of the missing Act 3. The first act is great, the second sets up a lot but it's clear they just had to wrap up the game without every getting into the rest of the story of the Thrush and what they were hoping to achieve through their "rendering" process over hundreds (or maybe even thousands) of years. The ending leaves so much to be desired as well as the total fail with the robot pals and their wiring and patterns that seemed ancient to unveil some great mystery. I was certain when I found the music room on Alex's ship that I'd have to create a symphony of sounds using all the "pals" and that that pattern would unlock some sort of cosmic awakening that only a boy with a pure heart like Shay could find. Instead the music room is merely a distraction for Alex so Shay can use his grabber! Total waste!!!

    It's clear that music and shapes and weaving and math and ancient technology have a big role here, but I am guessing it was all abandoned to just finish up the ending in a super cheesy way without ever explaining any of the good story bits in the later first act and second act. It's really too bad. Instead Vella is just a one dimensional Jackie Brown style ass kicker hellbent on destroying everything and Shay's desire to capture her as explained by Merrick has no application whatsoever other than resulting in eventually destroying the mogs. Yet, no one ever dies! The whole game was too safe and hard G rated for babies. So much lost and wasted potential. Too big a vision to fit into a Kickstarter where this could have easily been a $10,000,000 game with a much larger story and a good 20 hours of game play. You need this time to really get into the science and technology / arts and humanities fusion leading up to the great cosmic / ancient cryptic / mystic / esoteric great achievement for all mankind the Thrush seem to be after that is foreshadowed everywhere in the game through the arts and patterns being cultivated and used to travel and create the cute robotic AI. A disappointment despite a fantastic Act 1, especially on Shay's side.    … Expand
  11. RuriGokou
    Aug 13, 2020
    5
    Act 1 starts off well. Interesting story and characters. Really like the artwork and the puzzles weren't so bad. Too bad act 2 just ruins all that.

    The story becomes a mess and it's the same areas just flipped this time. I was really hoping the story was going in one direction but it went in another which didn't make much sense to me. I didn't like how plot points are just info dumped    Act 1 starts off well. Interesting story and characters. Really like the artwork and the puzzles weren't so bad. Too bad act 2 just ruins all that.

    The story becomes a mess and it's the same areas just flipped this time. I was really hoping the story was going in one direction but it went in another which didn't make much sense to me. I didn't like how plot points are just info dumped onto you by certain characters. The puzzles in act 2 are tedious and close to impossible without a guide.

    Honestly the whole second act just feels like they got lazy. I believe originally act 1 and 2 were about a year a part? Even the ending isn't really an ending. Just a bunch of still pictures during the credits. This game just doesn't deliver. I cannot recommend it. Boy, I'm glad I wasn't a backer for this rubbish.    … Expand
  12. painava
    Mar 21, 2020
    6
    Broken Age is a pretty good point-and-click game however many of the puzzles are very frustrating and the game barely offers any hints at times. Going back and forth without any fast-travel is also tedious and gets boring fast. Good voice-actors and interesting story.

Awards & Rankings

47
#47 Best PS4 Game of 2015
89
#89 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2015
92
#92 Most Shared PS4 Game of 2015

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 21 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 21
  3. Negative: 0 out of 21
  1. Play UK
    Jun 1, 2015
    50
    Beneath the lavish art style and the high quality production..., Broken Age ends up feeling rather empty and desolate. [Issue#257, p.72]
  2. Playstation Official Magazine Australia
    May 26, 2015
    75
    It's not the second coming of adventure games, but Broken Age is still a memorable jaunt. [July 2015, p82]
  3. LaPS4
    May 11, 2015
    80
    Even with its flaws and a gameplay that could have been better, Broken Age shines thanks to its visuals and a superb dubbing, stating once again the love Tim Schafer and Double Fine implement in their games.
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