Hirogami

Hirogami may be a bit shallow in its combat and slightly repetitive in platforming, but its beautiful aesthetics and imaginative character transformations more than make up for these shortcomings.

Hirogami is a game that enchants with its concept and art direction, but on the other hand, it struggles with the execution of some of its key mechanics. Hiro's transformations are detailed and work very well, encouraging exploration. However, its weak story and truncated, slow-flowing combat leave something to be desired. Still, despite being an average title, it can please fans of the genre.

Hirogami has a bright world to explore and some interesting gameplay ideas to fold over. However, the art of it all is a little lost when the developers' over ambition doesn't come to fruition in the game. It plays old, feels like it too, and despite being a throwback to the PS2 era, it doesn't have the tact and precision to pull off this nostalgia trip.

With its gorgeous visual style and some fun origami transformations, Hirogami has some high points to enjoy, but it sadly does have a few too many paper cuts that become consistent frustrations. It's not overly challenging, but lowering the difficulty does lend itself to a kind of relaxing, almost meditative experience at times, at least when the camera and other quirks aren’t getting in the way.

Hirogami follows in the footprints of other successful papercraft videogames such as Tearaway and Paper Mario. While it nails the pleasing handmade aesthetic of those titles, the shapeshifting gameplay never quite pins down the precision required. It’s not a write-off, more of a write-down of a crafty idea.