Tandem: A Tale of Two Shadows provides a gothic setting with a creepy doll with a hunchback and a protagonist with an uncanny look. While the setting of the world is undeniably gripping, the short puzzle game never completes its gothic vibe. Perhaps this is because the story is a little shallow, a love and hate twist ending or that the characters are mix mash of sense At its heart, Tandem:Tandem: A Tale of Two Shadows provides a gothic setting with a creepy doll with a hunchback and a protagonist with an uncanny look. While the setting of the world is undeniably gripping, the short puzzle game never completes its gothic vibe. Perhaps this is because the story is a little shallow, a love and hate twist ending or that the characters are mix mash of sense At its heart, Tandem: A Tale of Two Shadows isn’t a story based game as it relies heavily on its puzzle design. The presentation of the world’s gothic paradise is represented well through puzzles. However as clever as the design can be at times, the puzzles are never that taxing (possibly dulled down for audiences of any age). The puzzles work under two perspectives. You play as Emma from an overhead perspective as she wanders through forests and abandoned buildings. But, she’s not able to progress the world of Tandem alone. Locked gates, mechanical spiders, and strateicaly placed buttons. That’s where Fenton comes in as an animated teddy bear who can manipulate the shadows and reach areas Emma can’t. Playing as Fenton also adds a platforming element to the game play, as the side-scroller perspective comes complete with some obstacles to leap over. The presentation of this perspective-swapping mechanic is quite seamless, but there are a few minor sensitivity issues on the play through I experienced. It’s easy to switch between Emma and Fenton, only requiring the press of a button, but the game’s lack of clarity can frustrate. Emma needs to manipulate the light to provide Fenton with ground to stand on. As Fenton is surrounded by shadows, he can stand on those shadows to progress. But, if he’s standing in the middle of a shadow, he freezes and is unable to move. There’s minor lack of polish here, as there are times where it seems like Fenton is just being a big baby. He has a tiny foot in the shadow, and he can’t move… I experienced a time where it didn’t even seem like Fenton was trapped. There are other aspects of the game that make the puzzles feel more tedious. Stealth mechanics are snuck into Tandem, as Emma must traverse her way around a variety of enemies. One world features killer mechanical spiders, while another features some sort of squid that lives in pipes filled with oil. There are times when Emma needs to sneak past these enemies and these are by far the worst aspects of Tandem‘s puzzles. A part of me wishes the puzzles had a bit more complexity to them. The puzzles never feel too simple, but the game doesn’t challenge you as much as it could. The difficulty of the game isn’t necessarily a problem, but there isn’t a particular portion of the game that really gets you thinking too hard. Whether or not that’s a good or bad thing depends entirely on your preference. At least the presentation of Tandem’s world is well-executed, and the ability to mix in the lighting within the game’s puzzles is quite clever. As stated, these are easily the most interesting parts of the game. When you have to manipulate the light, using carts or mirrors, is when the game shines, as you have to correctly set up its double perspective. This aspect of the game can easily break into monotony, but the game isn’t that long anyway, so it never overstays its welcome. Defunct merry-go-rounds are lined up against the walls and alongside gardens or brick buildings. Tandem: A Tale of Two Shadows narrative is far less engaging and while it does take an interesting turn it’s messy for the majority of the game but the game is well priced for it offering. Tandem: A Tale of Two Shadows is a solid puzzle title based on executed premise. The game doesn’t over stay its welcome with it’s approximately five hours of playtime. If this sounds like your cup of tea then I suggest heading over to the Xbox games digital store and give it a go today. I may have seemed a bit critical despite its offering, I just suggest going in with the affordable price point in mind and you should have a great time. The games shine could also be in it’s playability for gamers of all ages.… Expand
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