Ever since the start of Tim Schafer’s experiment, the Double Fine Adventure, a cloud of doubt surrounded the studio, starting with the notion that kicked off the Kickstarter campaign, “Adventures games are not dead!” — as well as a negative sentiment heard on message boards. Act 1 of Broken Age answers this sentiment, providing a beautiful introduction to this world full of charm, wit and mystery that anyone who has ever experienced a point-and-click adventure game will immediately remember upon entry.
Broken Age’s two part delivery only seems fitting to tell the stories of two characters who exist in separate worlds. Shay and Vella wake up at the beginning of the game ready for action only to discover the ramifications of their actions that are larger than themselves.
The protagonists exist in two different scenarios that are complete opposites from each other. Shay lives on a spaceship that takes control of his every need, much like Sam Bell in the movie Moon. Except Shay does not have any agency on this ship. The AI overseers of the ship are “Mom” and “Dad” and they repeat the same routine day in and day out.
Vella is not alone, though she might as well be. The village and her family are celebrating the fact that she will be a “guest of honor” for a feast. And by “guest of honor” they really mean to sacrifice her to the giant monster “Mog Chothra.” Vella pleas to her family to fight the monster but the only person who will listen to her is her old grandfather. Act 1 begins when both Shay and Vella decide to take agency and abandon their lives and family.
Broken Age’s biggest success is being able to bring all of the themes present in both Vella’s fairytale and Shay’s space epic into one resolutely beautiful package. It’s partially due to the presence of former Psychonauts alumni, including character designer Scott Campbell and composer Peter McConnell who delivers some amazing, memorable pieces that really add to the soundscape. Of course that’s not to undermine the contributions of the rest of the development team, for many of whom Broken Age is a dream project: a return to producing an engaging narrative in a genre they love, for gamers that want to experience it.
The ability to switch from Vella’s and Shay’s stories provide those links as an option. The mechanic is never pushed in your face nor are you required to swap at any specific point, and to me that is the best possible option for the feature.
The first act of Broken Age fulfills the original Kickstarter goal: to make a classic point-and-click adventure game where you click on things and combine said things together. Again, Double Fine does not complicate the formula and even reduces some of the outmoded clutter of old adventure games such as hint systems and verb based mechanics.
The first act of Broken Age is full of humorous characters and a delightfully crafted world, and ends on a touching, beautiful note. There’s no room for doubt anymore, Double Fine have returned to their roots and brought us a point-and-click adventure for the modern age. It’s only a shame it’s been broken in half, forcing us to wait just a little bit longer for the conclusion.
This review is based on a copy of the game supplied to the Editor for backing the project on Kickstarter.
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