Entwined Review

Setting the Indie Scene

Sony has a clear purpose for Entwined, their latest indie exclusive. By dedicating a small portion of their conference at E3 to indie developer Pixelopus’ game, they cemented their standing as the pioneer of console indies. By announcing it during the show, they ensured plenty of exposure for the little guy, while making themselves look pretty darn good in the eyes of both budding developers and gamers across the globe.

But what about Entwined itself? With its quaint art style and a story that focuses more on the touching intimacy of events than full-blown grandeur, everything about Entwined is very much reminiscent of what is now so typical of the indie scene – but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Indie games are paving a path for themselves as their industry grows, and to differentiate, they offer us bold colours, innovative gameplay ideas and tend to be a little bit less traditional than what we’ve come to accept from games today.

The Simple Things

Entwined does all this. The basic premise is that of a fish and a bird, desperate to be united but kept apart by unknown forces (aside from basic parallelism). As the player, you control each animal with a separate analogue stick, steering them through their respective coloured gates before eventually bringing them together in a splurge of emerald, taking the form of a great dragon to soar through the air.

The idea is certainly novel and I commend Pixelopus for attempting to do something relatively new. Unfortunately, Entwined runs out of tricks quickly and the simplicity of the game is revealed as you repeat the same general movements over and over. There are nine ‘lifetimes’ to play through – each one sees your two animals darting and speeding through some pretty backdrops before eventually coming together and streaming across the sky. There’s little challenge here – pass through a gate incorrectly and you’ll barely be set back – but perhaps that isn’t the point.

Entwined takes clear inspiration from indie games such as Journey and Flower, which offer stunningly beautiful, but basic gameplay, to provide something of an experience, rather than ‘merely’ a game. Unfortunately for Entwined, the game simply doesn’t have enough weight at the same time to achieve that sensation. Perhaps it’s that feeling of imitation that holds Entwined back, but when you feel the game pushes to be pretentious for the sake of it being ‘deep’ like its peers, it loses some of its meaning.

Basic Beauty

Having said that, the game itself is quite a sight at times. The angular, origami style of the game lends itself well to the popping, bright colours and watching your two creatures swoop and flit along, streaming colour behind them, is quite a sight. Some of the backgrounds can also look stunning, while others seem to lack polish and look decidedly worse.

As with the gameplay though, there isn’t much going on here. As the green dragon you can ‘skywrite’, which leaving an almost tangible trail of light behind you, but the overall effect isn’t particularly impressive, especially when the feature itself is mere time filler. The score is similar – often nice enough to listen to, but average for the most part. Perhaps Entwined’s biggest failing however is its sheer lack of content. Nine lifetimes will take the average player anywhere between a measly one to two hours to complete. There is also a challenge mode, but for the asking price…well, it’s certainly asking a fair bit, to say the least.

Swan Song

I know I sound like I’m being very hard on the little game, but that’s only because there’s potential here that I feel could be exploited for Pixelopus’ next game. I think Entwined achieves what it set out to do – mostly. It tries too hard to fit the mould that some of its contemporary indie counterparts have set and as a result, encroaches on being a bit pretentious. But that isn’t always a bad thing, especially when some of the execution here is actually quite good. For a small studio of graduates, Entwined is an impressive debut. The game is full of colour and there is definitely a sense of wonder to be had in the game.

However, with its criminally short lifespan and one-trick gameplay, Entwined doesn’t quite soar to the heights it could have. The game isn’t compelling enough to match Journey, despite the fact it often feels like it’s attempting to emulate its atmosphere. Regardless, Entwined will undoubtedly be a win for everyone involved – for Pixelopus, their game has been seen by thousands. For Sony, they have once again proven they are the place to play indie games, championing the little guy at their conference, and for the gamer, we get to sit back and relax with an intriguingly unique experience. I think that’s what they set out for. Maybe. I just hope they weren’t going for more.