PumpkinSpice
Banned
Pretty much this.
I don't necessarily understand the high enthusiasm with this game in particular. Is it the cute art style? Did people just really, really enjoy the Vita gimmicks? Is it just down to it being an exclusive?
-
Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!
Why doesn't anybody care about Tearaway?
- Thread starter lowhighkang_LHK
- Start date
Pretty much this.
I don't necessarily understand the high enthusiasm with this game in particular. Is it the cute art style? Did people just really, really enjoy the Vita gimmicks? Is it just down to it being an exclusive?
Same problem as Ratchet, the game has platforming elements but it's not a platformer.
I wouldn't be satisfied even if you gave me a PS2 era platformer, those are more collectathon and adventure style platformers than what I expect from the genre nowadays. There's always some catch; Sly has stealth mechanics, Ratchet is a TPS, and so on.
mhayes86
Member
I played through both versions and really enjoyed it. I prefer the Vita version simply because paper crafting on the DS4 was awful, and the PSN app for paper crafting as an alternative was clunky and unresponsive much of the time. The game is full of charm and I love the art direction in it, but it does begin to drag about 3/4 in.
I'm not sure why it didn't do so well, but I don't remember there being much marketing for it. A lack of co-op compared to LBP and online trailers making the game look a tad boring may have affected it as well. Perhaps the lack of a Vita install base initially? Unfolded also released on the PS4 in the middle of open-world gaming season this year.
I'm not sure why it didn't do so well, but I don't remember there being much marketing for it. A lack of co-op compared to LBP and online trailers making the game look a tad boring may have affected it as well. Perhaps the lack of a Vita install base initially? Unfolded also released on the PS4 in the middle of open-world gaming season this year.
MiamiWesker
Member
As a huge platformer fan this was a massive disappointment. It is a super simplistic easy mostly boring platformer. It kind of has that N64 platformer feel but it can't hold a candle to those games. It does have tons of unique mechanics but it's not used all that well and a bunch of stuff feels like busy work like take pictures of random objects. It's an ok game but LBP is so much better than this.
Tearaway is one of those games i define "adventure games", not in the sense of point and click, but in the sense that there's not a focus on shooting, platforming, fighting, puzzling etc, the main character lives a "true" adventure where there's a little of this, a little of that but nothing is really prevalent.
I think that most of the gamers are too used to specific gameplays.
I have just seen a little gameplay of bound and i can see it being an "adventure" game and being ignored like tearaway.
I just wonder if all those who were begging for tearaway on ps4 then bought it in the end.
I think that most of the gamers are too used to specific gameplays.
I have just seen a little gameplay of bound and i can see it being an "adventure" game and being ignored like tearaway.
I just wonder if all those who were begging for tearaway on ps4 then bought it in the end.
Lys Skygge
Member
I get that feeling too. While I have no problem with the platformimg, it does feel more like an adventure game, and I'm totally fine with that
. The game is actually much bigger than I thought too.Omnistalgic
Member
nothing to do with the audience. Hardcore gamers likely just want a more challenging experience, and more well known mascot games are on Nintendo. Charm can only take you so far. As others have said, it was a pretty average game without the beautiful art direction and features.
ViciousAnchovy
Member
I finally got the Vita version for Christmas and beat it yesterday. I thought it was great. Some of the platforming near the end was iffy, mostly due to some bad camera angles but for the most part, things worked well. For anyone interested in the game, it's more focused on exploration. It's not a game for people who are looking for a challenge.
dead souls
Member
I haven't played this, but I'm not exactly rushing out to given that Media Molecule are garbage tier developers.
I got LBP2 bundled when I bought my PS3 back in the day. It was a free pack-in and I still felt ripped off. Terrible controls and mechanics. Great platformers have been being made for decades, it's amazing to see one get the fundamentals so wrong.
I got LBP2 bundled when I bought my PS3 back in the day. It was a free pack-in and I still felt ripped off. Terrible controls and mechanics. Great platformers have been being made for decades, it's amazing to see one get the fundamentals so wrong.
Little Monser
Banned
I think this too tbh.
Already Torn
Banned
So you think people aren't buying it because the genre isn't clear enough?
That doesn't mean it's good as a platformer.
Perhaps they liked it as an 'experience', the same reason Journey got so much praise which blows my mind everytime I see the game in action, how? why?... I have no interest in that sort of thing.
Dr. Zoidberg
Member
As someone who bought and played the Vita version to completion, I found the entire game boring and decidedly mediocre. The gameplay IS dull, albeit competent. However, the style and gimmicks can have a strong influence on some people, and I'm glad games like this exist for them. Personally, I've learned to be initially distrustful of games with a strong focus on unique artstyles because so many of them have not matched excellent gameplay to their visuals.
SpinningBirdKick
Banned
It just doesn't look entertaining.
Polished but sterile and soulless.
Kind of like Rare N64 titles.
Not interested.
Polished but sterile and soulless.
Kind of like Rare N64 titles.
Not interested.
Coffee Dog
Banned
FlyingSaucer
Banned
People who complain about the gameplay miss the point. You dont play Tearaway for the mechanisms, you play it for the art direction, the soundtrack, and those papper puppet shows we used to watch back during childhood.
Quite true IMO.
Quite true IMO.
It was just pretty forgettable for me, It had some fun little mechanics here and there and was a nicely put together little game but tbh I didn't find it that challenging, just kinda, keep on moving, nothing ultimately drew me to keep playing so I kinda gave up on it.
Tricky I Shadow
Banned
Soulless? No....just, no.
For people who only care abut gameplay, or hold it highly, it just seems to be a horrible fit. I really enjoyed it, but that's because I don't weigh gameplay mechanics as the be all end all. A game can be more than that, but that can definitely limit overall appeal.
Yeahhh, sterile and souless would be the last words I'd use to describe Tearaway . . .
The same reason why people don't care about the Vita: they're asshats.
Tearaway is amazing. I bought it day one on the Vita, 100% completed it, and I bought it on PS4 today, actually, because I forgot it even came out for PS4, and saw it was on sale this morning when I purchased Dark Souls 2 and Submerged.
It was a delightful game on the Vita. I think I didn't stop smiling the entire time I was playing it. I'm looking forward ton checking out the PS4 version as well. Super charming game, and more Vita and PS4 owners should buy it. Media Molecule is an insanely charming developer, and they just have this...something...that makes me pick up whatever they create.
Tearaway is amazing. I bought it day one on the Vita, 100% completed it, and I bought it on PS4 today, actually, because I forgot it even came out for PS4, and saw it was on sale this morning when I purchased Dark Souls 2 and Submerged.
It was a delightful game on the Vita. I think I didn't stop smiling the entire time I was playing it. I'm looking forward ton checking out the PS4 version as well. Super charming game, and more Vita and PS4 owners should buy it. Media Molecule is an insanely charming developer, and they just have this...something...that makes me pick up whatever they create.
To Far Away Times
Member
Tricky I Shadow
Banned
Yep. You really couldn't be anymore wrong calling Tearaway soulless. I mean seriously now, COME ON!
KirbYuuYuu
Member
To be fair you can get that from other games with great gameplay. Minus the puppets.
Absolutely. It's cloying and insincere and insists on stopping you every five minutes to remind you that you're playing A Charming Whimsical Game Made of Magic And Wonder and I couldn't stand it for very long.
No it doesn't.
I hate to resort to posting memes, but it's the exact same principle at play.
Wait.
You criticise Tearaway as being "too artsy", only to go on to say that Media Molecule should take cues from Bound, possibly the single most artsy game unveiled in recent memory? A game described by the developers as "a 3D platformer designed for people with the desire to concentrate on the narrative side of games and experience a mature story"?
Silent Chief
Member
I doubled dipped.
My granddaughter loved the Vita version.
I haven't played any yet.
My granddaughter loved the Vita version.
I haven't played any yet.
ivanthebearable
Member
This pretty much says what I did but in a better way. Nailed my thoughts.
Tricky I Shadow
Banned
The only difference between the people who found it charming and whimsical and the people who felt like it was insincerely forcing charm and whimsy down their throats is that the former group were able to leave their cynicism at the door.
shadowfall
Member
I am just waiting for it to be released as a part of PS Plus. I can buy it but my backlog is way too long and I am pretty sure I will not play it for a while. If it is part of PS Plus, I do not have to feel guilty of not playing it after purchase.
Eternal Gamer
Member
I played the demo and despite its creativity I found the gameplay boring, maybe because 3D platformers are not my thing.
ivanthebearable
Member
I mean I went with every intention of enjoying it and delving into somehing awesome because of how many positive impressions I saw here. The game just felt a bit patronizing and insincere to me, but I said earlier I only got through the beginning so I don't know if it gets better, and I'm still willing to go back to it eventually. I really want to enjoy it despite how I feel about it currently.
I didn't go in with cynicism, in fact quite the opposite. Please don't assume what my feelings on something are.
Bound strikes a great balance of being both artsy and aesthetically appealing.
Tearaway, unfortunately, does not. Tearaway is ugly as sin.
All I get from Tearaway is forced "cutesy" via deformed angular blobs, with smileys plastered across their faces.
Omnistalgic
Member
The heck does that mean? GAF is the authority on what's good? Lol...come now.
Regardless, it's praise has little to do with it being a weak platforming experience, which is mostly my point in why it doesn't appeal to more hardcore gamers, and why it doesn't sell that well.
And for the record, I bought the game twice and appreciate it, but I understand why it doesn't resonate with many people. For me, I want a challenging and charming game with great art direction, one of my issues with LBP. Loved it, but got more and more tired of the controls as the series progresses. I hope Dreams tries to satisfy both sides
I wasn't trying to be rude, I just literally can't see any other explanation. There's masses of people on both sides, and the game can't be both sincere and insincere at the same time, so the only explanation is that the issue lies in the players.
At this point I can't really offer anything else. People who find Tearaway to be ugly might as well be from a different planet to me.
ZombiePlatypus
Member
I can't decide between the Vita and Ps4 versions.
Gardios
Member
The demo just made the game feel way too much like a gimmicky tech demo that should've been packed in with the system at launch to me. I was already apprehensive after playing Journey and LBP; two games that had charming visuals but lackluster and boring gameplay but even those games didn't constantly break momentum by shoving hardware gimmicks down my throat.
PS4 has more content, 1080p 60fps visuals and choice of male or female main character.
Vita has more cohesive and interesting interactions with the world, and well, you can just kinda tell it was originally made with the Vita in mind.
Both fine choices.
lowhighkang_LHK
Member
Damn whoever put together that Tearaway demo should be fired.
There aren't "masses of people" on either side--the game flopped on Vita and looks to be flopping even harder on PS4, so it isn't resonating with many people from the outset, and it doesn't have the whole "unsung Vita game gets a second chance" narrative that something like Gravity Rush has because it wasn't that well-received even by the people who did play it.
People keep floating this idea that gamers are too jaded to play cutesy games or that it's too "Nintendo-like" or whatever but the reality is that this particular game simply isn't appealing to a lot of people.