Tengami (Wii U) Review

The idea behind Tengami is to retrieve cherry blossom and restore a once great tree back to its former magnificence - simple as that. There is no long narrative, nor any major story plotlines that unfold as the adventure continues, and for the most part it works fine in that way. Some may bemoan the lack of connection between player and game because of this but the link is built by the wonderful artistic direction instead, both visually and aurally. This is a serene journey set across dark forests, abandoned shrines and tranquil mountain waterfalls, and the puzzles will get the mind a-bending for the most part.

Looking at the majestically crafted paper-filled Japanese pop-up-book world in screenshots, it would be easy to presume it is a mere gimmick, yet the world itself becomes a part of the actual game, acting as a key ingredient of the puzzles that hamper progress. Flipping certain sections of the surroundings changes the pathways for the main character to amble across, and finding the right combination is imperative to reach the next area. One of the main thoughts flitting across the mind is how the layered paper effect would seriously benefit from the 3D depth of the Nintendo 3DS, so it is hoped that Nyamyam has that system in its sights for further down the line as it would complement the experience considerably. For now, though, on the big screen and the Wii U GamePad, it looks truly amazing.

More often than not, moving forwards will take time as various permutations are worked through. Thankfully, taking the time required to do this is not a tiresome endeavour due to the beauty of the visuals, sound effects, and gorgeous accompanying score.

Other puzzles types in Tengami include figuring out patterns, spotting hidden markings within the folds and shadows of the paper craft setting, and even flicking between various seasons to find key objects required to unlock new sections - there is a wide variety packed into this bite-sized adventure. In this Wii U version there is even the added bonus of finding special stamps hidden around the world, with milestones reached during the game being posted to Miiverse, if so desired!

Everything is done at a snail's pace, which initially proves amazingly frustrating when compared to games like Broken Age where double-clicking at the edge of the screen automatically zooms the character to the next area. However, this is where David Wise's phenomenal music comes into full effect. Whilst most people will remember him most recently for his work in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, some of the musical pieces for Tengami's score are simply stunning and excel more so than the Nintendo-led work. The whole soundtrack in general is great, but there are a handful of tracks that are in another league completely.

Controls are very intuitive to the point where all ages and gaming levels can simply jump straight in - tapping the stlyus anywhere on the GamePad screen causes the lead to walk to the desired location or touching on glowing areas causes him to enter places that trigger moments of interactivity, such as being able to flip a page to change the surroundings or slide small elements around to subtly alter aspects to uncover secrets and crack conundrums. The obtuse nature of some later puzzles may annoy certain sectors of the gaming community, especially given the slow walking pace of the main character when needed to trek back and forth to find clues that may have previously been missed, yet this adds to the challenge. Sure, it can be moderately vexing, but at least now there is a newly included hints system (something that was not included in the original iOS edition).

Finally, the good news for non-English speaking readers is that the game has been translated into German, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian, not just English for the mainland European audience. For reference, other territories can also play in Brazilian, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Danish, Swedish and Turkish! Something for nearly everyone, right? How kind the team at Nyamyam is! Seriously, though, the more people that have the chance to try out this masterpiece, the better.