Tohu, a classic and quirky Xbox graphic adventure

There are times when we meet games that until then we did not know of its existence, and if behind there is a title with good ideas like that symbol and what he offers absorbs us completely, much better. We take a look at the second work of the Polish studio based in Warsaw Fireart Games, that with this title come on stage strong enough like to get everyone’s attention.

symbol it’s a 2D point and click graphic adventure with very classic tones, and although he tries things and has good intentions, he doesn’t quite put all of his pieces together to form a totally satisfying experience. We control the girl, on his mission to rto spare the sacred engine of your house, who was sabotaged by a mysterious hooded figure.
Our protagonist has a curious ability, ttransform into an imposing robot, called Cubus, to overcome obstacles that require additional strength.

Drive to the girl we can talk to the characters, squeeze through small holes or climb. With Cubus, we will move heavy objects to facilitate our passage and we will do stress tests.

A strange and beautiful universe

The story of the game takes us on a journey a strange and magnificent universe of mechanical wonders where its inhabitants, almost always animals, live on Planetas Pez, (yes, as is). Visit the different planets that we will meet original characters that we need some kind of help to keep moving forward in the story. And so Stage on stage, puzzle after puzzle, we discover the different places and situations posed by the title.

The first thing that stands out is his visual section. The scenarios of symbol They show colorful illustrations although in muted tones, with a very neat style, in the vein of an animated series for children. Its different areas are inhabited by charismatic and funny creatures, and we will see constructions, furniture and objects with impossible designs.

The animations are neat and most of the different things we see on stage are in constant movement. There is also a series of interactions, for example talking with other characters, touching certain objects or opening a door, which shows us some precious drawings in motion, according to the rest of the visual section.

Special mention for the soundtrack, by Christopher Larkin, hers was the Hollow Knight soundtrack, although here it does not shine as much. Some melodies combine very well with what is happening in front of our eyes, they are not repetitive or heavy, and they stick a lot to the visual part, but they do not leave themes to remember. Sound effects always accompany the actions of our protagonist and give us funny effects or voices, in line with what has been seen previously.

A classic graphic adventure

Like any good classic point-and-click adventure, in symbol we interact with it while moving a mouse pointer. In this case, this results in a movement a little rough and inaccurate, which fails when you need to adjust a lot, and it doesn’t go as well as it should. And that, in this type of genre, assumes a negative point for the player’s experience. Another possible problem is the slowness in the movements of its characters, everything moves with great beauty, but it will take a few seconds for us to go through a big stage from start to finish.

Beyond the sensations when ordering, we will say that like a graphic adventure, it lacks manufacturing in some key aspects. As sometimes happens in many similar experiences, you move forward easily by trial and error. You try to see which object corresponds to what and you rule out the possibilities. Most of the time by paying attention to the environment and our inventory we will find the right solution. Sometimes you can’t quite find the logic of what you’re doing, and the things that worked in the previous scenario in the next don’t, which is why it is sometimes difficult to know the steps to follow. In addition, we can interact with almost any object dispersed in the environment. By having such a special design, they can mislead us to find out if they have any use in achieving our current goal.

Give me a hand

To help the player, the studio has provided the player with a way to access some “clues”. These will help us when we don’t know what to do and it will be resolved with a simple yet effective mini-game. If we are fast and precise enough, we will get this sometimes essential help. Along with some fun thumbnails, we’re going to reveal what we need to do step by step, and it never hurts to use it to get us out of a hurry. We also won’t spend a lot of time in conversations with other characters or investigate the environment. In fact, we don’t spend too much time on one planet, as the story unfolds at a hellish pace.

Almost always everything is in sight and we won’t be giving too many laps. There are puzzles that are solved by mini-games, like the “clues” one, and voila, it’s a success. They make the game more fun by providing variety and some are quite different from each other.

Tohu’s final conclusions

After completing the game in about six hours, it can be said that in this title everything is beautiful enough to say enough and it’s a pleasure to see it in motion. Even if symbol He has things that could be improved, there are good ideas and he surprises you with his proposal without you realizing it. The charismatic and fun world we find ourselves in, the variety of situations and the history we live in invite us to keep moving forward and reach the end. At the end of the game, there are more positive feelings than negative feelings, and it’s worth a try if you’re a fan of the genre. If you want to embark on this graphic adventure or if the visual section catches your eye, we think it won’t disappoint you either. The Fireart Games studio has shown that it can do some very interesting things.

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