Tasomachi: Behind The Twilight
Developer Orbital Express Publisher Playism Format PC Release Out now
PC
Gentle, unassuming, straightforward: the kind of adjectives that best apply to this easygoing (there’s another) adventure are the sort you’d rarely see on a game’s Steam store page. But then Tasomachi’s modesty is a virtue: there is an appealingly unpretentious feel to the debut game from multihyphenate Nocras, an experienced artist credited on the likes of Final Fantasy XIV and Breath Of The Wild. Inevitably, there’s a bit of both games here. Many of its tasks are akin to MMO-style collection quests, while a series of shrine challenges are essentially Zelda if it were a 3D platformer, with composer Ujico supplying a score that could easily be titled Lo-Fi Beats To Jump Gaps To.
Effectively, it’s five to six hours of falling action – if Studio Ghibli had turned Uncharted 2’s Tibetan village chapter into an entire game, perhaps. But then for protagonist Yukumo, this is simply an unexpected pitstop: she’s taken her airship on a journey along the coast when a mysterious force causes it to break down. Steering it to a quiet town, she finds it shrouded in a strange fog; an anthropomorphic cat suggests she’ll need to gather lanterns to dispel this dark mist so she can repair her craft, while gathering fresh powers (ground-pound, double-jump and air-dash equivalents) from sacred trees that lie beyond uncomplicated platforming challenges. Not that challenge is the aim: these obstacle courses, with their disappearing and collapsing tiles and their rotating wheels, are largely easy and certainly forgiving, despite Yukumo’s floaty handling. The only punishment for missing a jump is a brisk dip in the cool waters below, and a swift restart. And should you find any of them too tricky – or simply too tedious – you can pay a few coins to skip them entirely.
That about sums up Tasomachi’s languid nature, which somehow makes even its most mundane tasks (pulling weeds, tearing down posters) more engaging. It helps that the traditional Japanese settings, with their tall pagodas, sakura blossoms, lanterns and fluttering leaves, are so attractively presented, particularly once the fog lifts and each area is bathed in sunshine. More tasks await now, and you needn’t bother with the majority before you’re allowed to move on to the next town, then the next, yet these rudimentary routines encourage you to linger and admire your surroundings rather than rush to pick them clean. (Even the traditional day-night cycle seems slower than you’d ordinarily expect.) Yes, Nocras is clearly a more talented artist than a designer, and those seeking tension and drama should look elsewhere. But sometimes a lazy afternoon’s worth of slow-release serotonin is all you need, and this soothing backrub of a game delivers on that promise.