Tengami Review

Releasing today is a big challenge to any game, the Mario Kart downloadable content is chewing up the hype easily by the gallon on the Wii U Eshop, and rightly so, it looks great. So why would a game schedule to come out on the same day? Tengami, the game I am looking at today has done this, and I think I can see why.

To explain it simply, it seems to be exactly the opposite of what an adrenaline pumping affair that Mario Kart 8 is. It’s a mix of a 2d/3d side scrolling puzzler, crossed with a pop up book. Man, I’m scratching my head as I type this, yes, it does sound strange, but if you look at it closer, it works great.

Every part of the game looks beautiful and elegant yet moody and dream like, the music is serine and superb, I and the rest of my family (Wife and 2 year old daughter) are in no doubt, this game looks like a pure masterpiece. Based on paintings from the Edo period of Japan, everything smacks of that time period, yet it is still a fantasy affair. The storyline is obscure at best, you are a samurai, traversing landscapes, collecting flowers at the end of each chapter for your cherry blossom tree and a part of a Haiku is presented to you for each flower you get also. This feels more of a work of high art, rather than a computer game.

That’s my next thought, the game is slow, the samurai you control walks at a snails pace, the puzzles are at times, very obscure, even frustrating at points, there is a hint section available, but the clues are artfully not as direct as you would hope. However, having said that, once you get into the swing of things, the puzzles are fine to excellent. I especially loved the stuff of changing the scenery for the samurai to walk upon. Also there is some real jaw dropping moments throughout too, just watch out for the boat sequence.

The game is minimalist, yet compelling; I found I had to play it through completely. This can be done in a short amount of time (an hour and a half to two hours), a couple of sittings, but that is not a bad thing to me. The ambience the developers have created makes it a pleasure to play over again; it’s a game you experience, a relaxation time as much as anything else. I could imagine myself I will be reaching for this again; it looks great on both the big screen and the game pad.

Ultimately would I recommend this game to you, well it depends what you want, a different game that offers something completely unique to the Eshop, or do you want to play an action platformer or something that you always play. I actually would really recommend this game to anybody slightly interested, it is like playing high art, but with a warning, it may not be for everything, as mentioned, very slow and quite obscure.

I am very happy this has joined the Wii U collection and I want to congratulate Nyamyam Games the UK based creators for making a fan out of me. I cannot compare it to anything I have played before, that’s what makes it special to me, just don’t compare it to your average game. It’s not Call of Duty or Assassins Creed 5, it’s brave, unique, exactly the type of game I want on my Wii U. Sure it’s not for anyone, but I still suggest you try it.

REVIEW CODE: A complimentary Nintendo Wii U code was provided to Brash Games for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to editor@brashgames.co.uk.