Giant Sparrow’s unique adventure-puzzler is ported to Vita with care by Armature, making a great handheld experience.
| Developer | Armature Studio; Giant Sparrow; SCE Santa Monica Studio |
| Publisher | |
| Franchise | N/A |
| Genre | |
| PSTV | Yes |
| Physical English | No |
World-building & Story
The Unfinished Swan chronicles the adventures of a boy named Munroe, who follows the titular swan into a storybook land inspired by his mother’s unfinished paintings. From here, things veer between being a cute fairytale and a surprisingly hard-hitting reflection on life and death.
This movement between light-hearted and heavy storytelling can be a little jarring at first and is especially problematic in the final section of the game where things get increasingly bizarre and difficult to follow, leading to a thoughtful but somewhat confusing conclusion. There are still plenty of sweet and touching moments along the way, but there were times I wished for the developers to stick to one idea or the other.
There’s little to no character development in the game, with Munroe being largely mute and the only person we learn anything about being a rather bizarre king who rules the world you’ll explore. In this way, The Unfinished Swan presents the kind of low-key storytelling that wouldn’t be out of place in something like Ico or Journey, except here a narrator provides some brief framing to what’s going on. It works well combined with the themes the game is trying to tackle, making for a memorable adventure even without relate-able characters.
The world built here is pure Disney-esque ‘pulled into another dimension’ – somewhere between the madness of Alice in Wonderland and the escapism of Inside Out. It’s very fitting for a world based on paintings and is a joy to explore every nook and cranny of.
Presentation & Sound
Starting out with a pure white background that you have to slowly uncover by throwing paint, The Unfinished Swan uses unique ideas with simple visual ideas to create a memorable adventure.
All of the objects and environments in game are presented in simple 3D – they’re not overly detailed, but perfectly get across the theme the developers are going for. The swan itself wobbles around in realistic fashion leaving its footprints all over; while things like gates and trees act as waymarkers in your journey. The game uses a few setpiece moments to really impress, such as the first time you look out over a giant maze that stretches as far as the eye can see.
What’s truly marvelous in The Unfinished Swan are some of the physics at work. The way the paint splatters everywhere when thrown is initially impressive; but some late game puzzles that involve water and moveable blocks are really smart and impressive for Vita. Despite being a fairly static world, the developers clearly have fun experimenting with moving elements on it and crucially the Vita experience is smooth thanks to a solid porting effort from Armature Studio.
Sound is mostly fantastic, with brilliant voice acting from both the King and Queen (the former voiced by Terry Gilliam in a brilliant turn). While music is fairly sparse (disappointing, but makes sense due to the title’s atmospheric nature), sound effects like the honk of the swan in the distance of the crinkling of a plant vine growing along a ledge help fill up the silence.
Soundtrack highlight – Unfinished Swan
Gameplay & Content
Taking a simple concept – throwing balls of paint to help explore a colourless world – The Unfinished Swan expands on this in plenty of interesting ways to create a memorable experience. Unfortunately, it’s a little uneven too, which is a slight disappointment.
So as described, the game starts with a blank world and you throw paint using the trigger to help plan your path forward. Movement is done from a first-person perspective and plays out much like an FPS, except you’re shooting paintballs rather than guns. The game then expands beyond this initial concept to include other challenges – for example you might be throwing water in a world that’s fully defined and The Unfinished Swan really embraces this variety.
Each subset of gameplay does feel compelling – the aforementioned water is used to help plant vines grow towards a wall that you can then use as a ladder, shifting the game from an exploration simulator to more of a puzzle game. You’ll undertake various other tasks – explore a seemingly haunted forest and river; make your way through a winding maze and escape a flooding valley. The fact it expands so much beyond its initial premise is one of the game’s greatest strengths, but also one of its weaknesses.
See, The Unfinished Swan often introduces ideas but rarely do they feel fully used within the confines of the game. Late in the runtime you’re introduced to things like the ability to move and manipulate platforms in a bizarre multi-dimension platforming section, that honestly feels like something out of a completely different game. It’s really great – and then it’s over, not to be seen again which is a damn shame. I sometimes felt while playing that some of these gameplay types would’ve been better off in their own titles where they could’ve been explored fully.
Still, it’s a credit to the team at Giant Sparrow that they’ve added so much within the title’s 4-5 hour length. Crucially, each new area you arrive in or puzzle you solve is fun – there’s an enjoyable element to figuring out where to go next in the blank world or working your way up a city wall using vines in another. I never found myself frustrated at the puzzles which is a real credit as I often struggle with these types of games.
Everything in The Unfinished Swan works on a mechanical level too – all the physics from paint splatter to object movement is in order and Munroe is easy to control, although I ran into some minor issues with the edge of the playable world not being visible causing me to fall into pools of water and forced to respawn (thankfully, this is instant). It makes traversing the game’s zones easy and effective and that much more enjoyable.
Overall, then, I have to say that I definitely rate The Unfinished Swan – it works really well as a adventure-puzzle game, even if the short runtime and underused mechanics leave something to be desired.
Conclusion
Rather than just its initial presentation as an amazing concept, The Unfinished Swan is actually lots of great ideas mashed together in a fun exploration & puzzle game. Its story is touching (if a little scatter-gunned and confusing at times); its aesthetics are impressive and its gameplay elements all work well. While I would have liked a little more time spent with some of the mechanics, its an overall impressive package and well worth checking out for a nice change of pace on Vita.
7.5/10
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