TOHU Analysis

TOHU is an adorable point and click graphic adventure that, despite its original intentions and its beautiful graphics, falls into the most common mistakes of the genre.

TOHU is the second game from Fireart Games , a Polish studio that debuted with Spirit Roots , a two-dimensional platformer that didn’t make too much noise when it was released a couple of years ago. This new project, edited by The Irregular Corporation, has attracted a little more attention for appearing in one of those indies for Switch that Nintendo organizes in its Indie World Showcase, although it is not exclusive to this console: in addition to the hybrid , TOHU is also available on PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Stadia .

The proposal of this Polish game is not difficult to understand: it is a classic graphic adventure , in the point and click style , whose protagonist, the Girl, can transform into Cubus , a robot that gives her brute force when she does lack. The starting point of the story also does not go around with little girls, because as soon as we start we are told that our objective is to repair a great Sacred Engine that has been vandalized by a mysterious little creature.

Traveling between planets fish

From there we move on to what will be the key dynamic of TOHU : we will travel through a universe made up of fish planets to try to find a way to carry out that repair. Each of these planets, which as its name suggests are usually built on the back of some marine being, hides a series of scenarios that, in turn, are divided into several screens that contain puzzles . A matrioska of rooms that is proposed more as a classic division of the typical screens of a traditional graphic adventure than as a true experience of open exploration.

ADVERTISING

The first thing that stands out about TOHU – and that is something one can realize without even playing it – is its visual section . The illustrations that make up the world of this game are especially adorable, both in regards to the Girl and the rest of the characters. The scenarios also have a charisma that makes looking at each new screen a pleasure , scanning its details and scrutinizing every corner to enjoy its fun details: object-shaped animals, surprised eyes on all sides, even in inanimate objects, bizarre backgrounds and crazy trinkets …

The ‘TOHU’ scenarios are a joy: they are full of details and sometimes things like this level are allowed.

However, and although at the level of drawing, color and animation the result is flawless, this artistic section sometimes plays tricks when it comes to reading the stage to solve the puzzles. In certain puzzles we can have problems due to how unclear and consequential the screen design is, because for example what is sometimes an object that can be interacted with, in other scenarios it does not have to be. There is no continuity in the clues that TOHU must give you to know where you have to shoot, so in the end you advance based on trial and error, not logic.

Of abstract puzzles and arbitrary solutions

Actually it seems that TOHU does not intend to make you use logic in almost any of its puzzles: most of them are solved by matching one item to another without what you are doing makes much sense . The bad version of the ‘rubber pulley chicken’, an endemic problem of adventure games that seems to still be present today and that accompanies the experience from start to finish here: sometimes you can interact with the objects that are within reach of the Girl, other times you have to be next to them to do it, other times Cubus will be able to lift large and heavy objects, although at other times the robotic alter ego refuses outright.

There are puzzles that lack logic and we end up solving them by discard, interacting with the few interactive pieces of the scenarios.

We are facing one of those games in which the author’s design processes of the puzzles are very clear: the developers have devised a very specific solution and that is the one we have to find, but they have left aside the guide to the player, the way of making the flow to fit the pieces together , so in the end everything is perceived as a random process. The solution is the solution because the designer says it, not because it makes sense within the TOHU framework .

It also seems a bit arbitrary , or at least not fully exploited, that main mechanic that allows its protagonist to become the strong robot that helps him lift weights, take pulses and other things of the kind. There is no well-defined basis regarding what each one can do (theoretically yes, but not at a practical level) and each situation ends up being what marks the limits of these characters. I mean, it ‘s more of a gimmick than a well-captured design idea .

Cubus can move heavy objects and do other types of actions that require force, but it is not something that is well integrated.

The opacity of its normative frameworks is not the only thing that clouds the TOHU experience , which ends up being a very slow one due to the slow movements of its character and the heaviness of its controls; The latter is especially noticeable in Switch, the version we have played, because the handling of the actions is done with a virtual cursor that is controlled with the joystick with a somewhat crude result. The touch controls do not work well in the hybrid’s portable mode either, where even if it has them they are not useful in most cases.

If there is something to highlight about this game, to finish, it is that everything that surrounds the puzzles has a unique charisma that makes you continue on in the adventure. Both the design of the characters and their dialogues , as well as the situations we live with the Girl and Cubus, is without a doubt the best of this title. A unique atmosphere that has the potential to be better utilized in future projects, if there are any.

A nice touch is the gamification of the process of obtaining clues when we get stuck in a puzzle.

Conclusions

TOHU does not finish making all the pieces of its puzzle fit : the beautiful graphic proposal and the charismatic universe that we explore collide head-on with a very poor and crude game design that has a hard time communicating its possible solutions. The story of the Girl and Cubus ends up being told in fits and starts, falling into the most common mistakes of adventure games in two dimensions . Its strict and arbitrary rules do not help us feel challenged to solve the challenges that they pose us, and the controls, rough especially on the console, further weigh on an unpleasant experience to play, although very pleasant to see. We are left with the charisma of its visual section and its characters with the hope of seeing an idea that is not being developed well here in the future.

We have done this analysis on Nintendo Switch with a code provided by Cosmocover.

 

by Abdullah Sam
I’m a teacher, researcher and writer. I write about study subjects to improve the learning of college and university students. I write top Quality study notes Mostly, Tech, Games, Education, And Solutions/Tips and Tricks. I am a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence or virtue.

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