Review for The Gardens Between. Game for PC, Mac, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 20/09/2018 The version for Xbox One came out on 30/11/2018
What is friendship if not a journey through time, taken by the hand with the person you are most attached to? The Gardens Between it is undoubtedly a journey, but also the enormous leap that The Voxel Agents has made by moving from mobile platforms to the much more demanding and important ones such as PC, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch. The theme chosen, that of friendship in the youth phase, lends itself very well to representing an ideal path towards maturity for both the protagonists and the developers of this interesting title.
Childhood friends
Almost all of us in the pre-adolescent phase have been enveloped by that innocence and fantasy typical of children, which make even the most everyday situations incredible. For this reason, the aura of surrealism that permeates the entire game experience of The Gardens Between is not surprising. Here we will discover the magical journey of Arina and Frendt through a series of islands, after being sucked into a time vortex. The collaboration between the two will lead us to discover situations from the past through seven islands, each of which is divided into three levels.
It goes without saying that The Gardens Between owes a lot to the world of mobile titles, starting from the well-known Monument Valley. This is evident not only from the genre, but above all from the simplicity of the controls: a button to go forward, one to rewind time and one to perform actions, that's all. Learning the commands of the title will therefore be simple and immediate as well as the game mechanics themselves.
The purpose of each islet is in fact to reach the top and insert a lamp in which we will have stored a source of energy present in each level and able to free the memory connected to that particular place. To do this we will have to manipulate the time and interact with some particular presences scattered within the level. As our adventure progresses, things will get more complicated for Arina and Frendt, but the general difficulty level will never be impossible. For this reason, the longevity of the title is attested on very few hours of play and with no incentive to start the story again, if not to unlock the classic achievements (17 in the Steam version).
Pastel surrealism
Although short, the game experience of The Gardens Between is particularly successful as well as for an interesting gameplay, especially thanks to a graphic level perfectly suited to the title: a glance capable of returning a fairytale and captivating visual experience thanks to its pastel colors and its simple but effective light effects.
The collaboration with Tim Shiel, Australian electronic music composer, completes the work of The Voxel Agents by giving us a soundtrack with an incredible atmosphere. The sound sector is also completed by well-made and credible effects, which makes up for the lack of any dialogue. Last note concerns the complete localization of the title, to be understood however limited to the game menus and the opening and closing titles, given the lack of descriptions or dialogues.
The Gardens Between is what we always want to have from a puzzle game: simple but, at the same time, challenging puzzles, an interesting plot in its simplicity and a satisfying audio visual rendering that is able to involve more in the gaming experience. Despite the brevity of the title, the guys at The Voxel Agents have managed to package a product that can have its say even within the PC and console landscape.
► The Gardens Between is an Adventure-indie-Puzzle game developed by The Voxel Agents for PC, Mac, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 20/09/2018 The version for Xbox One came out on 30/11/2018
