Broken Age 

Starting out as a crowdfunded title on other platforms, Broken Age now comes to the Xbox One. Double Fine Productions is known for story rich and original games. Does Broken Age break with this tradition? Let’s find out.

THE GOOD

• The voice acting is superb. I don’t necessarily like all the characters in this game, but at least they are always well voiced.
• The music does an excellent job of adding atmosphere without being intrusive.
• I’m personally not a fan of the style in which the characters are drawn, but that is just purely personal. The art is well done all around and has a well-executed storybook feel to it.
• The unique mechanic of mostly being able to freely go back and forth between two main characters who are in entirely different, and seemingly unrelated settings, works very well.
• Ultimately the game is not very big, but you can easily spent quite a few hours on it. I needed about thirteen hours on my first playthrough. I always check achievements after my first playthrough, but if you do it before playing, don’t be put off by the one that says to complete the game in under an hour. There is no way you will get even close to that when you first play the game.

MIXED FEELINGS

• Although part of the story line and necessary to set the tone for the story that follows, the frustrations that players have to deal with very early in the game may put people off. The feeling of being stuck in a room or loop is not very enjoyable. This is definitely part of the greater storyline and therefore has its place, I just wish they would put it into effect a bit later into the game.
• Finding out how to solve problems is par for the course in the adventure game genre, but some of the puzzles are perhaps overly obscure. This is one game you will probably have to step away from and then return at a later time with a fresh perspective.

THE BAD

• While backtracking is something that comes with the genre, I don’t think I’ve ever backtracked as much as I did in Broken Age. What made this even less enjoyable was the constant repeating of the same lines when I clicked on someone. A bit more variety in the responses would have eased the burden a bit.
• The difficulty level might well be too much for people new to classic adventure games like this. If you are not very patient or do not enjoy having to think things through and try out weird solutions, this game is not for you.

Broken Age is a classic adventure game that includes original ideas and an interesting story line. The backtracking and puzzles can easily put off the more casual players. If you have always loved classic adventure games, check this one out. If not, then this may not be the best introduction to the genre.