Puppeteer is a 2D platformer from Studio Japan. The gimmick of Puppeteer is that you're playing out a show, with the audience gasping and showering you with applause at every moment. It is a unique premise and creates an amazing atmosphere. You control Kutaro, who has lost his head and on a quest to not only get it back, but defeat the Moon Bear King who has taken over and polluted the Moon world. Throughout Kutaro's journey, he uses a variety of objects as a substitute head from bananas to burgers and weirder obscure stuff such as a guillotine and iron spike. It's refreshing, charming and makes for some great laughs. The "show" is comprised of seven acts, with three curtains in each act, i.e. there are 21 playable levels. The platforming is frequently interspersed with cutscenes, some going for a decent amount of time. Puppeteer is a story heavy game, you spend something like one quarter to one third of your time watching events unfold. Even when you're performing platforming sequences, the narrator keeps going on.
I found the first two acts to be underwhelming where the story cutscenes did not feel as if they were worth the time. However, once Kutaro heads into the third act, things became much more interesting and more imaginative. The humour ramps up, excitement ensues and the music becomes better. I found it really fun when Puppeteer went into an underwater musical, it was at these moments where the theatre aspect shines through. You find yourself constantly switching from enjoying the show elements to the platforming elements and vice versa. One thing is note is that the numerous cutscenes will break the flow of the game when you forced to stop and lose control of your character, just as the momentum was building up. One undeniable thing about Puppeteer is that it has the best and most plausible story of any platformer game. It's hard to imagine a story driven platformer but Puppeteer is it. Throughout the game, there are many heads to collect (100 in total) yet in the grand scheme of things, there are too many collectibles in the game, from defeating all enemies to collecting all stars.
Every head has a "head action". I initially thought that each head had its own special move like Kirby but it is more of a trigger. At a specific place you need a specific head to activate a bonus event so it's somewhat more of pain (you need to replay the level ensuring you have the right head) than anything. The voice acting is superb and while the lip syncing is off, each character has emotion pouring out of their dialogue. The voicing acting can be over the top sometimes. Character designs are good; they all have a blocky wooden feel. The design can sometimes border on weird and creepy, not what you would expect from a feel-good game. In terms of gameplay, the aim is to go from left to right, Kutaro can jump as you would expect, however, he gains various powers along the way. The big one is a pair of magical scissors in which he can cut through many things. Mostly he just cuts through fabric or thing objects that look suspiciously like paper, which remind's me of Tearaway's papery world. It's fund when you can move by cutting. While mechanics wise, it's simple and nothing extraordinary, it feels novel.
The beginning of the game feels more like a chore than later on due to the limited abilities you have at that time. Once Kutaro starts to unlock more abilities, the games becomes super fun. You unlock all abilities by around the middle of the game, these abilities aren't your typical abilities either, Kutaro can body slam, throw bombs, hook things and create a shield. Other common gameplay elements are on-rail riding sequences in which you jump and duck to avoid obstacles and cutting through things. Bosses are a big draw of the game. While all you do is recognise each boss's attack patterns and then work that to your advantage, they are fun and each attack pattern is different enough to keep it refreshing. There are heaps of bosses and sometimes it feels as if there are too many. All major bosses end with a quicktime event which if you fail means repeating the boss battle again. It is somewhat annoying that there is such a large penalty for pressing a wrong button but thankfully, they're easy enough to not be too much of a problem.
The final boss was an enjoyable experience. He somewhat breaks the "hurt the boss three times to win" cliche so it's more like "hurt the boss three times again and again". While not difficult, it gave an epic feel and a good finale. The ending cutscene afterwards was swift but still satisfying. Puppeteer is a long game for a platformer, taking upwards of nine hours. A big chunk of it is cutscenes but you're still getting bang for your buck. A positive is that the action doesn't slow to the point where it feels dragged out. Plus, there are heaps of trophies to try and get. The music catches your attention right from the start. It feels just right, giving a sense of heaviness and evil, while also lighthearted enough such that you won't take the game too seriously. The graphics are amazing and looks brilliant, this is partly thanks to the aesthetics but Studio Japan has done a wonderful job here of making the game pop and each environment unique. Overall, Puppeteer is a fantastic platformer with a charming story and character.
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