Broken Age (iOS) Review

During the teen years, most young people rebel against their parents or other authority figures only to later regret it when learning more about the world around them and figuring out that even if the authorities were not always right, everything they did was with the child's best interests in mind. This is all very familiar territory when delving into the story of Vella and Shay.

The story is wonderfully separated into two parts, the first being about the rebellion side of things. Here, the young girl, Vella, is about to get sacrificed to a great monster in a ritual that aims to make it stop attacking towns. Vella, however, refuses to give herself over to the unknown and decides to start her epic quest to kill said monster alone. On the flip side, a young boy named Shay decided to begin going against his over protective mother and depart on a quest to save space creatures that are captured by horrible tyrants.

The second part is about the disillusionment that comes after wandering around the world themselves. When figuring out that not everything is what it seems to have been from the eyes of a young child, the final phase of growing up starts properly, and is reflected not only in the main characters' attitudes and demeanour but in the entire world at large, creating a beautiful and symbolic realisation both for the characters and those playing.

The story elements are very good and strongly well thought through, leaving much to reflect upon. However, and is a strong however, the story grows somewhat weaker throughout the game. The rebellion elements of the first act are obvious and impossible to miss, yet the second part, the disillusionment, can very easily be missed due to how subtly the concept is delivered. Most of the main characters are only doing what could be best described as a glorified fetch quests at this point in the tale, with the nuance only delivered through the support characters, most of whom are underdeveloped. This, combined with said fetch quest-like gameplay, ensures that the point is completely missed.

The story is not the only thing that grows weaker as Broken Age goes on, though, as that 'accolade' goes to the puzzles. In Act 1, they are wonderfully crafted and mix humour with constant progression, and the solutions are always logical. However, in Act 2 this quickly goes downhill. To begin with, the massive fetch quest Shay is sent on is heavily presented as filler material and demands a lot of weird connections to be made that are not always completely logical. This, mixed with the giant field to try different things out on, creates a feeling of boredom and will make anyone lose interest.

That part, however, is not the worst, by any means. The worst puzzles are the ones that include repairing and reprogramming certain robots found throughout the latter parts of the adventure. The issue here is not that the puzzles are difficult in themselves, but that it demands gamers to take notes on things they never ever expected to make notes about. This creates an annoying situation where the whole experience may be brought to a standstill for hours, even leading to some giving up painfully close to the climactic end.

It is sad seeing that Act 2 was delivered in such a weak way compared to Act 1. It truly is annoying to witness that the part that is supposed to be the epic conclusion to an epic adventure turns into such a bore where the core is missed out, all because of puzzles that are naught but a nuisance. If the quality was even all the way through, then Broken Age would have been amazing. Saying that, Broken Age is still a decent title when purchased as a full package, but it is shocking how half of it threatens to spoil everything. The story elements that shone in the first part fade so much in the second due to annoying puzzles.