Mutazione (PlayStation 4) Review

The story of Mutiazone seems simple from the beginning. You are Kai, a presumed teenager leaving the mainland to visit her sick grandfather on the island of Mutiazone, an island that none have ventured to for decades save for the ferryman named Graubert, who trades cargo form the island to the mainland. Upon arriving on the island you find out that the community consists of mutants, made that way due to a meteor hitting the island decades before, impacting all who lived there and permanently mutating them.

Apart from the obvious physical mutations, the members of this community behave like regular humans, with their own insecurities, loves and hates that you bare witness to over time, and play a role in the story which soon takes the form of a mutant soap opera. Now, although the drama is entertaining to watch, the story primarily revolves around Kai and her dying grandfather, as they are somehow tied to the island of Mutiazone and each play a pivotal role in its survival.

An element that ties into this is gardening. Over time you realise that the ecosystem is out of balance due to events prior to Kai's arrival, thus it's now your job to go around the island engaging with various characters and planting gardens that are appropriate to a character's particular mood or dilemma, as each plant holds a different emotion and will assist said character through its planting and growth.

To plant these various gardens you'll explore the island, picking different flowers and seeds along the way, making sure they are in the appropriate gardens, and upon doing so, you are given a 'growth song;' a song that helps certain plants grow quicker, and is somewhat reminiscent of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, using entrancing music to assist the protagonist. The visuals are executed through a simplistic vector style with a range of vibrant and pastel colours, accompanied with a beautiful soundtrack that truly brings the world of Mutiazone to life.

However, much of the experience consists of Kai running from one side of the island to another, finding these plants, engaging with different characters, and as the world is small, the scenery, although beautiful, becomes increasingly redundant as the story carries on, and so one can't help but wonder if this could have benefited from either a sprint option to allow Kai to cover more ground quickly or an even smaller map, as some parts of the game seem to be there just for the sake of looking aesthetically pleasing.

Nevertheless, Mutazione gives a breath of fresh air in the current climate of games that rely on explosions and mayhem to entertain, as it presents something that provides its player with an interesting story, beautiful art style, and an enthralling soundtrack that will leave you satisfied and keen for more of Die Gute Fabrik's work in the future.