Vague and cryptic stories are often seen as an easy way out when creating a game. It's a point of view I don't like to echo as there are many amazing games that tell their stories in obscure or hazy ways, and yet manage to have defined themes and threads even if not all the details are there. There's a blurred line between giving the player something and letting them go on it, and giving them next to nothing and expecting them to ad-lib a narrative in their head.

In the latter case, you get something like Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery, a point-'n-click adventure where you're a warrior of sorts trying to assemble a triforce of sorts because it's kind of your fate or something. It's a barebones structure lifted from games like The Legend of Zelda series, but lacks both the originality to call itself its own thing and the punch to be considered parody. In fact, what little writing there is in the game is rather poor.

The vague approach seen in the storytelling extends to the rest of the game, which doesn't bother to explain its combat, overworld mechanics, scenery, or even controls, that last point being especially aggravating since the PC version of the game replicates touch screen controls with a mouse. I'll give the game the benefit of the doubt and assume the iPad controls are intuitive, but on a mouse, it's not at all logical to click, double click, long click and drag everything to see if there is an effect, especially since the game picks from those interaction methods somewhat randomly, without any logic to what does what.

The result was having to check guides to understand basic actions the character can perform, then making frequent returns to said guides because most of the objectives in the game boil down to interacting in random ways with random things in the scenery you might not even know you can affect. Even the so-called puzzles mostly lack any real logic and fall back to clicking every pixel on the screen until something happens. Not for one single moment while playing was I ever able to immerse myself into the experience.

Now, I’m no stranger to games that require a guide due to the sheer depth of their mechanics, but the problem is that not only is such depth missing here, but immersion is something the game is banking on, as the stars of the show are supposed to be the soundtrack and sound design. They are indeed stellar, so much so that it seems clear that the game was designed around them instead of the opposite. Just barely designed, to a degree that was far from enough. It's impossible to feel immersed into the sounds when the rest of the work is so broken, it pulls you straight into the opposite direction.

And that's sad, because the game has a handful of elements I do like. The game's exploration of the surreal, with a dream realm that's able to affect the real world, is pretty enticing, if poorly used, and combat is by far the most functional system in the game, allowing you to guard, attack and evade with simple inputs. Of course, you're fighting enemies so abstract that a fair amount of guesswork still applies, but hey. Credit where credit is due.

In the end, S&S is a game I had to drag myself into finishing. If it resonates with you, then more power to you -- to me, it's a forgettable, bare-bones experience that I was better off ignoring.

there is a lot about this game that i think is cool as hell-- the ancient caucusus setting, the beautiful backgrounds and color palettes, and the transportational music. however the meat of this game is baffling to me... how is any of it intended to be fun or feel like an adventure? why does even the walkthrough i looked up not understand the reasoning behind the first real puzzle i encountered? why did the writers choose this strange mullet (Fantasy Novel in the Front, Twitter Draft in the Back) of a writing style for every line? the character sprites are ugly and unexpressive, too. i don't know... in the second episode i decided i was bored so i put it down.

The game is pretty. But whatever charm it may have is buried underneath shit gameplay, and a pretentious story with nothing to say. The only positive thing that comes to mind is that it mentioned Al Jaffe once for the fold-in powers, and even then my only response was 'huh, yeah, I know that guy.'
Also the game exits you out to the menu after each chapter - as if it's an intermission - but there is literally zero draw to actually pick up the game again to continue playing it.
The twitter integration is cringe as hell, too. 100% a game designed for some hipster in a gentrified city to play on the bus.

This game made a huge splash in the indie scene thanks to its rocking soundtrack and unique take on mobile games. I have to say Superbrothers uses the tablets and phones unlike any other mobile game out there. It is a breath of fresh air, but in the end is way too short and just leaves a feeling of emptiness and like there was no point in playing it.

You play as a man/boy who is on a quest to destroy an evil being at the top of a mountain called Mingi Taw. You come across a magic tome and must find three triangles to make a Trifecta. The story is pretty thin and there really isn’t much of one there. It’s all about the adventure, music, and unique art style. You tap along this countryside during the first half trying to find your way to a cliffside. After you play for a bit you get a sword and shield and fight your first monster. You turn your phone/tablet sideways to fight, you can block an attack but it’s very simple and not very complicated. There are only a few fights in the entire game. The bulk of the game is made up of using your Sworcery powers to solves little puzzles, but these feel easy and slightly uninspired.

You hold down on your character to enter this mode. You then have to figure out what to tap in order to get the little sprite out of the ground. You need these to advance to the next stage. Sometimes things have to be tapped in order, but it’s not all that hard to figure out. One interesting concept is that you need to find two of these triangles during the bright and dark phases of the moon…in real time. You will have to come back when the phases of the moon are just right and the game will tell you when…or you can just cheat and advance your calendar on your device. If you do this the developers are on to you and they only give you a 99% completion rating for cheating. This is a pretty interesting idea as no other mobile game has done this, but it’s not very significant and feels like a cheap

The only challenging part of the game was the three major boss fights and figuring out where to go. There are almost no hints, sometimes I wandered around forever not knowing what to do. The boss fights require precise reaction times for dodging and attacking and can get pretty tough. You can beat the game in a few short hours if you cheat, but when I finished the game there was no attachment. The characters are just there and there’s not much of a story to get attached to. The music is great, but only during certain scenes or events. I honestly just feel this game is really overrated, it’s good, but not that good. I personally loved the 8-bit retro art style and it’s beautifully done, I just wish there was better gameplay to go with it.

In the end, this is just an odd game that you play for the hell of it. It’s a unique mobile game, yet everything in it feels unnecessary and in the end, you wonder why you played it. There’s nothing here that will keep you talking about it years later, it’s really short, and lacks any challenge or depth. I just like that it took a different approach to game design and that is greatly respected.