Parental Advisory:
Broken Age is a game about challenging the norm, and has both lead characters taking a stand for what they believe in, questioning their parents/authority figures, and in Shay's (the boy) case, criticizing his authority figure, an overbearing computer known as "Mom". While the game doesn't seem to intend to encourage defying authority, these things may be worth noting. Also there are a few mildly suggestive jokes, but they're vague and never outright dirty. Finally, I have exhausted almost every line of dialogue in the game in my nearly two play throughs, and have yet to find why the ESRB rated it for mild language.

Now on to the review.

Do you like to point? Do you like to click? Do you like to point AND click...at the same time?? If you answered yes to all of the above, then good for you, you hardcore gamer, you. As you well know, point and clicks are a fast paced (not really) action oriented (not so much) edge of your seat thrill ride (are we even thinking of the same genre?) from start to finish, and only a true adventure seeking soul such as yourself can fully appreciate them and their insanity.

Okay, so back to reality; point and click games --much to my delight-- have made somewhat of a comeback as of late, and with good reason: they're entertaining. While they do maintain a very slow pace and often leave you clicking on anything and everything for an hour at a time, while hearing your character stating over and over again why the action you're suggesting won't work ("Gary doesn't want to grab that"), a well made point and click game is oddly compelling despite such repetition. No, they aren't for everyone, and you may struggle to get into them for a bit, but if you enjoy racking your brain trying to find a solution to a logic puzzle, and you can appreciate a relaxed pace (if you like logic puzzles then you must appreciate a slow pace, right?), then you should find yourself engrossed in a good point and click with ease. Also add to the mix that they typically pack in a good story, and you have a good combination on your hands for a thinker.

But enough about the genre, on to the game itself: Broken Age is easily the most intriguing title to pop up amongst the relatively small Point and Click crowd in recent years, and boasts some interesting concepts such as controlling two characters (with the ability to switch between them at any time) who are in two very different yet oddly similar situations. What is Mog Chathra, and why do Vella's family, friends, and fellow villagers feel that it's acceptable to feed their young maidens to it every fourteen years in order to appease it? Who is Shay, and why is he being cared for by computers on his spaceship? Why is he forced to live in an overly protective environment by his computer who insists on doing everything for him, including bathing him? If you're anything like me, you'll be guessing at these questions for a while, and you won't see the answers to any of them coming until they're dropped on you.


Graphics: 9/10
Excellent.

The first thing you'll notice is that the graphics are hand drawn. Yes, everything is hand drawn, so it looks like you're playing a cartoon. This actually makes the game that much more intriguing, and the appearance fits the game perfectly, and captures a charm about the game that would have been lost on modern three dimensional graphics.

Now the hand drawn approach limits what I have to address, so let's all send Double Fine a thank you email for cutting down my word count and sparing you the headache of reading it all.

The characters are by far the most impressively made part of the graphics, as the talking and gesturing animations are always spot on, and with all of the dialogue in this game, that's no easy task. Seriously, the dialogue here has enough quality and quantity to make an animated film. The animation in general is all very well made actually, and each area in the game is quite charming in it's own right, whether it be the futuristic interior of Shay's ship, or the sandy beaches of Shellmound...or the talking tree in Curtis' yard??? It's all very much appealing to the eye.

The only reason I didn't give the graphics a ten is because I reserve the extra point for games that add that extra wow factor. And while I was highly impressed with the game's appearance, I didn't feel like I could give it that score without letting my bias come through.

Highlights:
-Hand drawn graphics perfectly capture the spirit of the game

-Alluring scenery that never really gets old

-I didn't have much to say


Sound: 9/10
Excellent.

Ah, just shy of a ten again.

The music in Broken Age isn't going to pull you in, rather it just compliments what you see. Think of it like the chirping of crickets during a night time stroll, or the sound of waves while you walk along the beach: these things don't hold you rapt, but they compliment the environment. You hardly notice them, and after a while they just kind of fade into the background, but without them the scene would be oddly empty. So it is with the music here: it isn't memorable per se, but it fits, and the environment wouldn't be the same without it, or with any other tune for that matter.

However the music does step up and take the spotlight at certain moments, especially during climactic action scenes and moving emotional moments. During these times it shines, but the rest of the time it remains contented to stay in the background. A decision I can respect.


The sound effects are spot on, but, much like the music, they only attempt to compliment the game's settings. Nothing special, but nothing bad or out of place.


The voice acting: now this is where the audio really steps it up a notch. The voice acting in this game can be aptly described by no other word than superb. It's like they took the voice actors from Resident Evil and the PS2 port of Winback and told the voice actors for this game "okay guys, these are examples of everything we DON'T want you to do", and viola! The actors took simple comments that didn't amount to anything more than filler, and made them funny. And that's not to say that the dialogue isn't funny or engrossing: it is. Rather I'm saying that the voice acting made it that much more enjoyable.

Seriously, the voice acting in those other games was bad enough to make you wish they'd spent the money they paid the actors on something more desirable...like paying them NOT to do voiceovers in the game.


Highlights:
-Ambient music and effects
-Superb voice acting
-A different voice actor cast than Resident Evil and Winback had, as is indicated by the previous highlight


Story: 10/10
Incredible.

Yes! I finally got to give the game a ten for something! And this ten is far from being biased, the story is just that amazing.

Right from the start I was intrigued by the story: a village that feeds it's young maidens to a monster at a special feast every fourteen years in turn for protection and to be left alone? It eats them alive, and everybody's okay with this?

DID I MISS SOMETHING?!?

Okay. so after my inner meerkat calmed down (bonus points for anyone who gets the reference), I began wondering just how this would play out, and I couldn't put the game down until I found out what happened next. Unfortunately, I felt that way after every story event's end, so I was glued to it for a long time.

Then there was Shay, a young teenage boy who lived the exact opposite life of the girl-turned-monster-snack Vella, in that he was being overly protected. He lived on a spaceship with a computer that monitored his every move and kept him engaging in "missions" that seemed geared toward toddlers. Even his captain's seat was surrounded by toddler toys for controls. Had he ever even seen another human being?

But as these stories began to play out, I began seeing exactly what was going on. Nice try Double Fine, but I see right through your poorly concealed plot twists.

Then act one ended.

Oh wait...what just happened? Say what?? He was...she did...huh? Well played, Double Fine. I have never been so shocked by a plot twist, but the surprises kept on coming! In fact, the surprises kept coming until almost the very last puzzle after the final act.

Trust me, resist the urge to look up any puzzle or story spoilers on this one: you will truly be robbing yourself of something great if you do.

Highlights:
-The whole stinkin' story is a highlight
-Mind blowing plot twists that will actually surprise you


Depth: 7/10
Very Good.

Now allow me to say right off the bat that this is a somewhat generous score for depth as I'm sure you already suspected if you're familiar with Point and Clicks, as such games are extremely linear. In fact, you can only do what you need to do in order to progress from point to point in the average Point and Click game, and Broken Age is no exception.

"So if it's that linear, how does it earn a seven in depth" you ask? Simple: I am very much biased. Also I said that it was linear, not that it had nothing to do. Linearity does not equal shallowness. On the contrary, Broken Age has plenty to do if you're interested in hearing all of the dialogue that each character has to share, seeing all of the reactions you can get by using various items on anything and anyone, and earning all of the trophies. And being the sucker for narrative and exploration that I am, exhausting all possible dialogue options is a must. And if all trophies are to be earned, you can expect it to take at least two playthroughs, if not three.

"So what does it have to offer by way of side objectives" you ask? None. Don't you listen? You do what you must to make the story progress. There's only one solution to each puzzle, you find that solution and perform it. Simple as that. Now stop interrupting me with silly questions.

Highlights:
-Plenty of dialogue and reactions to exhaust
-At least two playthroughs for a completionist. Probably three


Addictiveness: 10/10
Incredible.

"How can a game be that addicting when it's so linear and nothing changes" you ask? Because it has so many different challenges for completionists and trophy seekers, which I am both of, and the addictiveness category is about how likely "you" (the reviewer) are to play it again. I for one plan to play it again after writing this review.

However, I also like to add in how engaging a game is with my addictiveness score, and this game was nothing if not engaging. I found myself coming to this one often, in fact I had to force myself to put it away so that I could do...well, anything else for about a week. Even still I keep playing it almost exclusively, despite the linearity guaranteeing the same general experience each time.

"How many more times are you going to put words in my mouth in order to preface a paragraph" you ask? I think I'm done now. Thanks for asking.

Highlights:
-Highly engaging


Difficulty: 6/10
Challenging.

Point and Click games can be quite challenging on an intellectual level, and Broken Age is often just that. In fact I found myself stumped on Vella's first puzzle, though in hindsight it was a little more obvious than I first realized. And that's the beauty of Point and Clicks: you think so hard for so long, stuck on a frustratingly difficult puzzle, only to realize how obvious and simple the answer was after you finally find it. And after you solve that frustrating puzzle that had you wanting to scream "what am I missing?!?" as you threw your controller and cried, you have an immensely satisfying feeling of accomplishment. It's a very rewarding experience.

But Broken Age manages to make the genre a little more accessible and easier to contend with without ruining the feeling of accomplishment after solving that next puzzle. The game does this in two ways: first, the characters will sometimes drop hints at what you need to do, but some of the hints are very vague and so require you pay attention. Secondly, there's a spot you can touch in the upper right corner of the screen that highlights each object and person that you can interact with, or you can use the right stick to snap your cursor to the nearest interactive object, person, or even exit. This saves you the frustration of scrolling your cursor over every inch of every scene in order to find what you can click on and what you cannot, which makes it easier and far less frustrating, but by no means does it make the game easy.

Highlights:
-Modernizes the genre enough to make it less frustrating without ruining the challenge and experience
-Solving each puzzle is satisfying and very rewarding


Overall: 9/10
Excellent.

A fitting overall score for such a great game. And while Point and Clicks are certainly not for everyone, for a fan of them Broken Age is certain to please. And if you're not familiar with the genre but you can appreciate a great story or some challenging logic puzzles, then this one might be worth checking out. It currently costs $24.99, and yes, it's worth that price tag for fans of the genre. As an added bonus, the game supports cross save between PS4 and PS Vita so you can play at home and on the go.

In short: buy it.

Now, let's go get this good time over with.