Tearaway Unfolded
Tearaway Unfolded is a 2015 platform-adventure game developed by Media Molecule and Tarsier Studios and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 4. Announced at Gamescom 2014, the game released worldwide in September 2015 (October in Japan), is an expanded remake of the 2013 PlayStation Vita game Tearaway, which had been originally developed by Media Molecule.
| Tearaway Unfolded | |
|---|---|
Cover art for the "Crafted Edition" of Tearaway Unfolded, featuring the female protagonist Atoi | |
| Developer(s) | Media Molecule Tarsier Studios |
| Publisher(s) | Sony Computer Entertainment |
| Designer(s) | Rex Crowle |
| Composer(s) | Kenneth C M Young Brian D'Oliveira |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 4 |
| Release |
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| Genre(s) | Platformer, adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
The game takes place in a vibrant storybook-type world made entirely out of paper. The player gains control of either Iota or Atoi, a messenger tasked with delivering a letter to a portal in the sky called 'the You', which has mysteriously been opened. Along the way, the messenger must save the world from Scraps, small villainous creatures which are invading the paper world via the opening to cause disruption.
Tearaway Unfolded's gameplay revolves around environmental platform interaction, creativity and customizability, confrontations with Scraps and other antagonistic creatures, mini-quests issued by non-playable characters, and finding collectibles. The player, who controls several aspects of the world in a god-like fashion, navigates the messenger through the environments by changing the landscape. For example, in order to help Iota/Atoi advance through a specific section, the player may have to trigger bounce pads, rotate platforms, illuminate objects, cast gusts of wind, or hurl objects, to trigger the solution and allow progression. The player is tasked with designing objects for use in the game's world, which are mostly used to solve people's problems or requests, but may also be used for decorative purposes. The messenger is given several helpful tools over the course of the game, which introduce new gameplay mechanics, and, among other things, allow for alternate methods of traversal.
Upon release, Tearaway Unfolded was met with a positive critical reception. Critics mostly praised the game's controls, visuals, characters, and world design. Some critics disliked the emphasis on optional controllers, while others felt that the original PlayStation Vita version was a more personal experience, and therefore, better overall. However, it was a commercial failure.