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The Gardens Between Review


Eliwood8

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2116704476_GardensBetweenlogo.jpg.cf4f064ff78cbabf2bc925ddbe5ba82c.jpgWhere else but in the realm of indie gaming could you find a game that so beautifully leverages a unique puzzle concept with a serene yet emotional story? The Gardens Between, created and published by Australian developer The Voxel Agents, sends players on a touching journey into the shared memories of its two protagonists where, instead of controlling the characters directly, you manipulate time, moving forward and backward to solve puzzles and overcome obstacles. This intriguing mechanic and beautifully surreal world make The Gardens Between a wonderfully entrancing puzzle experience.
 
The Gardens Between follows Arina and Frendt, neighbors and childhood friends who are swept into a dreamlike world made up of their memories of spending time together. The story is told entirely through the game's gorgeous visuals but even without any text or dialogue the game does a fantastic job of gradually revealing the bonds of these two characters, which is also reflected in the gameplay as you need both of them to solve puzzles. The theme of friendship, particularly childhood friendship which represents a certain ease and simplicity that is reminiscent of lazy summer days and an abundance of free time, is an easy emotional anchor for any player to relate to in order to care about these characters, making the story's conclusion quite affecting. It's a touching journey, one that is handled beautifully through the game's aesthetic and style.
 
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The gameplay is, at its heart, a puzzle game with the goal of reaching the end of each level, but the time manipulation mechanic makes things a little more unique in The Gardens Between. By moving time forward our protagonists will walk forward toward the goal, but in order to overcome obstacles you'll need to rewind a bit, sometimes changing the scenery to make a clear path. In addition to just reaching the goal you'll need to ensure Arina is carrying a light in her lamp, which can be snuffed out by obstacles that you'll need to avoid by rewinding time and making new paths. Successfully solving each stage means carefully observing how your time manipulations affect the environment and create opportunities for you to bring our protagonists and a lit lamp to the summit of each level.
 
This description may make the game sound more complicated than it is, but one of the beautiful things about The Gardens Between is how easy it is to pick up. The controls are essentially limited to moving time forward or backward or interacting with specific highlighted objects, so it's easy for any player to jump right into the game. That doesn't mean that the game is overly simplified, though. There are plenty of good challenges to enjoy here, puzzles that are genuinely clever—more than once I found myself, after finding the correct solution, charmed by a clever puzzle that puts the game's time manipulation mechanics to great use. There's something delightfully satisfying about seeing all of the pieces of a puzzle come together, and The Gardens Between captures that feeling perfectly when you see your time manipulations create a perfect chain of cause and effect that leads to the goal.
 
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Time mechanics in a puzzle game can offer a huge variety of puzzles and can easily fall into overly complicated tedium, but The Gardens Between finds the right balance of clever concepts that challenge the player without overwhelming them. Part of this is due to the fact that each stage is relatively short and often includes checkpoints that you can't go back through, so even when you're lost there is only a small range of options and tools to work with which guides the player into examining the scenery carefully. By focusing on just a couple of gameplay mechanics in short stage sections The Gardens Between lets you focus on the problem at hand.
 
This gameplay philosophy makes it easy to progress through the game—perhaps even too quickly, as soon enough you'll reach the end of the game, and it'll feel like you only just began! In fact, if there's any issue with the game at all its the short length of the adventure, which can be finished in a single afternoon (assuming you don't get too stuck on puzzles). To be fair the game doesn't feel artificially short, rather the game is so engaging that it's a shame it isn't longer, and the time manipulation puzzle mechanics are so clever that they could easily be used in even more puzzles. As it is though, The Gardens Between is still a decent-length game—you'll just be eager for more even as it ends.
 
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From start to finish The Gardens Between is a beautiful looking game, which might seem a little surprising considering each stage takes place on a self-contained island. But the storybook-style scenery with its surreal objects is absolutely gorgeous, combining a simple style with eye-catching details and a color palette that perfectly captures the dreamy quality of this journey through memories. The art in this game is just completely charming and the perfect setting for a game that offers a heartfelt exploration of friendship in a relaxed puzzle setting. Of course, a big part of establishing that atmosphere comes from the soundtrack, which is also a spot-on choice for the dreamlike visuals and story. It's a soft ambiance soundtrack that sets the right mood for a thoughtful puzzle adventure—ideal background music for this game. And be sure to stick around during the credits for the closing song, which puts a touching cap on the end of this game.
 

The Gardens Between is an unmissable puzzle adventure, one that blends clever gameplay mechanics, a heartfelt story, and beautiful art and music into an emotionally affecting game. Players will no doubt be drawn in by the game's charming aesthetic and stick around for the delightfully unique time manipulation puzzles, but it's the game's visual storytelling that is the heart and soul of the adventure. Although the game ends all too soon, The Gardens Between is a beautifully thoughtful experience, the likes of which you won't find anywhere else.

 
Rating: 8 out of 10 Gardens
 
Review copy provided by the publisher
 
The Gardens Between will be available on the Switch eShop on September 20th for $19.99.
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