TASOMACHI: Behind the Twilight
- April 13, 2021
- Orbital Express
Get on Steam"TASOMACHI: Behind the Twilight" is an independently developed adventure game where you play as Yukumo, a young girl exploring a mysterious Far Eastern town. Your airship has broken down, and you must find repair parts while uncovering the mystery behind the town's silent, deserted state. With an Eastern fantasy theme and a beautiful, intricate world to explore, enjoy the game's peaceful atmosphere accompanied by a mystical soundtrack by Ujico*. | 323 characters
Reviews
- Visually stunning with a unique art style that evokes a sense of wonder and tranquility.
- Relaxing gameplay with no combat, allowing players to explore at their own pace and enjoy the atmosphere.
- Charming soundtrack that complements the serene environment and enhances the overall experience.
- Gameplay can feel repetitive and lacks depth, with many puzzles and challenges being too easy or similar.
- Controls are often described as floaty and imprecise, leading to frustration during platforming sections.
- The story is minimal and lacks engagement, leaving players wanting more narrative depth and character development.
- music102 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 47 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The music in "Tasomachi" is generally praised for its relaxing and atmospheric qualities, enhancing the game's visual style and immersion. Composed by Ujico (Snail's House), the soundtrack features a mix of soothing and upbeat tracks that fit well in village areas but can feel out of place in more hectic settings, such as the tree sanctuaries. While many players find the music delightful and a highlight of the game, some note that certain tracks do not align with the game's aesthetic, leading to mixed feelings about the overall cohesion of the audio experience.
“The music is soothing and atmospheric, perfectly matching the game's visual style and enhancing the overall immersion.”
“Music helps create a mood/vibe to help you relax and just enjoy, and the art direction is fantastic with its colors and atmosphere.”
“The soundtrack is amazing.”
“On the other hand, the hectic electronic music for the tree sanctuaries felt wildly out of place.”
“Some (not all) of the background music doesn't fit the game design theme at all; the artist and the musician need serious communication and not doing their own stuff the way they like it then put everything together and call it a day.”
“The pairing of grating, ambient electronic music with the serene, naturist vibe of the artwork just didn't work for me at times.”
- story67 mentions
- 4 % positive mentions
- 84 % neutral mentions
- 12 % negative mentions
The story in the game is largely minimal and feels like an afterthought, with players describing it as light on lore and lacking depth. While it provides a backdrop for exploration and some whimsical interactions, many reviewers noted that the narrative is simplistic and repetitive, often leaving much to the player's imagination. Overall, the game is more focused on gameplay mechanics than on delivering a compelling story, which may disappoint those seeking a rich narrative experience.
“The story unfolds gradually as players explore the world, uncovering fragments of lore and interacting with whimsical characters.”
“In the rich and colorful environment, a lot of the NPC dialogue tells a sorrowful and quite depressing story; one which I feel is an unfitting juxtaposition.”
“There are brief lore scrolls scattered around that give names and clues about the towns and characters, but as with other dedicated exploration games I love, the actual story is left pretty open to your imagination.”
“There's a story, but it feels like more of an afterthought and definitely isn't essential for gameplay.”
“The game has no combat, very little dialogue, and no mystery or plot to solve, so this might not be the game for you if you are looking for a more engaging experience.”
“The storyline can be summed up with three words: there is none.”
- graphics58 mentions
- 38 % positive mentions
- 57 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The graphics of *Tasomachi: Behind the Twilight* are widely praised for their unique blend of cel-shaded visuals and traditional Japanese art influences, creating a charming and serene atmosphere that enhances the overall aesthetic experience. While the environments are described as beautiful and inviting, some critiques point to a lack of detail in certain areas, leading to an "unfinished" feel. Overall, the game's visuals are considered its strongest feature, making it a delightful choice for players who appreciate artistic design over complex gameplay.
“Tasomachi: Behind the Twilight is a charming and visually captivating indie game that stands out for its serene atmosphere and unique aesthetic.”
“The game features a distinctive blend of cel-shaded graphics and traditional Japanese art influences, creating a vivid and enchanting world.”
“The game's art style is very beautiful and oozes atmosphere, and the soundtrack is calming and catchy.”
“The graphics are a bit above average.”
“Okay graphics, good soundtrack, lackluster gameplay and way too short.”
“But by choosing the wrong game dimension and landing on a territory he's not too used to making, the whole 360 3D dimension reveals flaws in the artwork, like bare bone outskirts and a bare looking water body, which if he'd chosen to do these on a much packed scenery, will create immersive art... so yeah the wrong dimension choice resulted in the whole amateur and 'unfinished' feel of the game.”
- gameplay54 mentions
- 19 % positive mentions
- 69 % neutral mentions
- 13 % negative mentions
The gameplay is characterized by smooth platforming mechanics and a focus on exploration and collection, offering a relaxing experience rather than challenging gameplay. While the game features enjoyable traversal abilities and additional content like airship racing, many players find the core mechanics simplistic and repetitive, with a lack of depth in both gameplay and narrative. Overall, it appeals to those seeking a visually pleasing and chill gaming experience, but may disappoint players looking for more engaging or complex gameplay.
“Gameplay is pretty smooth, and after the story is completed, you get access to airship racing.”
“The platforming mechanics are smooth and responsive, allowing for fluid movement and precise jumps.”
“Very relaxing and fun, with the main collectathon mechanics being extremely well designed and satisfying.”
“Overall it's a nice chill game but it feels like they just wanted to get over with publishing the game instead of polishing it and finishing some of the mechanics.”
“The negatives: short, little story, repetitive gameplay.”
“With boring gameplay, no storyline to speak of, and no real clue of what you're supposed to be doing and why, this game has nothing to hold the player past the first hour and nothing to convince them to come back and play again.”
- atmosphere20 mentions
- 60 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 15 % negative mentions
Tasomachi: Behind the Twilight is praised for its serene and visually captivating atmosphere, characterized by soothing music and a unique aesthetic that enhances immersion. The game's art direction and tranquil exploration create a beautiful and peaceful environment, appealing to fans of atmospheric platformers. However, some players note that the gameplay can feel repetitive and empty, which may detract from the overall experience for those seeking more engagement.
“Tasomachi: Behind the Twilight is a charming and visually captivating indie game that stands out for its serene atmosphere and unique aesthetic.”
“The music is soothing and atmospheric, perfectly matching the game's visual style and enhancing the overall immersion.”
“The game's art style is very beautiful and oozes atmosphere, and the soundtrack is calming and catchy.”
“Lots of repetition, story left to imagination, and an atmosphere that leans towards solemn but ultimately bright?”
“I know that this type of game has an audience, but if you’re like me and just want it for the pretty atmosphere, you might want to consider the gameplay before buying.”
“UI's rather basic, has that doujin feel, but I adore the atmosphere and art direction.”
- stability4 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Overall, users report that the game experiences occasional bugs and glitches, particularly with camera angles and photo modes. However, recent updates have improved character responsiveness and reduced camera issues, indicating ongoing efforts to enhance stability.
“It's also a bit buggy at times.”
“There are glitches at certain angles and when taking pictures.”
“The continual updates to the controls and gameplay have made the character more responsive, but the camera is still less stable.”
- grinding3 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious, particularly when it comes to collecting customization items and in-game currency, which can feel repetitive and unbalanced. While none of the achievements are missable, the requirement to farm for currency and complete challenges can lead to frustration, especially towards the end of the game.
“The achievements are a bit grindy, particularly for customization collectibles, which require you to run around collecting money that spawns randomly, but none are missable.”
“There is no voice acting, so all of the story is presented in writing. The only NPCs you interact with are the cats that stand around the three towns. The difficulty scaling for certain puzzles and challenges is a little unbalanced, and to 100% the game, you will need to spend time farming in-game currency for shop items.”
“Towards the end, it just becomes a tedious and quite frankly annoying grind to finish off those last few achievements.”
- optimization3 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 67 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
The game is noted for its solid performance and decent optimization, indicating that it runs well with minimal flaws.
“Overall, it provides solid performance with decent optimization.”
- emotional1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players express that exploring the interactions between unlockable abilities and game mechanics enhances their emotional experience, leading to a profound sense of joy and satisfaction, particularly in the movement aspects of the game.
“Taking the time after initially beating the game to really delve into the interactions between each unlockable ability and all the different mechanics in the game truly made me feel more joy and satisfaction with movement than most other games I've played.”
- character development1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
While the level and character design are praised for their quality, the character development aspect is noted to be lacking, particularly in terms of mechanics and transitions, suggesting a need for improvement in how characters evolve within the game.
