Degrees of Separation Review: Puzzles are for Lovers

Degrees of Separation is a coop puzzle solving game. Created by relative newcomer Moondrop, the game features a beautiful, hand drawn visual style and a decent sound track.

The game revolves around two opposing characters with magical powers: Ember a fire spirit and Rime an ice spirit. The game starts with their meeting, when the two fall in love at first sight and, due to their fundamentally opposing natures, must embark on a quest to learn more about the other and determine if they can actually coexist together. This theme of separation and incompatibility is represented in game by the "barrier" separating them: the two players can't physically touch each other.

The game is a puzzle platformer where you must use the special powers of both characters (and the barrier between them) to solve each puzzle. For example, Ember will sink to the bottom of any body of water she comes across, while Rime must run across the top because he freezes it solid.

The game's narrative is actually pretty thin. The two characters never actually have a line of dialogue and the story is told by a narrator. Our protagonists explore a crumbling ancient castle which contains doors to other words. Each world they enter modifies the pairs' powers slightly which keeps their abilities and the puzzles in that world fresh and interesting.

In one word, they are able to solidify the barrier that separates them and walk on it, in another they can make the barrier explode when they get too close together, in another they find an enchanted cloak that they can swap between them which suppresses their powers.

The whole game is written very much like a parable on relationships intended for children. The narrator describes each puzzle as an allegory for a pair of people first discovering they might have chemistry together and learning to work together through the complexities of being in a relationship together.

The puzzles can be challenging. There's a fair number of easy ones but several are so complicated I never figured out how to solve them. All puzzles don't have to be solved in the game. You need a certain number of scarves (which you get from solving puzzles) to open the door to the next world so once you have that number, you can move on.

There's no way to die, so the game is very easy in that sense. There is a villain presented in the story in the form of a dragon but it's pretty unclear who it is or what it wants. The dragon is vanquished at the end of every world they visit by solving a puzzle and the dragon seems like a pretty unnecessary afterthought that doesn't add anything to the story.

The world is beautiful to look at and the story, while simple, is fairly endearing but the story is also very very thin. We don't really learn all that much about the world we find ourselves in. We never learn what happened to the man who built the castle or what the significance of all the scarves is or what the dragon is about.

The focus of the story is tightly on our two characters but I use the term "character" charitably. Ember and Rime really aren't characters in the traditional sense, and they don't have a romance. They are visual representations of the contrasting natures of two people in a developing romance. They have no personality and serve as simple stand ins for the player to project onto.

In the final world of the game, the two finally manage to dissolve the barrier separating them but at the cost of their magic powers. This puts them through a fairly brutal series of puzzles. They move much slower now, don't jump as high, and struggle through each puzzle since their only real power now is the ability to give each other a boost onto higher platforms now that they can actually touch one another. Allegorically, this change in game play is actually a great idea symbolizing their new dependence on one another, and the narrator (unsubtlely) points out that they have had their wish granted but without understanding the cost.

Once the dragon in the final world is vanquished the two are given a choice: walk through a door that leads to a life together without their magic or walk through two different doors and return home alone with their magic restored. Whichever you pick, you'll be given a short cut scene.

Degrees of Separation is a charming little platformer that is probably intended for children or couples to play as a lark. It clearly believes it has a statement to make about relationships but the narrative is pretty thin. The puzzles can be surprisingly difficult and this game can be a welcome distraction for any puzzle enthusiast. The emphasis on full coop play is unusual for a puzzle platformer and its uniqueness makes it a welcome addition to the market.

The game design is very creative and the game religiously follows the traditional game design mandate: "Do, don't show" to demonstrate its themes. However the thin narrative and lack of characters reduces what could be a really excellent game into a merely pleasant one.

Degrees of Separation is worth picking up and playing, if only because of its genuine creativity and beautiful visuals. This isn't a major break out game for its studio but I'll be following developer Moondrop in the future to see what else it can produce. Final Score: 6/10