Together (Switch Review): At Last
After seeing the character selection with the obvious nod to Rick and Morty, Together got off to a bad start. Especially as the character name is Drunk Scientist.
Then the annoying music kicked in and the recollection that this is a co-op game. Not off to a good start, but I select two characters with the reservation of controlling both. Nope. If you also lack friends, you can play Together alone. Wahey!
The music didn’t help, nor did the art style or animation, but I’ll give it a chance. A couple of hours later of ‘who can I unlock next’, patience has paid off, and I’ve been enjoying this platformer from Ultimate Games.
Together (Switch Review)
In fairness, no patience was necessary as it didn’t take long to get into the platforming action. The incentives of unlocking characters and skills made it an addictive experience, but the game did take its toll on my eyeballs.
It’s not the colour choice; it’s all relatively bright and funky, but the contrasting textures and parallax scrolling made me feel like a pensioner during an optician test. Characters wobble as if they were fastened by butterfly clips at the joints, and it feels very uneasy.
Then why is it I couldn’t put it down? Again, that incentive to unlock new characters and items was definitely near the top, but it was also down to how intuitive the game feels. Wall climbs and double jumps appear here, as they should, but each character has their own little playstyle and ‘distinguishing features’.
Gotta Collect ’em All
I soon realised that the game wasn’t desperately trying to grab my attention when I unlocked ‘Ash’ from Pokèmon. I’m not a fan, but I know who he is. Reading the character descriptions of these characters (because they aren’t licensed), it’s all a bit tongue-in-cheek and plays into the general silliness of it all.
Combat is melee or ranged, but you have support attacks, such as freezing time, which can occasionally make things better
Enemy AI isn’t anything to write home about, and you can storm through a lot of the levels, capturing colour crystal thingy-majigs. The real challenge of this game is the increasing threat of environmental hazards.
Together starts friendly enough with an easy introduction to sharp, pointy things on the floor that you can more or less step over. Still, before you can say “subscribe to Vulgar Knight’s YouTube channel“, these spikes are appearing on the sides of the wall and ceilings, all the while stationary explosive barrels are waiting for your caress to eventually explode in your face. Sexy.
Get A Life
When you lose all your hearts, a.k.a. health, you die. It’s not a new concept, but as soon as your first character is worm food, the next one goes up, giving you a little buffer to complete the stage.
But…. you could make it even better by enlisting a friend or guilt trip siblings/your children. Neither of mine wanted to play it at first glance, but threatening them with ‘go to your room’ and other blackmailing tactics, they soon enjoyed the experience through their free will.
There are a dozen of characters to unlock, and their special movements (such as a roll or time reverse) can only be unlocked through progression. You could argue that it locks you into the game, but when you’re given all the options from the beginning, it’s simply not as much fun. It’s a sense of achievement to win your characters. At least, that’s my rhetoric.
Together Switch Review Summary
This is quite a short Together review, and I’ll be pretty surprised if you’ve found this on your own merit. It’s not the best title for searches on the internet. Still, considering the positive feeling this gave me and the addictive yet challenging gameplay, and multiple unlocks, I’d say you can’t go wrong with the price. Check it out.