When I first heard of this game late last year, I though it was interesting but as usual with PS Vita games I really couldn’t justify spending the money for it. Getting access to these PS Vita games for free via PS+ is one of the reasons why I love my PS+ subscription. Without it I would have never gotten a chance to play this game and I would have never been able to tell you about it. Here’s what I thought about Murasaki Baby.
Pegged as a “horror” game, I really didn’t see this game as that. I’ve played horror games before, and usually avoid them, and this is not a horror game. That being besides the point, throughout the game you’ll play as yourself and it’s your job to lead the main character “Baby” through weird little worlds that have been developed based on the fantasies and fears of other children in the game. It’s up to you and Baby to help these other children conquer their fantasies and fears and eventually help Baby find her Mommy.
This game was completely different from any PS Vita game that I played before and it only piqued my interest even more as I played. The concept of the game was new and interesting and I went from only wanting to try out the game to playing the game straight through. Throughout the game, you’re basically holding Baby’s hand and leading her through the different levels. Sometimes she’s hesitant to walk depending on the atmosphere and is a little scared and sometimes she’s more then eager to walk with you. The whole concept of holding her hand as well as protecting her balloon and leading her through the levels helps you develop this sort of bond with the character.
The playability of this game is really cool and it’s something that I’ve never experienced before. This game fully utilizes the PS Vita’s front and rear touch screen. You’ll use the front touch screen to hold Baby’s hand and guide her through the levels. You’ll also use the front touch screen to help protect the purple balloon that Baby is carrying throughout the game. Let it pop and you’ll have to start all over again. The rear touch screen is used to change from one atmosphere to the other and then interact with each different atmosphere. While this is extremely clever and hasn’t been done before, it makes holding the PS Vita a little awkward at times. Then there was the problem with the game not saving. After level 2, a message popped up about every 5-10 minutes on my screen saying how the game couldn’t save. This is a serious problem. Even though I played the game straight through, it makes me wonder what would have happened if I didn’t. Was the error message just a fluke or was it real? I don’t know but it’s something that should be fixed within the game.
The graphics for this game were pretty cool and matched the concept of the game perfectly. Each level and each different atmosphere were detailed and fit the small screen of the PS Vita perfectly. I really liked the hand drawn look the game was given an thought it only enhanced the overall gameplay.
There are a total of 11 different trophies for this game. They’re all pretty easy and you can get them in one playthrough as long as you pay attention to the details of the game. Each different character in the game has a house with pictures inside, make sure you look at all the pictures by positing Baby in front of them until she turns and looks at them in order to get the trophies for looking at the pictures. Other then that just play the game and you’ll have a decent amount of trophies to add to your collection.
No multiplayer makes me a happy camper.
Overall I give this game a 3.5 out of 5
What’s Great:
+ New and interesting concept that hasn’t been done before.
+ Full use of the PS Vita’s front and rear touch screen.
+ Nice graphics that are detailed and are perfect for the small PS Vita screen.
What’s Not So Great:
– Using the rear and front touch pad at the same time makes it a little awkward to hold the PS Vita depending on hand size.
– Saving Error message constantly popped up after level 2 and I really have no idea if the game saved or not.
Even though I enjoyed this game, I would say proceed with caution. If you don’t have a full 2-3 hours to devote to this game for one whole sitting I would suggest waiting until you have the free time just in case the game doesn’t save. Not having your game save is a total bummer and I wouldn’t want that to happen to anyone. Other then that this game is pretty neat and if you got it for free with PS+, I would say give it a try. If you didn’t get this game for free, I would say that the $14.99 is a pretty hefty price tag for the game and I would wait for a sale.
1 Broke Gamer Girl 