Chances are you’ll pay attention to the EpiXR video games that seem on the Xbox Retailer each month. Typically known as Paper Flight, different instances Homicide Diaries or Lifetime of Fly, and really, fairly often Aery, these are all variations on the identical theme. You slowly – ever so slowly – fly round 3D environments attempting to find feathers, lights and balloons, watching a tally tick down as you do. A soothing soundtrack performs and you might be lulled right into a floaty sleep.
Over years of reviewing them, we’ve given the identical suggestions: it might be beautiful if issues modified, even just a bit. The video games share environments and fashions between them, which we’re certain is smart from an EpiXR viewpoint, however makes for a massively repetitive expertise each month. The gameplay doesn’t shift a lot, if in any respect. And, virtually like clockwork, every sport will discover a new approach to be damaged. We’d huff and put our controller down after every assessment and want they’d simply decelerate and repair the rattling issues.
Paper Flight – Past Time retains many issues the identical. It’s the identical Paper Flight gameplay as all the opposite Paper Flight video games: nothing’s altering there. There are nonetheless game-breaking bugs – sigh! – which we’ll disclose somewhat later. However, you recognize what? One thing important has modified. And it’s for the constructive, too. It’s about seven steps ahead and 6 steps again, however you recognize, it’s progress.
You’ll be able to probably see the distinction within the screenshots. Paper Flight – Past Time is surprisingly, confusingly, beautiful. An artwork director over at EpiXR Video games has someway satisfied his execs to strive one thing new: a 3D modelling model that appears actually fairly beautiful. It knocks The Lord of the Rings: Gollum right into a cocked hat. We even flew round ranges like an historic elven grove and wished we may spend extra time there, maybe even hopping round as a Necromancer in Diablo.
Gone are the sharp, blocky polygons which have outlined the sequence. Of their place are detailed (occasionally) ranges that maintain as much as scrutiny. There are caveats, certain – there’s a good quantity of pop-in, and a few ranges are bleached out to the purpose of being onerous to take a look at – however the high quality bar has been shifted up multiple notch right here. This can be a constancy revolution.
It comes with a weird ‘however’, although. Whereas the degrees are shiny and fairly, they’re similar in format to different ranges within the sequence. A homely, Christmassy lounge is ported straight from Paper Flight – Velocity Rush, right down to the person placement of baubles on the Christmas tree. Clearly somebody has painstakingly improved each final current and briefcase, however then changed them the place they had been, like they had been recreating the Ship of Theseus. It’s like EpiXR had religion of their artwork staff to enhance all the pieces, however to not make new ranges.
Which will get us right into a speculative principle based mostly on completely nothing. Is it doable that AI is concerned? We apologise prematurely to artists who probably slogged by creating these lovely areas, however since this can be a filter utilized to already present ranges, you do should marvel if a generative robotic obtained concerned. However we digress.
Paper Flight – Past Time, then, turns into an train in ‘acquainted however completely different’. You should have performed virtually all of those ranges earlier than (an elven grove and medieval palace had been the one ones failing to ring bells), in precisely the identical layouts. However they do look dashing.
All the pieces else is precisely the identical. Oh, truly, not all the pieces: Paper Flight – Past Time comes with an try to shoehorn a narrative into the Paper Flight template. It doesn’t work within the slightest. Apparently, your paper airplane is a time-traveling hero, out to cease an invasion of alien balloons earlier than they take over our timeline. It performs out a bit like The place in Time is Carmen Sandiego?, as you arrive in a time interval and slap your knee as a result of Carmen – sorry, the balloon lord – has already moved on to the subsequent period. It’s ridiculous and terrible, and desperately wanted a tongue within the cheek. It’s performed fairly straight and gave us a couple of giggles.
The gameplay continues to be as conceptually defective as all the opposite Paper Flight video games. It made us marvel why they went for a graphical overhaul on this sequence, of all issues. It’s the worst sequence they’ve, in our humble opinion, however they maintain persisting with it.
In every degree are some balloons, now dazzling of their brightness so that you undoubtedly can’t miss them. You float in direction of these balloons and pop them so you possibly can construct up a ‘cost’ bar. Additionally within the degree are demon-horned balloons, and it’s a must to pop every of those to finish the extent. However you possibly can’t pop them in the identical approach because the generic balloons: it’s a must to faucet A and use a few of your cost, ramming them into oblivion. With the entire demon balloons gone, you get one other wave, then one other, and the extent is finished.
Why is Paper Flight the worst of the EpiXR IP? Firstly it’s hellishly gradual. That’s widespread to all their IP, however the others include a speed-up button. In Paper Flight – Past Time, you solely get the cost bar, and because you need to preserve that cost for the enemies, you might be shifting at sluggish speeds all through. Secondly, the demon balloons are washed out and uninteresting, making them extremely onerous to identify. The builders clearly assume this can be a good factor, so place them subsequent to areas the place they camouflage. So, you’re shifting very slowly round rooms, halls and groves, in search of the final balloon which has been hidden from sight.
Thirdly? The wave construction means you’re looking the identical areas again and again. You may assume you’ve exhausted each nook and cranny of a pirate captain’s cabin, however then Wave 3 hits, and also you’re scouring it once more. It’s flagrant game-lengthening for the sake of it, and it makes us unhappy in our faces.
You probably need to know concerning the bugs. This time spherical, we get a BOGOF deal. There’s a game-breaking one within the twelfth degree. You’ll crash incessantly, and no quantity of uninstalling and reinstalling will type it. We’re but to finish it, however there may be phrase from the Trueachievements boards that some have managed it. You may be fortunate. There’s additionally a brand new bug, as a result of EpiXR like to seek out new ones with every sport. The paper airplane is positioned otherwise on the display screen in every degree. It was connected to the body of the sport display screen on a few ranges, and meant that we needed to intention above balloons to pop them, not truly hitting them within the visible sense. It’s not a gamebreaker, however it’s undoubtedly one thing that ought to have been noticed on a QA go.
So many steps ahead, so many steps again. We’ve tallied them up, and we predict Paper Flight – Past Time (nearly) emerges into the black. An entire graphical overhaul works wonders and bodes nicely for all future EpiXR floating video games. However the magic wand has been wafted over all the identical ranges, after which somebody has tripped over and damaged a degree or three.
Paper Flight – Past Time is a good-natured try to reinvent the franchise, however it doesn’t half really feel like somebody gave up midway by that try.
