My preferred genre of games are RPGs. Specifically JRPGs, but I’m generally not picky. As a rule, these tend to be complex affairs, full of text and menus, choices and challenges. I can’t rightly say why they tend to appeal to me in terms of gameplay, because I’m not necessarily someone who likes complexity. What I do like, however, is a good story. RPGs tend to be the best at telling stories in my experience, but they’re not the only vectors. It’s why I retain a soft spot for any game that manages to tell a story in the most minimalistic way possible. Journey is a perfect example of this, but it’s far from the only one. Last night, I had the pleasure of adding another title to this illustrious list: Entwined.

From start to finish, I don’t think Entwined took me more than a couple of hours to complete. But those two hours were completely absorbed by this game. It’s like that episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, where Picard lives an entire adult lifetime in the space of a few seconds, only not quite so dramatic. Entwined doesn’t quite manage to infuse me with years of experience, but it does achieve a level of immersion that few games manage to accomplish.

Entwined is a simple game by any metric. You play as an orange fish and a blue bird, controlled via the left and right analog sticks, respectively. Each has freedom of movement in their own semi-circular area, with the left being taken by the fish and the right by the bird. The gameplay involves you flying through what is effectively a tunnel, using the analog sticks to position your colour-coded characters as they move through a series of circles, ensuring they hit their matching coloured segments. Occasionally, you’ll encounter a green segment, which indicates that you need to fly through it using both the fish and the bird, who turn green when they almost touch. Normally, this means having them meet at the top or the bottom of their semi-circles.

In between these circles, you collect orange or blue coloured gems / balls of light (the game doesn’t specify) which fill two respective meters at the top of the screen. Failing to hit the appropriate segments results in these meters emptying, like health bars. When both meters are full, however, you press L1 and R1 to begin the process of joining together. Assuming you don’t miss any more segments, the two meters will meet and your fish and bird will join together to become a sort of dragon-thing. From there, you have to fly around and collect some more orbs in a free-roaming environment for a bit, filling up another bar. When that hits full, you press L1 and R1 again to “skywrite” some colours behind you until the bar empties. You’re then presented with a portal to the next level, of which there are 9 in total.

You’d be forgiven if you think this sounds boring. Unfortunately, this isn’t really a game that you can adequately describe in words. Videos would help, but they’re a pale substitute for actually playing the game. This is something of a problem when it comes to games like this: they don’t really lend themselves towards standard reviewing methods. I try to stay away from the whole “games as art” issue, but it’s sort of like trying to describe a painting or a song in words. Possible, doable, but you lose a lot in the translation unless you’re boringly specific.

Luckily, you can level praise or criticism just fine using words, so I’ll stick to doing that.

Entwined is a beautiful game, both visually and aurally. Each level has its own theme to it, so each feels different. The segments themselves change to match the mood, with some being chaotically placed and others being sweeping and melodious. The music is excellent, though I found it tended to fade from my attention as I focused on the trickier elements of the later levels. Controls-wise, the game felt responsive and accurate most of the time. There were certain segments in one or two levels that I had trouble with, but not due to a lack of reaction on my part. The controls simply didn’t move fast enough when following the game’s own instructions, which specifically state that the characters are best moved at the edges of their semi-circles. For about 90% of the game, this is true, but not all the time. Fortunately, the game is forgiving and simply lets you try again, never stopping the trip through the tunnel.

I say “never stopping”, but that’s not completely accurate, either. Every time I was “joining” near the end of a level and managed to fail enough that the two would be separated again (by missing enough segments), there was noticeable lag. The game would stutter for a moment as it processed the altered gameplay state, before continuing. Entwined is a game that thrives on fluidity in everything; break that flow and the game almost seems shocked at your audacity. Failing is like breaking a guitar string or spilling some paint.

Mechanically, there’s not much more to say about the game. Like so many other “arty” games, it’s more about the more esoteric qualities. How Entwined makes you feel is much more important (and relevant) than other, more traditional elements. So let’s look at that.

Entwined made me feel, by turns, frustrated and elated. Most of the game is you almost literally jumping through hoops. When you miss those hoops, it pisses you off, especially if it’s more than one in a row. You could be a single segment away from completing a level, but if you miss even one slice, you’re kicked back a stage and now you have to successfully navigate two segments. Miss another? Maybe that’s three now, or more if you missed with the same colour twice. It rankles all the more when you know that it’s most likely due to your own lack of fine control.

But the elation comes when practice makes perfect. This is the first game in a long time that’s made me actually exclaim “Yesssssss” – complete with the drawn out S’s – when I got through a particularly tough level. I felt compelled to press on and complete everything in one sitting. Most of the time, this would be due the story in a game, but not with Entwined. It definitely has a story, but it relies on the gameplay to tell it. Not through words, but emotions.

The frustration of being apart and having to jump through hoops to be together. The elation of finally being one and the joy of that brief existence. The inevitability of their eventual separation once again. In Entwined, the story and the gameplay are one and the same.

I’m glad I bought Entwined. Despite its minor quirks and flaws, it’s a brilliant little game for those that like this sort of thing. If your idea of games doesn’t extend to include titles like this, that’s fine – this game isn’t for you. But if you enjoy experiences that are more than just platforms or menus, ammo counters or zombies, you’ll love what Entwined has to offer.

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