Crunchyroll: Tengami review – “Lovely to look at, but let’s leave it at that”

Table of contents:

Crunchyroll: Tengami Visuals

There’s no denying the irresistible appeal of Japanese-themed aesthetics, in my opinion – I’ve always loved the image of pink cherry blossom petals blowing in the wind, complemented perfectly by a striking red torii gate in the middle of a forest. The painterly art style in Tengami coats the whole thing in an evocative, almost ethereal glow, which is exactly why I was excited to dive into this at first glance.

It’s been out for a while now, but it’s made its way back to mobile thanks to the Crunchyroll Game Vault. That means having access to the subscription service’s library of mobile offerings for the price of admission, and while it’s interesting to see a non-anime-related entry like Tengami in the mix, it’s a shame too given how it didn’t exactly live up to my expectations.

All the elements here – from the minimalist landscape to the heart-wrenching soundtrack – want you to believe that there’s an emotional tale buried deep in there somewhere, so I went into this thinking it had something memorable to offer despite its short one-hour runtime. But all it did was give me eye candy to marvel at and melodies to listen to, which unfortunately weren’t enough to really make an impact on me.

Crunchyroll: Tengami Gameplay

The visuals are the star of the show here, as even the gameplay leaves a lot to be desired. I initially thought the paper-folding mechanic was such an ingenious idea, and it was for a while – you’ll get to swipe through different creases and folds to connect staircases, or flip the pages of the pop-up book you’re in to uncover hidden objects you otherwise wouldn’t see.

While that’s an inspired concept in itself, it’s the execution that falls by the wayside here. Objects you need to tap will emit a glowing effect to show that they can be interacted with, but they’re not exactly the most intuitive (thank goodness there’s a hint system).

Case in point – I had to keep going back and forth across a long, long lake trying to figure out what to do next, only to find out that the fires burning in the background could actually be dragged and dropped to light some stuff up.

And speaking of going back and forth, the needless repetition gets even more tedious because the main character walks excruciatingly slowly. I suppose it’s meant to make you appreciate the scenery around you, but given the frustrating controls, what’s supposed to be exciting becomes more of a chore.

What’s the appeal?

I did find the folds from the pop-up book incredibly interesting – apparently, everything you see here can be recreated IRL, so the accuracy and the faithfulness to the art of paper folding are off the charts. Some clues are hidden within the folds themselves, which adds another dimension of problem-solving to an otherwise run-of-the-mill narrative puzzler.

Now, I can’t end this review without talking about the narrative, especially since I’m always partial to the story a game tells no matter the genre.

You can imagine my disappointment when, after the final pop-up page was turned, there was no satisfying ending to it all, no overarching tale, no rhyme or reason as to why I’ve been struggling to revive a dying cherry tree this whole time. There’s just the abrupt end to the nameless protagonist’s tale, a story that ends as mysteriously as it starts.

I suppose if it’s a symbolism for – much like the sakura petals that bloom and fall – the impermanence of life, I can accept the fact that that’s all there is to it. That we need to move through this world caring for the trees around us, that we go back and forth solving problems that may seem tedious at first glance but actually build our character in the long run. That clues aren’t always as obvious, and that sometimes, the things we’re looking for are right in front of our eyes and we just need to look at them from a different angle – all we have to do is turn the next pop-up page.

Or, it could all simply be that life is a pointless struggle that has no meaning in the end.

And since I refuse to believe the latter, I’ll just have to stick with the profound former – and in that respect, Tengami makes all the sense in the world.