ember e Rime are the protagonists of Degrees of Separation, title developed by Moondrop to Modus Games characterized by a truly inspired graphic style based on the theory of "Degrees of separation", according to which each person can be connected to any other person (or object) through a chain of relationships and bonds (with up to five intermediaries). Love is a topic that, when faced in video games, burns the heart and soul more than in any other entertainment media. Think for example of the splendid pixel-art adventure “To the Moon”, by Freebird Games, a title that literally grabs the most intimate emotions related to love and melancholy and nails them to the wall, not giving way to the splendid ending. Degrees of Separation has one element in common with To the Moon: the two protagonists are not destined to meet (at least in the initial premises, we will certainly not reveal the endings).
In Degrees of Separation his and hers fates touch each other, they have no sense of existing alone, but they can't cross. The two young protagonists, at the same time divided by a thin invisible line and indissolubly united to worlds so different in terms of temperature, fight with all their strength and skills to finally be able to meet. They do this by asking the player to solve environmental puzzles embedded in the mechanics of a slow-paced two-dimensional platformer.
To be solved, the puzzles will have to be "attacked" by brilliant intuitions, all based on an eternal contraposition: not that between love and hate, or between good and evil, but between the cold and hot, between frost and heat. The narrated events are wrapped and intertwined on this eternal contrast, and where diving into a lake may not lead to any progress, the choice to cross it once its surface has frozen could prove to be a winning choice. One world after another, the story told by a delicate woman's voice will come together to solve each puzzle, whose difficulty, well calibrated, will be regulated by an inspired and brilliant crescendo, at least as much as the hand that traced the contours of the beautiful game worlds and given birth to smooth animations e, we would dare to say, "Poetic".
Degrees of Separation has a duration of approximately 6 hours and can be played in single or in multiplayer, online or local. The Artificial Intelligence that regulates the movements of the second protagonist, in the case of a single game, has unfortunately not completely convinced, due to a certain "passion" shown for getting stuck in certain points of the scenario, forcing the player to switch continuously between one and the other, even when there should be no need. But this just described is the only drawback of a gameplay sector that, especially in multi, manages to give enormous satisfaction, thanks to ingenious puzzles that only on a few occasions alternate with other much more banal ones.
Water that freezes and then returns to flow fluidly, vegetation that freezes and then returns to breathe in the rays of the sun, an icy wind that can transform itself into a pleasant golden breeze at sunset. It is a poem translated into a puzzle, this Degrees of Separation, and we only wished that the emotions transmitted by the characters had been more intense and unforgettable, because only on a few occasions do events take an unexpected turn and inflame our hearts: often instead the rhythm is too linear, and you risk being carried away by the current, with the hope that the chill of boredom will not embed in a cold diamond of ice the emotions that short and rapid, like small flames moved by the wind, strike the eyes and heart of the player. They do it, yet… The emotions affect us, but not as often as we would have liked.
Degrees of Separation therefore turns out to be an inspired two-dimensional platformer, both from an artistic point of view and in terms of gameplay, thanks to its well-structured and never too banal puzzles. Unfortunately, Moondrop's work stops one step away from the decisive leap, what could have turned it into a small masterpiece, because in the most important moments, when the flames should burn the hearts and hearts of the players, it gives way to the icy wind of an emotion that was born too quickly and became ashes unexpectedly. An exciting missed opportunity, we wouldn't know how best to describe it.
