The Last Tinker: City of Colors Reviews
A game best played on mute.
What looks like a fun and beautiful spiritual sequel to the DKC64, SM64 and other bright colorful platformers of old, is more of a bland waterings down of an "adventure".
In the end, it's worth a curious glance while keeping its technical failings in mind, or a decent distraction for younger children to play with.
The Last Tinker's colorful art style isn't enough to overcome its tired mechanics and dreadful framerate.
The Last Tinker tries to ape the best platformers out there, but with boring combat and unchallenging gameplay, it's just a dull one.
The Last Tinker is more for the younger gamers out there thanks to the simplified control scheme and almost obscenely bright and garish visual design. The automated platforming is supported by a robust combat system that allows for some quickfire tactical depth when choosing which powers to use on larger groups of enemies; although by the time you have them all the game is pretty much over.
I almost wrote off The Last Tinker within the first couple hours of the game, mostly due to the bug that forced an additional two hours to the beginning of the game. There are redeemable concepts in The Last Tinker, but the entire experience is married by mediocre combat and disappointing audio.
Last Tinker: City of Colors is a solid platformer that fans of the genre will certainly enjoy, although the issues are hard to ignore. An incredibly erratic framerate, little replay value, and the lack of any real challenge throw a few wrenches in the gears, but overall, it's not a particularly bad game, even if you'll never look back once the adventure is over.
Parents looking for an age appropriate adventure for their young gamer should give The Last Tinker a look, others will find it forgettable.
The Last Tinker creates a vibrant and colorful world, but does little else right causing the game to feel unfortunately cold and lifeless. Check it out if you want something bright and cheery, but avoid if you need anything more engaging.
The Last Tinker, despite nailing the aesthetic of the games that inspired it, doesn't have this strength. For every one of its lovely vistas there is an unsatisfying bit of platforming to be done; for every quirky character there is a group of enemies at which to swing some floaty punches.
The Last Tinker is not a bad game, just one that fails to live up to its promise.
Sadly though, despite its charm, The Last Tinker never manages to break out and leave its mark, instead it settles into an entertaining play that is, ultimately, becomes forgettable.
The Last Tinker: City of Colors is like the nicest kid in school. He's not the best athlete or student; he's just nice and because of that, you want to like him. To some extent, you do.
After a while, though, things do begin to get a little samey, with the button-mashy nature of the combat and simple, linear gameplay beginning to wear a little thin. However, for the younger audience, this is a great title to introduce them to, and the story is certainly one to appreciate.
The character designs are rather impressive, with each 'race', for lack of a better term, immediately recognized along with their associated emotion.
The Last Tinker looks like claymation, plays like a simple platformer, and is perfect to enjoy with the family (or by yourself).
The Last Tinker's worldly charm belongs with the colorful and carefree platformers it longs to emulate. Most everything else, on the other hand, feels less poised to be a big time contender and more like a flyweight absently swinging at everything in the way. A heart of gold surrounded by endless color makes it all easier to swallow, but you're left wondering what could have been had The Last Tinker's gameplay come on as strong as its presentation.
For a game that I knew nothing about until maybe a few days before release, The Last Tinker: City of Colors really did surprise and impress me, even with some of it's hiccups. What you have is a colorful and vibrant world full of cute inhabitants, quirky moments, and a great done soundtrack that do enough to keep you interested. This is the perfect example of a game that you could called a jack of all trades but a master of none. The combat, platforming, and puzzle solving are all serviceable game play elements that function well without being spectacular. Each section is just good enough. With over 10+ hours of game play, it is longer than I expected but has almost zero replay value to speak of. The Last Tinker: City of Colors is a throw back game that provides gamers with a simple approach to fun and it works.
The Last Tinker: City of Colors is a fun and insignificant way to spend seven to 10 hours with your PS4. The game will remain most memorable for me because of the way it never could decide who it was meant for—Kids? Adults? Teens? Super-coordinated babies?—rather than for graphical or gameplay reasons.