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Tightfloss Maiden is a story about an amnesiac waking up in the middle of the desert and her search for her memories, as well as any form of civilization around her. Don't let the generic-sounding plot throw you off, though; this is a very well-made game, and though it does have its fair share of flaws, the strengths that it displays more than makes up for it, making it a satisfying experience by the end of it, leaving you wanting more.
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| Graphics |
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The graphics, although shown improvement over the years of development, are still a bit plain to look at. What clearly stands out, though, are the game's animations. There are plenty of them throughout the game: from physically taking the lid off of a crate to see the contents, to using a grappling hook to get from one end of a chasm to another, animations are varied and always exciting to look at. It's never hard to see exactly what's happening on-screen either, making everything look natural and impressive.
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| Storyline |
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What's interesting about the story is not exactly the story itself, but the way it is presented. You find out at the beginning that you are stranded in the desert with virtually no memory of your past, and your penultimate goal is to find some form of friendly civilization to help you. From there, the story tells itself through its environment. As you trudge through the desert, you'll find various landmarks that show signs of where life used to be. This adds to the game's lonely and moody atmosphere, as do the main character's reactions, which are usually completely believable. The narrative can be a little long-winded for some people, however, so if you don't like reading a lot of text, you might be put off a little. Still, that doesn't mean that anything is ever poorly written, and given the type of game this is (described as a "pointless clickless adventure game"), that is certainly a huge merit.
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| Gameplay |
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As stated before, this has been dubbed more as an adventure game, and like in most adventure games one must use items in their inventory on their surroundings to proceed. The same holds true here: the player will find various objects lying about in their journey, and must use those items by placing them in the last slot of their equipment. This will be used to pry open stubborn doors with a crowbar, using a grappling hook (as stated before), or even something as clever as using a tube of lipstick to mark a cactus to keep yourself from becoming lost in the desert. It's all very wonderfully done, and hopes are high that there will be more of this sort of interaction on future iterations of the game.
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Battle |
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Battles may very well be the game's weakest aspect, sadly. It starts off strong; you begin relatively weak with only a scarce supply of healing items to be found along the way. Two abilities are given to you on the outset, one lowering enemy accuracy while the other lowers defense, and you will be using these quite a bit early on. Unfortunately, the battles become rather easy as you get more powerful, largely because of your ability to completely heal on level-up. Enemies give out enough experience points to keep a constant flow of levels coming, and eventually you won't be needing any healing items, while your skills will be rendered useless because of how little damage you will take and how much you'll be dishing out. This turns the battles into spacebar fights that you'll be breezing through for the sake of healing. It should be noted, though, that as you gain levels you actually become strong enough to automatically kill enemies that attack you on the overworld in one NPC animation. A nice touch.
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Map Design |
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There are two main areas to take note of as one plays Tightfloss Maiden: the overworld, which is the desert that you will be traversing in search of clues and such, and the underworld. The underworld is where most of the battles in the game take place, and is also where treasure and important survival items will be found. Even though it is a bit easy to find yourself lost in the vast areas in the game, you are given plenty of means as to keeping yourself on track (IE: lipstick on the cacti). It's a clever way of bringing what would otherwise be a fatal flaw of map design into being a strong point, as being aimless and lost is often no one's fault but the player's for not using the situation to their advantage, and the environment simulates the feeling of being truly alone as well.
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Balance |
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As stated before, the game's battles need to be more difficult. The player simply loses the need for use of healing items and skills in-battle at one point. It does start off on a good point, so the only objective here would just to keep the momentum going.
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| Music |
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All of the music, save for the title screen, is original and well-composed. It doesn't necessarily try to be orchastral or stand out as catchy, but that wouldn't have set well in the game anyway (save for the song used in the end credits). It instead adds to the atmosphere the game brings, and does so in spades. Without giving anything away, the music played when you find out just what the term "Tightfloss Maiden" means is especially moody and mystic.
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| Enjoyment |
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Players will get their enjoyment from the game's storytelling and pacing, if nothing else. Those, among also the animations and a likable protagonist, truly immerse you into the game's plot and world, which is the end result of a satisfying experience, right up until the game's wonderful ending.
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| Final Blows |
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Tightfloss Maiden is a game that begs to be played from beginning to end. Those who don't play to see it's dramatic and surreal ending are truly missing out, not only for the sake of seeing how it all ends, but for the experiences that it brings you along the way. All in all, this is a highly recommended download.
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I would certainly hope so. |
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Final Scores
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Graphics: 7.5/10.0 |
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Plain by themselves, but the animations more than make up for it.
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Storyline: 8.5/10.0
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Strongest point in the game by far, not really on what is being told, but how. |
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Gameplay: 7.5/10.0 |
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The battles are disappointing because of how powerful you become, but using items on the overworld like in an adventure game is a wonderful feature.
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Music: 7.5/10.0
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Not necessarily memorable, but they do the job. And hey, it's a mostly original score, too. |
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Enjoyment: 9/10.0
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It's the ending of the game that ties it all together niceley. That's what makes the story so well-done, and the narrative only helps to move it along. |
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Overall Grade:
B+ |
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| Final Thoughts |
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Though not perfect, Tightfloss Maiden weaves a wonderful story of immersion, lonliness, and self-discovery. |
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