Murasaki Baby

Last updated
Murasaki Baby
Murasaki Baby cover.jpg
Developer(s) Ovosonico
Publisher(s) Sony Computer Entertainment
Director(s) Massimo Guarini
Designer(s) Massimo Guarini
Programmer(s) Massimiliano Pagani
Composer(s) Gianni Ricciardi
Akira Yamaoka [1]
Platform(s) PlayStation Vita
Release
  • NA: September 16, 2014
  • PAL: September 17, 2014
  • JP: September 25, 2014
Genre(s) Puzzle-platform
Mode(s) Single-player

Murasaki Baby is a side-scrolling puzzle-platform game developed by Italian video game company Ovosonico for the PlayStation Vita. [2] The game was designed by Massimo Guarini [3] who previously worked on Shadows of the Damned .

Contents

Gameplay

The game's art direction follows the style of Edward Gorey. The titular character, known only as "Baby", is a young girl with an upside-down face. She carries a heart-shaped balloon, as do the other characters that Baby encounters throughout the adventure. Popping the other characters' balloons (via a tap on the Vita's touch screen) unlocks additional powers via different level backdrops. Up to three additional backdrops are unlocked on each level, and can be swapped at any time via a swipe of the Vita's rear touchpad. Many of the game's puzzles require quick shifting between various backdrops/powers in order to proceed.

The game world is a world populated by children's fantasies and fears. Using the Vita touch screen, the player must guide Baby through the world by "holding" her hand and guiding her throughout the game. [4]

Reception

Metacritic, a review aggregator, rated the game 69/100 based on 48 reviews. [5] Hardcore Gamer rated it 4.5/5 and wrote, "Every Vita owner needs to experience Murasaki Baby. By creating a personal and engaging story, all while wrapping it in a hypnotically original art design, Ovosonico have gone where most other developers fear to tread." [6] Eurogamer rated it 8/10 and wrote, "Yes, the touch controls sometimes work against it and, like Baby, the game occasionally stumbles over its own feet, but for the most part it walks the fine line between the weird and the wonderful with aplomb." [7] IGN rated it 7.5/10 and wrote, "Filled with interesting ideas, Murasaki Baby's dazzling animation and unique approach to platforming are enticing. Moving Baby around with the spotty touch controls can be frustrating, but this short confection is sweet enough while it lasts." [8] GameSpot rated it 7/10 and wrote, "Controlling Murasaki Baby can be tiresome, and your hands are too often covering the dazzling, shadowy vistas that provide such a distinctive personality. Still, this often-touching adventure is too great an audio-visual treat to discount." [9] Game Informer rated it 6/10 and wrote, "Murasaki Baby is a weird little game about a weird little girl lost in a weird-looking world. Once you get past its Hot Topic aesthetic, it’s a breezy puzzle game that’s challenging in all the wrong ways." [10]

Related Research Articles

<i>Wario: Master of Disguise</i> 2007 video game

Wario: Master of Disguise is a platform game developed by Suzak and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. The game was released on January 18, 2007 in Japan, and on March 5 in North America. Its Japanese title, Phantom Thief Wario the Seven, refers to the fact that he has seven "forms". The game was released on the Wii U's Virtual Console in PAL regions and Japan in 2015 and North America in 2016.

<i>LittleBigPlanet</i> Puzzle platform video game series

LittleBigPlanet is a puzzle platform video game series created and produced by British developer Media Molecule and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Most games in the series put a strong emphasis on user-generated content and are based on the series' tagline "Play, Create, Share". The tagline represents the three core elements of the series: playing alone or with others locally or online, creating new content using the in-game creation tools, and sharing creations and discoveries online with other players.

<i>Silent Hill: Book of Memories</i> 2012 dungeon crawler video game

Silent Hill: Book of Memories is a 2012 dungeon crawler video game developed by WayForward Technologies and published by Konami. Released for the PlayStation Vita, it is a spin-off of the Silent Hill video game series. It features a player-created protagonist who receives the titular book on their birthday, which contains their entire life story, and makes changes to it with unforeseen and often unfavorable consequences. Book of Memories features gameplay elements from role-playing games: as the player character traverses the dungeons and defeats monsters there, they gain experience points and thus improve their respective abilities. The character progresses from each themed level by collecting pieces of a puzzle and then solving the puzzle. Five endings are available based on the character's alignment; the sixth is a joke ending in the tradition of previous Silent Hill games.

<i>LittleBigPlanet PS Vita</i> 2012 puzzle-platformer

LittleBigPlanet PS Vita is a puzzle platform video game developed by Double Eleven, Tarsier Studios and XDev Studio Europe for the PlayStation Vita handheld game console. It is the fourth game of the LittleBigPlanet franchise; a series of puzzle platformers centered on user-generated content. The game was announced in January 2011 along with the reveal of the PlayStation Vita console, then known as the Next Generation Portable (NGP), and the first details of the game were revealed on 6 June 2011 at the Electronic Entertainment Expo. It was released on 19 September 2012 in Europe, 20 September 2012 in Japan and Australia, and 25 September 2012 for the North American markets.

<i>Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack</i> 2012 video game

Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack is a side-scrolling platform video game, released on February 21, 2012, as a launch title of the PlayStation Vita. It was developed and published by DrinkBox Studios. It is the sequel to Tales from Space: About a Blob. Mutant Blobs Attack was later released for Microsoft Windows computers with versions for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 released in June 2014.

<i>Everybodys Golf 6</i> 2011 video game

Everybody's Golf 6, known in Europe as Everybody's Golf, in Australia as Everybody's Golf: World Invitational, and in North America as Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational, is the eleventh game in the Everybody's Golf series.

<i>Rayman Legends</i> 2013 video game

Rayman Legends is a platform video game developed by Ubisoft Montpellier and published by Ubisoft. It is the fifth main title in the Rayman series and the direct sequel to the 2011 game Rayman Origins. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii U, and PlayStation Vita platforms in August and September 2013. PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions were released in February 2014, with a Stadia version released in November 2021. A Nintendo Switch port, titled Rayman Legends Definitive Edition, was released in North America, Europe and Australia on September 12, 2017.

<i>Oddworld: New n Tasty!</i> 2014 video game

Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty! is a 2014 cinematic platform video game developed by Just Add Water and published by Oddworld Inhabitants as a "ground-up remake" of Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee. The game was released in North America on 22 July 2014 and in Europe on 23 July 2014 for the PlayStation 4. The title was also released for Linux, Microsoft Windows, OS X, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, and Wii U. It has been ported on iOS and Android and released worldwide on 14 December 2017. A Nintendo Switch version was released on 27 October 2020.

The year 2015 saw releases of numerous video games as well as a follow-up to Nintendo's portable 3DS console, the New Nintendo 3DS. Top-rated games originally released in 2015 included Madden NFL 16, NBA 2K16, NBA Live 16, WWE 2K16, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Bloodborne, Undertale, and Fallout 4. Sales of video games in 2015 reached $61 billion, according to analysis firm SuperData, an 8% increase from 2014. Of this, the largest sector was in computer game sales and subscription services, accounting for $32 billion. Mobile games revenues were at $25.1 billion, a 10% increase from 2014. Digital sales on consoles made up the remaining $4 billion.

<i>Dokuro</i> (video game) 2012 video game

Dokuro is a video game developed by Game Arts and published by GungHo Online Entertainment originally for the PlayStation Vita with later ports to iOS, Android, Microsoft Windows and Nintendo Switch. The player controls Dokuro, who must save a princess after the Dark Lord wants to marry her.

<i>Hohokum</i> 2014 art video game developed by Honeyslug

Hohokum is a 2014 art video game developed by Honeyslug and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation Vita, and by Annapurna Interactive for Microsoft Windows. The player controls a snake-like creature to explore 17 whimsical worlds with no set objectives. The developers, who began development in 2008, compared the concept to flying a kite and were inspired by free London museums, Portmeirion, and indigenous cultures. It was released on August 12, 2014, and features a soundtrack by Ghostly International artists. The game received "generally favorable reviews", according to video game review score aggregator Metacritic. Critics appreciated the game's presentation, including its art and music, but felt that the gameplay turned to drudgery towards its end and that the objectives were too vague.

<i>CounterSpy</i> (video game) 2014 video game

CounterSpy is a side-scrolling stealth video game developed by American independent studio Dynamighty and published by Sony Computer Entertainment as a cross-buy and cross-save title for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation Vita. Subsequently, the game was released on Android and iOS on September 5, 2014.

<i>The Room Two</i> 2013 video game

The Room Two is a puzzle video game developed by British-based Fireproof Games as a sequel to The Room. The game was originally developed for the iPad and released in December 2013; it was made universal to work with the iPhone in January 2014. The Android version was released in February 2014. A Windows version was released on 5 July 2016. An Apple Arcade version, named «The Room Two+», was released on 2 April 2021. It was also released for Nintendo Switch in August 2022.

<i>OlliOlli</i> 2014 video game

OlliOlli is a skateboarding video game developed and published by Roll7. It was released for PlayStation Vita on 21 January 2014 in North America, and on 22 January 2014 in Europe.

<i>Stealth Inc 2: A Game of Clones</i> 2014 video game

Stealth Inc 2: A Game of Clones is a 2D puzzle platform video game which was developed and published by Curve Digital. The game is a sequel to Stealth Bastard Deluxe, featuring different mechanics which involve puzzle sections. The game was released for the Wii U on October 23, 2014. The PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Xbox One and Microsoft Windows versions of the game were also released in April 2015.

<i>Jacob Jones and the Bigfoot Mystery</i> 2013 video game

Jacob Jones and the Bigfoot Mystery is a popular episodic puzzle adventure developed by Lucid Games. Part 1 was original published by Sony Computer Entertainment on PlayStation Vita on May 14, 2013, and later on iOS on May 16, 2013. Episode 2 was released on iOS on July 24, 2014. It had since been removed from all app stores. Both episodes were also made available for Windows via Steam.

Avantgarden S.r.l. is an Italian video game developer based in Milan. It was founded in 2012 by industry veterans Massimo Guarini and Gianni Ricciardi, sold to Digital Bros in 2020.

<i>Chronology</i> (video game) 2014 video game

Chronology is a 2014 puzzle-platform game by Danish developer Bedtime Digital Games.

<i>Back to Bed</i> 2011 video game

Back to Bed is an indie puzzle video game that was originally developed and published by Bedtime Digital Studios. The game was first released as a browser game in 2011, and as a commercial game in 2014.

References

  1. ↑ "New Murasaki Baby trailer, and Akira Yamaoka collaboration detailed". European PlayStation Blog. 12 August 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  2. ↑ "Gamescom 2013: Murasaki Baby Revealed for PS Vita - IGN". 20 August 2013.
  3. ↑ "Murasaki Baby coming to PS Vita in 2014". Polygon . 20 August 2013.
  4. ↑ "Murasaki Baby unveiled for PS Vita". 20 August 2013.
  5. 1 2 "Murasaki Baby for PlayStation Vita Reviews". Metacritic . CBS Interactive . Retrieved 2015-02-10.
  6. ↑ Carlson, Alex (2014-09-16). "Review: Murasaki Baby". Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved 2015-02-10.
  7. ↑ Harman, Stace (2014-09-16). "Murasaki Baby review". Eurogamer . Retrieved 2015-02-10.
  8. ↑ Reparaz, Mikel (2014-09-16). "A Morbid Curiosity". IGN . Retrieved 2015-02-10.
  9. ↑ Renaudin, Josiah (2014-09-16). "Beauty obstructed". GameSpot . Retrieved 2015-02-10.
  10. ↑ Cork, Jeff (2014-09-30). "Murasaki Baby". Game Informer . Archived from the original on October 3, 2014. Retrieved 2015-02-10.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.