Scarf is one of the most beautiful 3D platform puzzlers that you are ever likely to encounter. It is fun, looks and sounds great and is lovely if you want to relax. There isn’t much in the way of a story, but the relaxing and pleasant gameplay more than makes up for it! Welcome to our Scarf review!
Not much in the way of story
Let’s get to the point: Scarf is an amazingly fun and relaxing game, but the story tends to let it down. The story focuses on the character you control and their dragon-shaped scarf, who found you via a portal. Said portals were created by magic threads which were left over when invaders killed the scarf-dragon’s mother. The dragon then befriends you and accompanies you in scarf form throughout the different worlds, enabling you with several cool powers along the way.
Controlling the character feels natural and fluid and the controls are precise. The camera pans around beautifully to the exact point where you place it and it never feels clunky. From walking, running, flying and literally slingshotting your character across the worlds, everything feels great. There are some occasions, however, when your character becomes stuck on the tiniest of ledges in the ground, most of which are almost invisible. As such, your character appears to stop moving for a few moments before you realise they just need to jump to continue.
Use your Scarf
The main focus of Scarf is using your titular scarf in order to traverse the landscape and solve puzzles. There are several puzzles in each world, all of which I would classify as easy. I haven’t encountered many puzzles that required much thought and they were all straightforward. There is one exception whereby I had to observe the landscape before figuring out what was required of me. This is because it wasn’t clear at first, which is a good thing because that additional layer of complexity made the puzzle both more interesting and memorable.
Some puzzles require special objects to be discovered, such as fans to blow sand away, which in turn uncover even more objects. Figuring out how to traverse water is often quite fun, with giant lilypad-equivalent flowers being one of the main methods to do it. You often must blow them into different positions using the aforementioned fans and then jump across them. Attempting to fly across bodies of water is forbidden, with your character being forced back down to Earth before reaching the end – you must solve the puzzle properly!
In too deep
One especially unique and memorable way to navigate large bodies of water is to use what I can only refer to as a miniature water-repelling cloud. Your character picks this item up, which then allows them to walk along the seabed, causing the water all around to stay away from them. In deep water, it is clear to see how the cloud works: it creates what appears to be a water-repellent dome of sorts.
There are also hidden objects throughout the worlds. These are not essential to the game and don’t carry any incentives, either. As such, I found myself not bothering to search for them after the first two or three because they didn’t add any value. It was merely a case of exploring the environment in order to see where they might be hidden.
Pets
The relationship your character has with their dragon is nothing short of beautiful. Watching the two of them interact is like watching a pet and its owner, both of whom deeply love one another. Your character feeds the scarf-dragon light-ball snacks and also hugs them, much like a real pet.
Traversing the landscape
As one would expect, using your scarf is essential to progress in Scarf. Your scarf transforms into numerous objects in order to help you navigate. You can use it as wings to glide, as a rope to swing and even as a slingshot to propel your character across the landscape! These moves are all simple but complex enough to make them fun to interact with. Slingshot is the easiest, requiring a single button press. Gliding is more complex, requiring your character to perform a double jump before holding down the glide button. Rope swinging is all about timing. If you press the button either too early or too late, you will miss the mid-air hook point to swing from.
Scarf uses forced camera angles for certain areas, which is a really nice touch. This not only helps you quite literally focus solely on the objective, but it also makes for interesting interactive cutscenes.
A little too easy
Puzzles are one-dimensional and easy enough to not require much thought. The worlds are beautiful, but apart from the puzzles, there isn’t much else to do in them. However, this isn’t a bad thing as the puzzles provide enough entertainment to keep things fresh and interesting. I was not left feeling bored at any point nor did anything feel tedious. As mentioned, there are hidden objects but with no incentive other than the satisfaction of finding them, there is no real reason to do so.
Picturesque
Scarf is at worst picturesque and at best truly magnificent. Everything in each of the alien worlds looks like it simply belongs there. Nothing seems out of place and the environments are all quite breathtaking, despite being relatively simple in their construction The overall art style is reminiscent of Immortals Fenyx Rising and the puzzling elements of Lumote, both of which are beautiful games in their own right.
Each world is a visual treat, with rolling vistas, impressive structures and stunning scenery throughout. The audio is incredible, with the sounds of nature all around. Everything sounds as it should, with your character’s footsteps even making different noises depending on which surface they are walking on. The only criticism I have in relation to sound is the main character’s exertions because they sound as if they are muffled under a handkerchief.
As you navigate the different worlds, you hear numerous animals calling out to one another. There is the constant trickle of running water in the background of most worlds, which is simply divine as it blends in perfectly with the surroundings.
Conclusion
If you enjoy playing games to relax, then Scarf is definitely worth your time. The puzzles are easy enough to not require too much thought but interesting enough to keep you immersed. The world is utterly stunning to look at and sounds truly incredible. You will most likely fall in love with your main character’s dragon, and maybe even the main character too! Despite the weak story, Scarf doesn’t suffer as the story feels like more of an afterthought than anything else but doesn’t detract from the experience in any way. You can still play Scarf and have a wonderful time, possibly even in a single sitting! That was it for our Scarf review.
Pros:
- Beautiful visuals and sound
- Using your scarf in different ways is so much fun
- Adorable characters
- Fun puzzles
Cons:
- Weak story
- Short campaign
- Puzzles could be more challenging
Grade: 7.5
Scarf is currently available through Boosteroid and GeForce Now. This review was made by Mus from PapaBear Gaming. You can check out his channel right here. You can follow him on Twitter by going here. That was it for our Scarf review.