When I got my Vita it came with an 8GB card, and a download code for five action-adventure games. The games included were Tearaway, Escape Plan, Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Gravity Rush and TxK. A friend had warned me about the cost of the external memory. You can’t use the normal SD cards that we use for the 3DS, Sony has special micro SD’s, with an equally special price tag attached to it. And even if you decide to buy physical games only, you still need some SD memory to play them. It turned out I couldn’t download all five games on that 8GB card, instead I started with Tearaway. What’s nice is that even when redeeming the code, the games are connected to your Sony account, so they just wait for you on the online server, just in case you want to pick them up and download them to the Vita.
Back to Tearaway. It’s a very colorful action game, set in a world made of paper and carton. Your little character is brought to life as a messenger called Iota or Atoi (depends on if you’re a boy or girl), taking a letter to you yourself. Because using the Vita’s front camera your face gets pasted onto the worlds sun and you look upon this paper world. All characters are aware, and even a bit scared of you, strange feeling! It’s your task to guide the messenger through the worlds locations to reach the big ball of fire ( the You-sun), tackling all kinds of problems along the way. You have to battle the ‘scraps’ little enemies intent on hindering you. Along the way you meet characters that have a request for you. Like making them a crown or a mustache. That is done in the most clever way, using paper: all colors you can use to draw the object on, cut it out and drag it to the recipient. On your journey you find all white objects, and by taking a picture of them, color returns the object to it’s former glory.
For instance, I had no idea before I bought it that the Vita had a touchscreen on the back. Did you? So when the game asked me to kill the scraps using the back touchpad I was confused at first. Till I found out that I could actually stick my finger through the paper field in the game, and in this way help my Atoi! Someties I help her along by bouncing her up to a higher ledge, and sometimes I have to touch the screen to make strips of paper curl up, allowing my Atoi to proceed. It’s hard to explain, but this game really makes the most of all the features the Vita has.
You can deck your messenger out in the nicest costumes. In the game you collect confetti along the way, it’s the currency you use to buy new decorations. The paper patterns you find on your quest get sent to your account online, allowing you to print them and make them in real life. A nice bonus if you have children who will love this papercraft! It’s a perfect first game to play when you are new to the Vita like I was. It really shows all the Vita’s possibilities to perfection. The game is colorful, quirky and fun to do, so even if you are not new to the Vita it’s a good buy. Another great game by the makers of the Little big planet games!