What do we want? 3D worlds. When do we want them? Never. This is pretty much the premise of Flat Kingdom: Papercut Edition and the complete opposite of my mantra back in the 80s and 90s. Flat Kingdom was initially released in 2016 on PC but now console fans have the chance to see how it all… unfolds.
Screw 3D
In the 2D Kingdom called Flat, a weird young knight-looking guy also called Flat had been tasked to venture into the unknown 3D lands to save his princess. A cloaked figure with a fox mask not only has kidnapped the princess but has stolen all six crystals from the realms. These Crystals somehow magically keep everything in the Kingdom you guessed it, Flat. Now they are gone, the Kingdom starts popping out into the dreaded 3D dimension.
The story of Flat Kingdom is nothing special and pretty run-of-the-mill. The kingdom is under threat by either princess’s kidnap or magic being stolen and it’s up to a good knight to save the day. There are scrolls scattered about and some guards in the different worlds that will give you more insight into the world which gives the game a bit more depth.
Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock
In Flat Kingdom, there are five worlds to explore. Every world follows the same formula as the last. Even down to the two bosses in each. The unique selling point of the gameplay is this rock, paper, scissors type design to tackle the enemies and puzzles.
Your little hero Flat has the power to change his shape from a circle to a square to a triangle. You do this by pressing the relevant shape on your controller buttons. Just a side note, I played this on the Playstation 4. You will need to change into different shapes for specific enemies and sometimes you will have to defeat them by changing into a few. The different forms have different attributes. The square is heavy and slow, the triangle is fast and the circle is a bit of everything.
This all can be confusing. There is a journal you can look through that will tell you what shape you will need to be to defeat the different enemies. So at the start, it will be trial and error. The same goes for the boss battles. They are much of the same but on a bigger scale.
Black belt in Origami
The visual aesthetics of Flat Kingdom are perfect for what the game is. Each level is presented in a lovely papercraft design. There are the usual areas, castle, lava, ice, and water. They all looked like little origami dioramas, which I thought was cool.
In some stages of the world, the environment will turn 3D, which I thought was a good idea. It really freshened things up.
Some folds in that paper
There are some issues in the gameplay though. Sometimes the game feels clunky. The controls let it down somewhat and the jumping is a bit hit and miss. This can make the game fairly frustrating at times but nothing too stressful.
All in all Flat Kingdom is an enjoyable and easy little platformer. It lovingly lets you get the platinum before you finish the first world. You will finish the whole thing in one sitting so it will not take up much of your time.
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