Scarf

As soon as your nameless hero wakes up he meets an ethereal dragon-like being which accompanies you in the form of a red scarf. Your job is to reunite dragon-scarf with his mother. This piece of clothing may not be quite as charming as the Cappy from Super Mario Odyssey, but I am rather fond of the dragon-scarf. Nice idea.

As you explore the world and solve some puzzles your scarf learns new forms which let you do typical platform stuff like double jumping, gliding or swinging on lianas. You can also find black orbs which add to the backstory of the game. There are no enemies, but you can die when you fall into water.
It’s pretty straightforward: Explore, jump, solve, learn & occasionally pet your scarf.

If you usually play puzzle games like The Witness or The Talos Principle you might not have that much fun with Scarf. The puzzles and the platforming are just way too easy. You can waltz through the game without ever getting stuck. I finished the game in around 4,5 hours, including some exploring – which isn’t necessary.

But, I’ve had some issues with the game. Foremost, I don’t like the design of the hero. The dragon-scarf is a cool feature, the rest of the world is fine as well, but the hero could have used some more iterations on the character design.

Also, for my taste, the hero moves a bit too slow. Jumping does not feel smooth. For example, in some cases you have to wait till you are in the right spot to trigger the liana ability. Time it wrong and you fall to your death. This feels odd in comparison to the rest of the game.

In one instance I had to restart the game because I was supposed to press Y, but the game did not react to this and I was stuck.

You may collect items and paintings which are hidden across the world. This invites you to explore a little bit further. Many games do this, but I fail to see the appeal. The world is not exiting enough to explore everything. The items are not hidden behind extra puzzles or difficult platform passages. There’s just no reason to hunt for this stuff.

Finally, the end is just too abrupt. I expected one last puzzle. So that the hero could earn the ending. But no, the game just solves the last part for you automatically. The developers missed a good chance for a more satisfying end here.

All in all, the game is not bad. It‘s quite … solid. It’s best suitable for those who want to play a game without investing 20+ hours; who are looking to finish a puzzle game without the need of a walkthrough; or who are looking for a game to play with their kid – although some parts may be a little bit dark and scary.