As of 2024, the game is leanning more towards the possitive as more people played it and rated.
The story of the game focusses on our small hero, the protagonist who seems to be awaken from someting. Our hero looks lost and aimless until he comes across a small dragonoid creature. The creature seemed to be afraid of the human initially and moves away which leads the character
to a certain land.(the gameshub world.) The player follows the monster where he finds a crystal trapped. The player gets the crystal and tries to offer it to the dragonoid which eventually gets closer to him. The dragonoid then rubs it self around the neck of the player forming a scarf. Through their
contact the player learns that the monster was living with its mom and they were happy traversing along the cosmos and having fun. One day the humans found them and attack them forcing the mother to sacrifise herself to save her child. Using the mothers threads they were able to open portals across the cosmos and
traverse through it. The little dragon felt alone and scared and it was close on giving up until a new spark of hope rose when it came across our hero.
In the hub world the player comes to the realization that the dragonoid has to open the portals across the cosmos to find the key items needed to open the main portal. The young hero alongside his new companion are about to embark on their new adventure into these kingdoms in order for the young dragonoid to find
it's way back to it's world of origin and hopefully reunite with its mom as it believes she is still alive. Each of the kingdoms/portals leads to a world that human traverse back in the day.
The games story is interesting however to me it felt like an afterthought. However, i always say that platformers dont need to have a complex or a unique story as long as the gameplay and it's concept stands out. With that in mind, the game did a decent job portraying it's world and characters however to me personally they had a back sit in my mind. I was more interested on other stuff. With it being said, i enjoyed the fact that the developers tried to ay something original and the way they implemented lore elements in every single level. Another thing worth pointing out, is that the game contains two different endings based on the players actions and will to discover the world around them.
The game is an action platform game which places the player in the 'shoes' of the hero, a young humanoid that is of pure heart and kindness. On his quest the hero is joined by a dragonoid creature that wraps itself around the neck of the hero forming a scarf. The player starts with very little basic movement options such as
jumping and sprinting. In each level the hero has to traverse from point A to point B whilst solving puzzles in order to formulate it's path. Each level offers the player new abilities which opens the gameplay and keeps things fresh. In one level you have the basic movement, in other you have to use certain key elements to progress
and in others you re using your new abilities such as glide, double jump, push/pull and swing.
The level design is beutiful and unique design. Each area/world has a unique look that seperates itself from the others. The player has to manuver around and solve the puzzles in order to progress. Each level has unique puzzles that differ from each other. Some require basic platforming and finding the right platform whilst others require you
to move rocks around to formulate an art piece. Solving puzzles is mandatory in ordet to progress but also to find key items for the collectables and the conclusive ending(bad/good.) Each area also hides pieces of lore that exaplin the player what happened to the humans but also gives idea about the dragonoids themselves. I personally enjoyed
some small optional interactions with the nearby items such as a wooden horse riding toy. Furthermore, some areas also consist of certain NPCs. There's no combat or a way to kill them. Some are there to be used for the puzzle whilst others offer small minigame sections.
Collectibles and their role
Last but not least there are sections in the level where the Scarf will unwrap it self and run away from the player whilst looking scared. During these sections the player will have to proceed alone and get close to a black sphere and interact with the item inside. However each time the player interacts with these spheres known as the inks, the player
gets more tired and his body from clear white and blue begins to darken. The more the player interacts with the inks, the forgotten lost toys and the drawings left behind the more complicated the story gets. The humans do not look like blood thirsty explorer but more family oriented which contradicts the story given by the Scarf.
To be perfectly clear, Scarf does not do or add anything original to the genre. It's a simple platformer with some clever puzzles ideas scattered around the land. That is not to say that the gameplay is not good. Where props needs to be given is towards their execution. For example, the double jump ability looks like Hollow knight's where the Scarf
will take the form of wings and allow the hero to jump higher. For the swinging and catapolt abilities, the Scarf takes the form of a rope and the player can use it to swing or launch himself in the air. For the gliding ability, you would expect the dragonoid to either turn itself into wings again or let the player ride but no, it turns into a paraglider.
Another thing woth pointing is the air spheres. Some levels have this Spheres that the player can grap and use them to walk under the water which reacts to the sphere and opens a path shielding the player from getting wet. It doesnt sound as impressive but it looked really cool.
As mentioned the game looks really beautiful with every area beeing unique and different. From going inside temples, to forest to even deserts. The characters have unique designs and as mentioned above beautiful and clever transformations using the players abilities. The environment also interacts with the player based on certain key items. The audio is not something unique but during the game it's a whole different story as it matches the atmosphere and the setting the game is trying to create.
Overall Scarf is a nice indie game that does not overstay its welcome. The players get to experience a nice experience which originally looks like an afterthought but the more you progress you realise there is more to it than reach the eye. It also includes two different endings for the players who with to be the hero and those who don't. The gameplay consist of standard platforming with various puzzles. The platforming is not very challenging and the puzzles differenciate. Some are challenging whilst others are not. The level design is made for the players abilities. The more abilities the players have the more areas they get to visit and collect different collectables such as the inks, the art pieces and the forgotten toys. They also have different design which makes the world more beautiful and trying to make the player explore every single side available. The level design and the abilities are uniquecly created in order to differentiate from all the other games it's style. The audio department lacks in term of being memorable however, during the gameplay it feels like the best choice. Some collectibles are out in the open whilst others are well hidden. The game doesnt last long and a for a full completion it's around 5-7 hours max.