Review: Together

Published by Ultimate Games for the Nintendo Switch, Together is a bright, fun, multiplayer puzzle game. Tasked with battling enemies, collecting various items, and most importantly working as a team, this game is fun for all ages. Learn each character’s abilities, find new places to explore, but most importantly – stick together. 

So much potential, yet no execution

Together has a fantastic concept behind it. All characters are linked with an elasticated line, and if that snaps and you are disconnected for five seconds it’s game over. But with endless amounts of holes and traps to fall into this isn’t as easy as it seems. Upon first picking it up, this is an amusing and tense mechanic. But after a few rounds it loses its charm. Together lacks any sort of personality and drive. It’s hard to stay focused when you don’t even know what you’re fighting for. The story as to why isn’t really explained, you just dive right into it. Which is a shame, because the concept of being constantly connected would make for a great, hilarious gaming experience. 

The game also has a low-budget look to it. Colours are bright, certainly, but animations are low quality and it just looks empty. Although the whole point of maps being black and white is for you to colour them as you progress, even that lacks the wow factor. Rather than being an intense, action packed adventure, you just sort of bumble along until you can begin the next level. There isn’t enough to keep me entertained, where there definitely could be. It’s such a shame, as this game has a lot of potential.

B-tech Battleblock

Together feels very heavily influenced by games like Battleblock Theatre. Which excelled due to the personality and charm of the game. But Together doesn’t quite carry that out. Despite having a multitude of similar features and mechanics, such as collecting a number of specific items in order to finish the level, it is still lacking in comparison. Obviously games like Battleblock had a large team behind it, and though Together probably doesn’t have something similar, for a game that so closely mimics the gameplay of Battleblock Theatre, you’d think they would implement some of the charm. Even the characters don’t get explained. There’s nothing to attach yourself to in Together (which is rather ironic), and this makes it incredibly hard to stay interested. 

It just feels unfinished. Controls are simple, the soundtrack is repetitive and there’s not really much to grab hold of. There’s a short backstory provided at the beginning of the game, but it’s never explained. Rather than being narrated, it’s in a comic book strip style. So you sort of need to know a little bit about it before you’re even introduced. It’s incredibly hard to keep tabs on all the characters when you can’t even put a name to the face. None of the game is narrated, and sound effects are kept to a minimum. Rather than feeling like a console game, it appears similar to a mobile game you’d get an advert for. I’d argue that Together isn’t quite worth the price tag, there is just not enough to justify it. 

Final thoughts

It’s not all bad news though. Together initially is a fun, fast paced game to pick up with friends. It was fun to learn the special attacks of all characters and be able to switch between them during each level. There are several elements of Together which I did enjoy, such as the variety of levels and the sheer amount of them. But it wasn’t enough to sway my opinion on the game as a whole.