TetherGeist Review
Pop-quiz, can you guess the game? Pixel-art precision platformer with demanding gameplay about a young girl that goes on a spiritual journey who finds help from friendly NPC’s along the way where gameplay is equally as important as narrative.
It’s not Celeste, we’re actually referring to TetherGeist.
Precision platformers are a niche and since 2018, there hasn’t been anything like Celeste. A punishing, precision platformer that pushing your limits, juxtaposed with a wholesome style and story, which is why it resonated as strongly as it did and why it’s referred to as one of the greatest games of all time.
TetherGeist proudly wears its inspiration on its sleeve and while it failed to capture the same levels of emotion, it’s unique tether gameplay, hyper responsive controls, gorgeous pixel art, nearly perfect difficulty curve and variety that always kept you at the edge of your comfort zone make TetherGeist the easy recommendation for someone looking for an experience like Celeste or the next great precision platformer.
8
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TETHERGEIST REVIEW
In TetherGeist, you play as Mae, a young girl who lives in a fantastical world where humans and their spirits are able to separate and travel vast distances using their astral projections…except Mae, whose spirit can’t be untethered.
For this reason, the village elders deem Mae not ready for the great ritual at the Fount of Souls. Her spirit being tethered to her body forms the basis of everything to come as you will need to navigate this challenging world with the help of your spirit as you’re joined together. Those ready for the ritual use their astral projection to travel great distances across the spirit plane, but since Mae can’t separate her spirit, she stubbornly decides to make the journey on foot.
TetherGeist respects the players time because in less than a few minutes of establishing the world, Mae is off on her journey that instantly hooks you in. TetherGeist only has three controls: Move, jump and split, which might sound simple enough, but the difficulty curve is gradual, which means that you are always operating at the very edge of your comfort zone. Tethergeist also features zero combat because the developer wanted to keep the attention on the character growth, navigating societal pressures and proving to yourself and others that you can do hard things. In the words of the developer, “combat can often turn into button mashing” and the intent was to make TetherGeist easy to pick up but hard to master, which is exactly what it is.
During Mae’s pilgrimage, she will have to master seven different skills that will greatly change how her spirit interacts with the environment. There are still only three controls, but you will need master each spirit type that will pose a very unique challenge. It begins with harnessing the power of the split, but then your introduced to the fireball mechanic that allows you to smash through obstacles like bash from Ori or the billiard ball mechanic that bounces of walls as you need to get the angles right. Eventually, these challenges will be combined and test the limits of the player.
Mae, doesn’t make the journey alone, she goes with Bao, her axolotl spirit companion, who is much more than just a cute sidekick as he seamlessly relays information to the player, by changing to the color of your next ability move. Each spirit mechanic you’ll learn has a different color, such as the red peppers turn Bao red, which indicates that your next move will be a fireball, or there is yellow, which is the basic split. Bao’s ability to inform the player allows for split second decisions without ever taking your eyes off Mae and lets you remain in a flow state.
The level design is fantastic with vibrant environments that are constantly changing and providing you with a unique challenge. TetherGeist offers such an addictive gameplay loop as you always want to try one more attempt or complete one more level thanks to the instantaneous respawn, most levels being bite sized and limited to a single screen, which produces a drip feed of satisfaction from finally getting over the hurdle.
It might not have had the same emotional journey as its inspiration, but there is a wholesome meaning behind TetherGeist that we’re all on our own path. It ok to be different. The journey might be different for everyone, but there are no shortcuts in life and if the end destination is the same then it doesn’t matter how or how quickly you arrive.
CRITICISMS
The main reason that TetherGeist fails to surpass its inspirations is because it lacked emotional investment. It’s hard to say exactly why, but there are a few likely culprits. The first was the soundtrack, which is great, but lacked depth to really make the emotional moments impactful and capture the more somber moments of the journey.
Mae’s journey also lacked relatability and it became hard to form an emotional attachment to the main character. Mae trying to connect her mind, spirit and body through the power of her tether might have been a metaphor for growing up, coming of age, or being different but when you’re everything, you’re nothing. By comparison, it was easy to become emotionally invested in Celeste because her struggles were clear.
TetherGeist is relentless with its demanding platforming and while you’ll occasionally have cutscenes and NPC’s to talk with, these pass fast. Near the beginning, TetherGeist offered some stealth platforming sections where you needed to sneak out of the village. This was a fun distraction, but it was completely abandoned after their short stint at the start. Exploring this mechanic further would’ve provided some nice variety, but it also would’ve provided the well needed respite from the tense, palm sweating platforming.
On a technical level, occasionally the environment and the danger would be very similar colors, which could make it hard to separate safety from death in the blink of an eye at the speed the game moves.
FINAL VERDICT AND SCORE
If you’re judging TetherGeist as a pure, precision platformer and only on gameplay, then it’s a ten and belongs in the conversation with the best of the genre. It has hyper responsive controls, innovative spirit mechanics, clever level design and a difficulty level that always keeps you at the edge of your comfort zone.
However, if you’re judging TetherGeist as a complete package, it comes in a little lower. It’s a rare occurrence for a precision platformer to have an emotionally captivating narrative, which is why Celeste is revered and why it was the main source of inspiration. Although TetherGeist didn’t resonate as strongly on an emotional level, it still does enough to keep you interested in Mae’s journey from beginning to end.
In TetherGeist, I died 2500 times and kept coming back for more, TetherGeist is that good. TetherGeist was demanding, but it was also fair and provided a similar sense of pride and accomplishment that a souls-like can provide, which made the journey extremely rewarding.
What began a humble game jam prototype has now blossomed into a game that belongs to be in the conversation with the greatest precision platformers of all time. Where you place TetherGeist will depend on what you want from the experience.
