Degrees of Separation

A boy and a girl. They're from worlds as different as can be—

No, really, they're from actual different worlds. Rime lives in a world of frigid winter, while Ember hails from a land of fiery summer, and they're separated by a magical, transparent barrier. But when they fall down the chasm separating their homes, they need to work together to figure out how to return.

Degrees of Separation is a co-op 2D puzzle platformer about—well, I just told you what it's about. The goal is to collect a bunch of magic scarves scattered throughout the game world. The twist in Degrees of Separation is that you have two characters separated by a barrier. This isn't a solid, fixed barrier; Ember and Rime can both freely move around the world, and the barrier twists so that it always bifurcates the space between them. The world on Rime's half of the barrier is in winter, and Ember's half is summer.

The world naturally changes with the seasons, and this forms the core of the puzzle-solving. For instance, ice freezes in the winter, allowing Rime to walk atop it, but thaws in the summer, allowing Ember to explore lakebeds. A lot of the game revolves around maneuvering Ember and Rime to the exact proper spots in order to get each obstacle in the season it needs to be.

This was admittedly a cool concept, but I wasn't sure it could support a full game a reasonable length. Fortunately, Degrees of Separation had me covered: every level has a unique mechanic, which in turn leads to all new puzzles. For instance, one level gives the characters a parka they can wear to entirely eliminate their season, while another level allows you to solidify and freeze the barrier in place. Giving each level a unique mechanic keeps the puzzles fresh, and the fact that each level only has one special mechanic prevents them from getting overwhelming.

Overall, I thought the puzzle design was great. I generally found the difficulty just right: not so easy to deprive you of a sense of accomplishment, but not so hard that you get frustrated. Sometimes you will blow through a couple of puzzles in a row and feel like you've conquered everything, but then the game will slap you with a challenge requiring you to use a mechanic in a way you never even considered. Every puzzle is contained in its own section of the level, which allows you to tackle it head-on without worrying if you're missing a piece. Well, every puzzle except one. To make things worse, this puzzle is in the first level, and you encounter the puzzle before the missing piece. It's not a huge deal since it's just one puzzle, but it's a bit unfortunate they couldn't fully carry out this one aspect of their design philosophy through the whole game.

Another slightly unfortunate element of the puzzles is that there's no hint system. If you get stuck, you're stuck. (I'll admit there were a couple of solutions we had to look up.) That being said, I'm fairly sure you don't need to collect every scarf to beat the game. Also, the levels have fast-travel points along with a map showing you the location and status of every scarf, making it easy to move on and come back later.

Additionally, while the gameplay is slightly asymmetric when playing with two players due to the differences in summer and winter, the information the players receive is the same. As a result, while the players need to work together to execute the puzzle solutions, figuring out the solution, which I think is the more rewarding part, can be done by one player alone.

As good as the puzzles were, the part of Degrees of Separation that I found most charming was the story. Well, not the story itself, but the narration. Degrees of Separation does have a story of some sort. Ember and Rime are trying to get home, and they're collecting scarves, and there are some stones with bad vibes, and... I didn't get what it was all about, to be honest. But the story doesn't really matter. It's the narration that sets the stage.

Pretty much the entire game is narrated by a lovely, soothing narrator. Even though the "plot" of the game isn't very clear, the game brilliantly uses the narration to tie the puzzles to the story of Ember and Rime's relationship. For instance, one level might requiring maneuvering Ember and Rime to allow an air vent (which are frozen over in winter) to propel Rime up to a platform. Once you achieve this, the narration might describe how being with Ember allowed Rime's spirit to soar to heights it never reached while he was alone. It never gets tiring or obnoxious, and in fact turns the entire game into a charming fairy tale.

The graphics and music are probably exactly what you'd expect for a peaceful fantasy puzzle game. The world features bright colors and lush landscapes. The music is pastoral, filled with strings and woodwinds, providing a calming but lively backdrop to explore and think.

I also want to point out that I really liked how Degrees of Separation implemented co-op. Specifically, the fact that each player is completely free to do as they please (even though every puzzle requires both Ember and Rime). In a lot of screen-sharing co-op games, the camera will just follow the "host" and prevent the other players from straying too far. However, nothing binds Ember and Rime together. If they go too far apart, the game will turn into a full split-screen, allowing the players to each explore on their own. It's a small thing, but feels so nice.

No matter how lovely the game is, however, it can be a bit buggy. One scarf glitched out in the first level, appearing as uncollected but not respawning. We had to restart the game to fix this (despite reaching out to the developers), and it wasn't a huge deal since it was just the beginning, but it would've been pretty aggravating if we had to replay the entire game. Also, the narration lines would sometimes play too early—and sometimes turned into the clue we needed to solve the puzzle. The bugs didn't always impede us, though; in one session, it felt like I had a more powerful jump than was intended.

As far as co-op puzzle platformers go, Degrees of Separation is a winner. It's charming and well-designed, constantly reinvigorating its puzzles by rotating mechanics over the course of the entire game. Puzzle difficulty strikes the right balance, and every puzzle takes advantage of the two-character mechanics. If you're looking for high-octane action, or dark fantasy, or compelling plotlines, you admittedly won't find that here. But sometimes all you need is a boy, a girl, and a mountain of scarves.