Up until launch, I’d had my eyes on to a T since the games reveal last year. I thought the colourful art style and narrative adventure looked right up my alley. Then I was delighted to get my hands on the game at London Games Festival back in April and it featured in my top-5 games of the show.
to a T is developed by Keita Takahashi – known for creating Katamari Damacy – and their small uvula team. to a T is an Annapurna game, a publisher synonymous with quirky and innovative titles.
The new release places players as 13 year old Teen who is constantly stuck in a ‘T’ position. By this, meaning their arms are constantly at full arm span, rendering the most simple of tasks to be incredibly difficult – thankfully we’re joined by our adorable companion and assistant, Dog.
to a T is an eight part episodic adventure that takes place in the town in which Teen, Dog and many townsfolk live and go about their lives.
So, is unraveling Teen’s mysterious story of how they ended up in the T position worth your time? Here’s our spoiler free review.
Gameplay
Technically, to a T is a very simple story adventure game. There’s no way to die, fail or get game over, just a few activities that you’ll need to replay if you’re unsuccessful.
Gameplay is entirely competent for a smaller title, Teen handles well and each episode offers something new to do. If you wanted to beeline the game, you could complete the core story within 4-5 hours, with an extra 2-3 for other activities. You, the player and Dog need to help physically-challenged Teen complete the usual simplistic rituals of any 13 year old – get up, go to school, eat and socialise.
As Teen is stuck in their T position nothing is that easy. Even brushing their teeth, washing their face or pouring cereal causes them headache. Fortunately, well designed controls for Teen’s arms made me feel like I was really helping them. I’m fortunate enough to be an able-bodied person, so to a T did really help me understand how disabled people can find life’s everyday tasks difficult. I implore other able-bodied players to have this in the back of their mind when playing.
Throughout the eight roughly 30-40 minute episodes of to a T, the gameplay never really changes. Go to school, head to the sandwich shop, speak to insert townsperson name. You will unlock new abilities later in the game including your unicycle and the ability to leap high which open up new areas in the town.
My main issue with to a T is that the gameplay is samey throughout and by the time I reached episode 5 I was really rather tired of it. Later episodes allow us to play as Dog and Mom, though these episodes do add to the story, there are many missed alternative gameplay opportunities here. Dog’s episode in particular was a disguised fetch quest that dragged on 20 minutes more than it needed to, with the whole episode feeling rather meaningless to the game.
What does keep to a T somewhat fresh are it’s mini-games, offered in core story missions or around the world by the various giraffes. These are usually food related, for example sub sandwich eating challenges. They’re fun for a few minutes (and some easy achievements) but there’s no need to replay them once you hit the required score. I’ll add, even after 8-10 hours with to a T, I simply have no idea why giraffes live in the town.
Story
The story is Teen’s journey to discovery of how they came to live in their T shape. Meeting many other characters on the way, including friends and ‘the bullies’ from school you will unravel the mystery across the game’s many episodes.
There are no real subplots in to a T, however we do learn some backstory about Dog, Mom and other late-game characters that I won’t write about here – there’d be too many spoilers.
In earlier episodes, the story is all about Teen and how they’re going about their simple life. In these episodes the story is equal parts charming and humbling to play. Getting around school with Dog, meeting the giraffes and chatting with your family is all pleasing to play.
However, when we get to episode 5 and start to unravel Teen’s circumstances is where the story falls off, hard. The story becomes dull and tries to make you feel it’s far more interesting than it really is. Episode 8, the finale, is 80% pressing A to advance the completely uninteresting dialogue until the game finishes in a ‘is that it!?’ moment.
Graphics and visuals
to a T’s visuals are taken directly from the art style of Katamari games, which is no surprise as Katamri Damacy creator Keita Takahashi is at the helm. Teen, Mom and all of the characters – human, animal or other – of the world are well-designed and full of charm.
Environments are well-crafted and always pleasing to look at. For example, the school where you frequent is really nice to take a leisurely stroll through. There’s quirky food-themed locations around the world including a mushroom forest, cake-looking tower and more.
But how you actually see the cutesy world of to a T is a huge frustration. The game’s character is often locked to a face-on angle that doesn’t allow you to see where you’re walking towards. There’s minimal camera control so actually looking around the town is limited to using one of the seven binocular stations hidden throughout the town.
Even worse, during main episode missions the camera will often no longer follow you if walk towards certain areas. Yes, this is by design to help you find your destination. But in the era of games giving players the ability to explore anywhere at any time, this feels very dated game design.
Audio and sound design
to a T’s sound is the games strong point. The gibberish audio for when characters talk to one another – think Banjo Kazooie – never gets old and I can hear it just typing this review.
General ambient music always fits the moment you’re in. There are even a few songs written for the game that appear during interlude cutscenes that I’ll certainly add to my Spotify gaming music playlists.
Sound effects are all very satisfying to listen to and perfectly fitting for the world we’re in.
Conclusion
The biggest criticism a game can have is that it’s boring, which about half way through to a T quickly becomes. Teen’s story starts well and full of charm, but as the eventual uninteresting mystery began to unravel my interest dropped off. Should the game’s 6-8 hour run time have been an 2-3 hours shorter, much of the uninspired dialogue could have been cut.
Gameplay was competent but like it’s story, it became dull. Ultimately, to a T feels like a missed opportunity. If you’re a Game Pass subscriber and a fan of narrative adventures, you may wish to check the game out, but I wouldn’t recommend a full price purchase.
to a T is now available on Steam and Xbox, including Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Play anywhere. The game was played on Xbox and via Game Pass for the purpose of this review.
to a T achievement guides
For more to a T coverage, see our full list of achievement guides here:
- to a T BBQ achievement guide
- to a T Candy achievement guide
- to a T Pancake achievement guide
- to a T Steak achievement guide
- to a T Omurice achievement guide
- to a T Sandwich achievement guide
- to a T Popcorn achievement guide
- to a T Oden achievement guide
- to a T Sushi Roll achievement guide
- to a T Pizza achievement guide
- to a T Grilled Corn achievement guide
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