Side-scrollers and puzzle games are two of my favorite videogame genres so its no surprise that Four Sided Fantasy caught my attention. While it is certainly not the first game to meld the two styles it is unique in other aspects. The while minimalistic visuals remind me a bit of the superior Metrico the art style does stick out. Then there is the gameplay which has you wrap around the screen so that as you exit one side you appear on the other. Four Sided Fantasy does a job good keep the wrapping mechanic and similar moves interesting throughout the experience. While this is an enjoyable game but I feel it could have been more.
There is no storytelling here so you'll have to look elsewhere it you prefer narrative driven experiences. Four Sided Fantasy is all about mastering mechanics, the primary example of which is screen wrapping. Anyone who has played arcades classics such as Asteroids or Ms. Pacman will have an idea of how this works. By holding the bumper button the screen will stop scrolling. At this point by passing through the left side of the screen you'll find that you appear the right side of the screen. So if a jump on the right side of the screen is too high you may use a raised platform on the left and screen wrap to gain the height needed.
As new twist are added to the gameplay it helps keep the puzzles interesting. Naturally the next assumption is if you fall through the bottom of your screen you'll find yourself falling from the sky. Every time you traverse one of the edges you switch between a boy and a girl. What gets interesting is how later in the game when the boy and the girl behave a little bit differently. This isn't a particularly long game so its difficult to go into much detail without spoiling some of the fun little surprises and twists. That said the developer did a job of milking all the abilities without dragging out the experience.
Saying the art style is minimalist may be a little to generous. Thats not to say the game looks bad but it definitively could has used more character. All the textures are repeated and seem so bland after awhile. The characters are also lacking any personality; we could have played as a cat and a dog and that would have been more interesting. More than anything though I'm disappointed by the lack of secrets. The mechanics that serve the puzzles would have worked perfectly for exploration. The few opportunities I had to experiment with breaking free left me unrewarded.
Ending on a positive note Four Sided Fantasy is good for what it is; a short, simple, puzzle game. If you can pick it up on sale for $5 or less you'll get your money's worth. I do however think a little more flavor in the visual department could have gone a long ways. As a fan of both of the influencing genres I'm kind of shocked by the lack of secrets. Breaking off the the main path really isn't rewarding when there isn't anything find. But if you can see past my rambling there is a decent game here. One look at the trailer and you should know if this is the kind of experience you'll enjoy.