Scarf PC Review

Scarf is a puzzle platformer developed by Uprising Studios and published by HandyGames (a THQ Nordic subsidiary). Players take control of an unnamed protagonist - a being made of pure light. They are quickly joined by their companion Scarf, a red dragon-like creature that can change its form into a myriad of objects. Scarf once lived in peace with it mother, but one day they were attacked by forces of darkness that sundered their parent and are using her essence to traverse worlds. Now it is up to players to stop the dark beings and restore Scarf’s mother.

The protagonist has only a few simple commands: basic movement, a short jump, dash, and the ability to carry objects (though they cannot jump with it). When paired with Scarf, new skills are unlocked like double jumping, gliding, or swinging. These form the bulk of the platforming and puzzles, as Scarf can help players reach players get to places they can’t access on their own. However, the big caveat is that Scarf is still terrified of the dark, and will run away at the first sign of it. Scarf may also at times wander off if it wants to showcase a certain mechanic or path. In these small moments, the protagonist’s own set of abilities is too slow and heavy to be enjoyable.

The level design shifts between short platforming sections, puzzles, and some exploring. There aren’t waymarkers to guide, but with some backtracking, it won’t take long to find the right path. In most cases, the platforming sections utilize moving or disappearing platforms - both staples of older games like Super Mario and Mega Man - but very often are easier to navigate by walking instead of jumping. This is for two reasons, the first being that jumping in the game isn’t very responsive, which can make timing feel very off. Additionally, players will likely need to go through an area twice, first to gain an object and then return the same way while holding the said item. As previously mentioned, the protagonist loses the ability to jump during this time, so all of those previous obstacles need to be bypassed without a jump function.

The puzzles in the game are mostly inserted to break apart the platforming sections. Many of these feature pulling switches or moving blocks in a certain order. But this typically is best accomplished by exploring the entire zone first and only then activating each correct device, even if they are inconveniently located. If one attempts to interact with switches or objectives as they find them, they will likely need to backtrack or go through a platforming portion again just to arrive at the intractable again. Some of this could have been avoided with a more dynamic camera that zooms out to view the entire puzzle, rather than leaving it still squarely focused on the player character.

While platforming and puzzles make up the majority of Scarf’s gameplay, there are often many times where players will simply be walking around the environment. There are some nice areas to explore, and the aesthetic is overall pleasing to view. It is also the only way to unlock more of the story, which is chiefly explained when interacting with orbs of darkness off the main path. While this does show off some nice fully voiced cutscenes, the story in itself is extremely boring and straightforward - there will be no real twist or mysteries.

Scarf prioritizes looking beautiful all of the time. The lighting and textures do look stunning; and physics for cloth, flora, and water are very impressive. However, this comes at a major cost to performance. Scarf is not a well-optimized experience, which can lead to some serious memory usage issues, slow down, and even full-on game halts. Instead of making use of more well-placed loading screens, the game will often outright freeze in order to load objects, characters, and new locations.

Scarf’s sound design is extremely uneven. It seems like the entire focus was devoted to the music, which is very whimsical and perfect for a strange world of light and darkness classing against each other. This is what makes many of the sound effects so bizarre. Almost all of them clash with the tone of the rest of the game and have poor mixing at the default settings. Even once making adjustments in the options menu, many of the effects and atmosphere still remain too loud and/or distorted. The player may want to go as far as completely turning sound effects off.

Overall, Scarf has the pieces to be laid back and enjoyable platformer. It may get repetitious at times, but never fully frustrating. Hardcore fans of both platforming and puzzles will find a jewel in Scarf. But, even would-be buyers should still be wary of the potential technical issues. It may be best to wait to fully dive in once a few more patches fix the bugs and performance.

Kurtis Seid, NoobFeed
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