Broken Pieces Critic Reviews

Broken Pieces has a narrative that entices players to solve the mysteries of Saint-Exil and the cult that has taken residence. While simple combat might make the title a slower play for most, anyone who loves puzzles and riddles will enjoy their time in Saint-Exil and want more. This provides a great experience within the survival horror genre, other titles should take note.

Broken Pieces has a decent narrative and puzzles that mostly make sense, with a camera system designed to evoke nostalgia. But the combat sections, few as they are, are mediocre and players need to quickly become invested in the story to keep moving forward, finding puzzle solutions, and returning to their home before 8 PM. The experience would have benefited from less reliance on cassette tapes. I also wanted to get more of a sense of how Elise is emotionally affected by everything that’s happening. Broken Pieces shows that a small team can deliver an engaging, tight experience but the game needs better integration between its narrative and gameplay.

Broken Pieces is an odd, disjointed game with unnecessary combat, tedious back-and-forth exploration, and frustrating puzzle designs. And yet, I found myself wanting to explore Saint-Exil with Elise to figure out its mysteries despite those flaws, to the point that I was honestly a bit disappointed at the game’s relatively weak ending. Anyone looking for an exploration adventure game that harks back to the genre’s past and doesn’t take a ton of time to complete should give Broken Pieces a try. Just don’t expect the vase you assemble from all of the game’s pieces to necessarily come together thoroughly enough to hold water.

Broken Pieces is a decent light adventure set in a nice-looking coastal town with satisfactory puzzles and some twists to the formula, despite minor aggravations and dull combat.

Broken Pieces has strong world design and interesting mechanics, even if the action feels needlessly shoehorned in.

Broken Pieces ultimately leaves an impression on the player. The setting and tone are undeniably intriguing and will spark the curiosity of willing players. Presenting a massively fascinating web of narratives, developer Elseware Games aimed high but definitely got a little lost in the weeds on delivering a satisfying conclusion. But the exploration and puzzle-heavy gameplay may begin to wear on players seeking more action than backtracking. Broken Pieces has its moments but never manages to capitalize on its initial promise.

Broken Pieces is a project created by a software house still in its infancy, an adventure that unfortunately has proved problematic on several fronts. Net of the pleasant setting that is the background to the events narrated, the plot fails to involve the player, most of the puzzles are uninteresting and repetitive and the combat phases are nothing more than a filler that tires already at the second meeting with the opponents, all equal to each other. In short, unless you are satisfied with a walk in a beautiful French town, Broken Pieces does not have much to offer, not even for fans of the reference genre.

Broken Pieces has potential as a psychological thriller. Unfortunately, it takes mechanics from the survival horror genre and tries to weave them in. The result is a game that’s fun to play at the beginning, but loses its momentum with a lackluster story. The game isn’t sure what kind of genre it wants to belong to, which hurts the game severely. While some fans may enjoy the gameplay experience, the psychological thriller is missing its story. Without it, it’s just a mediocre experience that doesn’t know what it wants to be.

The mysterious thriller about the invasion of a picturesque French village could have gone better. When the game ends, you boredly click on exit, you uninstall the game with the feeling that you actually forgot what happened in it.