It is a shame that Puppeteer falls under the forgotten games genre because it's one of those games that no one ever has heard but turns out to be an excellent game. Puppeteer was released at the right place but at the wrong time with 2013 being the last good year for PS3 exclusive titles for the system; if Puppeteer was released a little sooner it could have got more attention for its unique gameplay and very well detail visuals.
With the game being played as traditional 2D platformer side-scrolling game making it feel that you are watching a play at a theatre following the story where an evil king is turning children into wooden puppets before devouring their heads to boost his wicked powers. Our hero Kutaro who you play as is the latest victim, but unlike other children he soon discovers that puppets can find new heads in the strangest of places. With the help of a mysterious witch, Kutaro steals the evil king’s magical scissors and then escapes but to find his way home Kutaro begins an epic journey to take down the kingdom’s 12 fearsome generals and collecting 12 white moonstone pieces then eventually come face-to-face with the evil king himself. The story itself does feel like one of those Chinese folklore tales you would hear during a bed time story or in school based on the animals of the Chinese zodiac, I do like the concept idea because the 12 bosses you face are based on the animals of zodiac.
Throughout the game Kutaro can collect various heads to replace his own which you can only hold up to three heads if you lose one you'll lose health but lose all three you'll lose a life and would have restart at the last checkpoint. Certain parts you'll see a face on the side of a wall if you see it and press the down where Kutaro can use head abilities and this can lead to the Bonus Stage where you can earn more Moonsparkles and a head towards the end of that stage. With it being a platformer its gameplay feels very familiar with past games like the LittleBigPlanet series and the 2D Mario Bros games start from one end of the level and finish the stage on the other side of the level; your only weapon is a pair of magical scissors which is what you need to cut your way through various obstacles, getting across paths and taking down bosses this isn't the first time we've seen a video game that uses an odd tool as a weapon in games. When it comes to facing certain bosses you'll come across some quick time events in which you must press buttons indicated on-screen to execute actions such as dodging and using those scissors to pulling of a powerful attack.
If you have PlayStation Move or a second controller letting play as either Ying Yang or Pikarina the second player can help you pick up extra Moonsparkles and investigate certain places that Kutaro can't reach from a high distance. What really makes Puppeteer an amazing is that it has some of the best 3D visuals and animation you'll ever see in a PS3 game with it being set on a theatre stage there's 21 stunning stages from exploring a forest to the undersea ocean to obstacle course resembling Victorian England. There have been a lot of moments where I didn't want to put this game on how much detail had been put in to Puppeteer there were moments that I didn't want to game to end either. Even the characters are easily memorable including some good sense of humour through certain moments in the game including the narrator tells the story of Kutaro's adventure pretty well.
Whatever price you see Puppeteer at I would highly recommend it at any price because everything about it is both memorable and even the well done voice acting is pretty good to listen to as well. As I've already said above it is a shame that not many people would have heard of this game if this got the remastered treatment for the PS4 the visuals would look five times better in what you would see in the original version, it never feels too long or too short, there is plenty of content, hidden goodies and surprises.