A One-Sided Relationship.
Maquette, developed by Graceful Decay as their debut title and published by Annapurna Interactive, originally came out back in March of 2021 for PlayStation and PC. Maquette’s theoretical Tinder bio would indicate that it’s a geometry-based 3D puzzle adventure game – not a personal red flag for me as I swipe right and delve deeper into the experience. Maquette and the Switch: does this pairing transport me to a honeymoon state, or is it time for me to explore other games?
Few things leave me with a glowing first impression and immerse me in the ambiance of an adventure more than a seamlessly integrated tutorial. When I started Maquette for the first time, my expectations began to skyrocket. A beautiful tune called “Rocketship” by Benoit Cavara accompanies you as you navigate through painterly interpretations of the streets of San Francisco. During the leisurely stroll, you’re introduced to the control scheme. Your character can jump with the B button, interact with objects by pressing Y, and pick up objects using A. When you pick up an object, you’ll notice that you can easily manipulate its position in 3D space using rotational controls with L/R and push and pull it in relation to your camera with ZL/ZR.
As I spend more time with Maquette and progress through its stages, I begin to unravel the narrative thread, discovering a story of young, budding love. It’s sweet, innocent, and quite beautiful, much like the environments you find yourself in. They represent real or metaphorical memories/places our lead character Michael has experienced, and the art style shines brightly. Upon encountering what you could call his mind palace, you’ll see a rotunda recognizable from the game’s eShop thumbnail. In its center, you’ll see the surrounded areas repeated as a miniaturized version. You’ll quickly discover that interacting with the objects you place and move within the diorama has a significant effect on your surroundings. A small key that you nonchalantly tossed into the tiny courtyard suddenly becomes as large as a bus. It can be exhilarating having influence over the scale of the object and world around you, and the early stages leave a wonderful impression. The overall gameplay loop of Maquette follows a trajectory like this: Find an object, explore how it can interact with your surroundings, unlock a new zone or “memory,” and learn more about the two lovers. More variations of this mechanic are woven into gameplay as you progress, offering a whole new perspective on your surroundings.
Unfortunately, the early stages of Maquette represent its best self; the more we got to know one another, the more the issues began to show. While some of the visuals can be spectacular, Maquette is more often than not hindered by poor performance during puzzle-solving. In several instances, video game jank basically takes over as you attempt to manipulate objects in 3D space. You’ll find yourself struggling with the controls, trying to free objects stuck in the environment, with noticeable frame drops during the process. I even experienced a moment where I unintentionally skipped an entire section of the game. I remember obtaining a golden ticket but not knowing where to use it. I sized it up appropriately to cross over a gated wall, and thankfully, the game acknowledged my progress and allowed me to proceed, but I must have missed a few lines of the story due to my unconventional problem-solving methods.
Moreover, I encountered a game-breaking moment in later stages. A button that was supposed to open a door on a countdown timer didn’t work; the button clicked and did nothing. I assumed it must have unlocked something, and so I explored the environment for nearly 40 minutes searching for what I was missing. Frustrated, I turned to a walkthrough and learned that the initial button press was supposed to initiate the aforementioned timed door segment but simply never did. Thankfully a reboot and restarting from my previous checkpoint addressed the issue, and I was able to proceed, but not until a fair amount of time had been wasted.
Maquette can be a beautiful and enjoyable experience until you grapple with poor 3D puzzles and a slew of glitches. The heart of its story is moving; the game can even be cathartic when everything aligns seamlessly. However, this story ends up being undercut by uneven gameplay, glitches, and subpar performance. If you can approach it with patience, you might appreciate the mesmerizing set pieces and a story that will surely tug at your heartstrings. But after my experience with Maquette, and encountering one too many shoddy 3D puzzles, I’m inclined to just swipe left.
