During E3 earlier this month, Sony premiered (and released) their latest “artsy” game Entwined. Developed by Pixelopus (a company mainly consisting of game design students), Entwined falls more in the style of games such as thatgamecompanies Flow and Flower, and PixelJunk’s Shooter and Eden. While the gameplay itself is pretty simplistic with such games, the focus is more on the sights and sounds. 
In Entwined’s case, the gameplay consists of controlling two figures down a spherical shaped tunnel/tube, and trying to hit certain marks and collect points. The twist comes in the fact that each of these figures can only stay on their half of the the sphere (one on the left and one on the right) – each side being controlled by the left and right thumb-stick on the controller. Hand eye coordination, along with ambidextrous thumb action is the name of the game for this one. And while I extremely appreciate the training I get in those aspects (as I am sure it will come in handy in all the FPS games I get to play), that’s not what makes the game rewarding. 
The two figures of the story are a fish and a bird. They are in love, but living in different worlds (under water / air) they are unable to “be together”. The story is of these two spirits traveling side by side (down the tunnel) as they try to sync themselves up to become one. To complete the level, you need to collect what can be considered “syncing” points, which will allow the two spirits to finally unite, and become a certain phoenix/dragon looking being. You then get to fly around in a larger 3 dimensional area (versus going down a tunnel) until you decide to play the next board. 
Despite the “lack” of story, the game somehow manages to create a certain emotion behind these two beings, which is surprising. This is mostly done by the “feeling” the game provides, which is created by the visual and audio of the gameplay – and is in fact what the game excels at. The game’s artwork and musical compositions are amazing, and they are expertly mixed together to make one of those “creative” games that feels like a unique and wonderful experience. The graphics, very artsy and almost “trippy” at times, are amazing. Despite all the psychedelic visuals, the gameplay feels sort of relaxing and entrancing. The ambient music, at times peaceful, at times more like trance, also seems to provide the same feeling (and is coordinated very well with the visuals). As your “syncing” builds up, so do the audio and visual aspects of the game, so when you’re almost there, you’re feeling the anticipation; and when you combine, you feel the exhilaration of it. You can almost find yourself smiling that your two loved ones have finally become one. 
Overall, the gameplay is very simple, and with only around 10 levels (at least from what the menu shows, as I have not finished it yet), it is probably not that long. Despite this though, the game feels like an amazing and peaceful experience, and one that you can play over and over again, when you’re in the mood. The levels, being short as is, make it easy to just throw on for a few minutes to enjoy, and then do something else. Released for the PS4 during E3, the PS3 and Vita release should be around the 10th of July (around the one month date post E3). I’m pro Playstation, so I’m happy this is an exclusive for them; and if you happen to own any one of the consoles/devises, than I would highly suggest this as an addition to your collection (especial considering it’s a downloadable game, and pretty cheap). It’s a beautiful game worth experiencing and it’s great to see that such games can still do so well and be so creative, amongst the plethora of big production games that almost drown the industry! ~mozeus 
Entwined- Amazing visuals and audio collide in upcoming game from Pixelopus!
