I don’t envy the game developers who decide to make precision platformers. Above almost any other genre it’s so easy to miss the sweet spot with these games, because if the controls feel even slightly off then there’s almost no point playing them. There’s a reason that when discussing the very best precision platformers that people go back to talking about Super Meat Boy and Celeste, and frankly it’s because nobody else has ever managed to reach that level. That is until now anyway, because TetherGeist has that magic that kept me coming back after dozens of deaths.
Our protagonist Mae is a mountain shaman, who have for many years used their powers of astral projection to go on sacred pilgrimages. Mae isn’t like the other shamen though, thanks to a tether that bonds her axolotl spirit to her. While the others fly across the land with magical powers Mae has to walk, and because of this she isn’t allowed to join in this important spiritual journey. She doesn’t take this news well, and decides to talk the slow route to the great temple even if it’s dangerous. There’s way more to this story than I was expecting from a platformer (which I won’t spoil here) but let’s just say it isn’t just the platforming of TetherGeist that’s inspired by Celeste, at least in terms of emotional weight.
Really though you’ll be playing TetherGeist for that precision jumping, and it feels perfect. Now admittedly the actual physical jumping of the game isn’t that important, because you’ll mainly get around with your spirit abilities. By collecting various little symbols called Azae you’ll power up your adorable spectral friend, and can project yourself to get around. These abilities kind of function like dashes in a more traditional precision platformer, but have a variety of different effects.
The first Azae you find allows you to teleport a couple of feet in any direction, including through certain hazards like damaging vines or crystals that block the way. For a screen or two you’ll just use this to cross basic gaps, but before you know it you’ll be figuring out how to use three teleports to manoeuvre through a maze of instant death. Every little bit of movement matters in TetherGeist, so finding safe spots to wall jump and make more distance to your goal is often a requirement too. Nothing about using your spirit powers ever feels fiddly or cumbersome, and because of this every single failure is your own.
Each world of TetherGeist introduces a new Azae, and their abilities vary hugely. One world grants you an Azae that allows you to boost off various mushrooms, another grants you a fiery dash that can smash through walls or even be used to slingshot around pillars. My favourite of all though is the long distance teleport, which allows you to fire an orb that bounces off walls and decide when to blink to its location. Every single Azae is a joy to master, and they make reaching new worlds all the more exciting.
No precision platformer could be complete without a tougher challenge for those seeking it. In TetherGeist these come in the form of collectible red flowers, which are hidden in hard to reach places all across the game. Spotting hidden passages will lead you to more of these, as long as you can take on the extra tough platforming challenges standing in your way.
I was more than happy with the experience of just reaching the credits in this lovely adventure, but for those of you wanting to truly master it there are plenty of speed-run strategies built into the game. When I unlocked my first achievement for discovering a speed-run technique I squealed with joy, and I can’t wait to watch some ridiculously skilled folks crack this one wide open.
There’s so much to love about TetherGeist, but one aspect of the game did take away from the platforming magic. Many of the worlds feature an area where you investigate a village, and there instead of using cool powers you’ll just talk to people and help them with problems. You can often skip these entirely by walking to the right and continuing your adventure, but some of the collectibles are locked behind chatting to villagers and this forces you to play the game like a JRPG when you reach a new settlement. The change of pace just wasn’t ever what I wanted from the game, and is pretty much the only negative in an otherwise exceptional experience.
TetherGeist is an incredible precision platformer, with perfect locomotion and a whole host of interesting powers to use on your adventure. It tells a charming tale alongside all the jumping too, and even has plenty of scope for speed-running. Once I started TetherGeist I frankly couldn’t stop playing it, even when stages took hundreds of lives to finally beat.
