Game EXP: Art of Balance TOUCH! (3DS)

Art of Balance TOUCH!
Systems: PlayStation 4, Wii U, Wii, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo 3DS*
Release Date: February 15, 2010
Publisher: Shin’en Multimedia
Developer: Shin’en Multimedia
Time Spent: 10 Hours 7 Minutes

I have mixed feelings about Art of Balance TOUCH!

On the one hand, I love the concept and idea of trying to balance different objects on top of each other.  On the other hand, I do not like a lot about this game, or at least I do not like specific aspects to how it plays on the 3DS.  Art of Balance TOUCH! is a balancing game where you are given a set number of blocks to place above a bowl of water and if any of the blocks splash into the water, you have to restart.  As the game progresses, there are added modifiers that make the concept more difficult, like pieces that break if too many other pieces are stacked on them, platforms that move (which is not ideal when you are trying to balance objects on them), increasingly difficult shapes to stack like triangles, and blocks that you can see the shape of, but cannot use until you have used the blocks preceding them..

First off, the camera.  I get that the camera will sometimes do dynamic zoom-ins/outs based on what you are doing, but when that zoom-in happens while you are trying to precariously place a block on top of another block (which is balanced on four other blocks, one of which is round), it can be a little aggravating.  It is a steady slow zoom-in, but it is often at the expense of not being able to see the top of the screen, which is where you want your block to go because again, you are trying to balance it on top of five other blocks.  This means that you are moving the block you are trying to place while trying to make special accommodations for the camera, which feels like is not something you should need to think about in a game focused on balancing things on top of other things.

The second issue is the wild imbalance in how the levels are laid out or at least the progression in each world.  Because this is a puzzle game, it makes sense that there are going to be puzzles that are more difficult than others, but for me, there are some puzzles that are frustratingly difficult. There is a stage (World C, Level 9.2) that took me 19 minutes after 36 attempts tucked away amongst other stages that I have beaten in a minute and fewer than five attempts, to me, seems out of balance.  And then there are stages (World E, Level 5.2) that are so difficult to start, that I typically have to restart after just the second of six pieces; this is also one of those stages that are timed, so there is that added stress of getting the correct piece rotated to the correct angle and place gingerly on pedestal that moves based on the weight placed on it (think of it like a balancing scale) and quickly picking up the next of the five remaining pieces.  All within the 15 seconds that start about .5 seconds after you pick up your first piece.  So maybe it is just a me issue and not that the game is being too difficult?  Yeah, I don't think so, because in (at least) the PS4 version, you have one fewer pieces and still have (I believe) the same amount of time.  Yeah, I am just a little bit salty about this stage.

Lastly, not so much a game issue as it is a "me not being able to find a solution" issue is just that.  I have looked for walkthroughs for some of the more difficult stages (World D, Level 7.5), and it seems that the PS4 and Wii/U versions of the game do not have the same levels in the same order as the 3DS version, let alone the same puzzle layout with the same pieces (see above issue with World E 5.2).  This makes trying to find out how/why I cannot solve a particular puzze or why it seems exceedingly difficult and a bit of a hunt-and-peck based on the thumbnail.  I do not mind having to retry levels as there is that high of finding a solution after several attempts, but once you have to retry the same level for the 10th time, it can feel a bit futile not knowing if you are on the right path or failing because you are not placing the correct piece in the correct order in the correct place.

I do not know if I will 100% Art of Balance TOUCH! if only because some stages that I have not completed just frustrate me to no end, but I also do not want to hammer away at a game that I am no longer enjoying (see The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks) and right now, this game is still enjoyable when it is enjoyable.  Because again, I love the act of being able to balance objects on each other.

~JWfW/JDub/The Faceplantman/Jaconian
So Take A Try

*P.S.  I included the other Art of Balance games even though they technically do not have the "TOUCH!" in the title.  I will usually not include earlier or different versions of the same within a Game EXP article, but I wanted to include the others here to partly illustrate that the game is still in circulation on modern systems.