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The Message Itself
Most of the time, the narrators are just there to facilitate an ongoing plot. At first glance, I kind of thought Tearaway’s story was going to be an ultimately simple one. Sure, there is the fact that the narrators kind of brought about the existence of Scraps, enemies created from your world. But, this is the kind of game that could get by on its charm alone, I thought. But…there are two points in the story where the narrators decide to intervene in order to make things a little less…well, simple. The first point is at the top of Gibbet Hill. Iota is sprung from a catapult, and mere moments from achieving his goal when, out of nowhere, one of the narrators just (essentially) cuts in like, “Nope; not good enough. Needs more.” WHAM! Iota smacks into a Scrap. The collision sends him spiraling down towards the Crash Site…and towards a new friend.
This entire story arc involving a friendship outside of Iota and You, one that you watch grow and flourish, is facilitated by the narrator’s actions (and seemingly on a whim, I might add). This new character kind of acts like a puppy, loyally following Iota and helping him out whenever necessary. When the baby Wendigo meets “a terrible fate” and just disappears, I was kind of downtrodden for a while. I didn’t think such a friendly, open-minded game would let something terrible happen to your new friend, but…I guess my cynicism got the better of me for a while. You do eventually save your companion and make sure his/her tale ends happily…all while disposing of the Scraps once and for all. But The Lab/The Caverns isn’t where the story ends—it’s where the narrators intervene once again to insist that Iota’s story takes on a life of its own, and goes beyond what they’re capable of telling.
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It’s crazy to think about the fact that what happens after “Between the Pages” is effectively the creators of Tearaway showing you (and Iota) what could have happened if you failed. The game doesn’t let Iota fail. At any point, when Iota “dies”, he is simply whisked away in envelope form and plopped back at the last checkpoint. I suppose it’s implied that “you” help him to come back to life? What we’re shown in the desert is another message (a lot like Iota) that did not have the assistance of You. It failed to be sent, and was left in this sort of oddball motion-controlled juxtaposition-land. This is the one instance in the entire game where you’re assisting both Iota and Atoi—because that’s the form the second, formerly undelivered, message takes when rescued. I’m curious if Tearaway would have attempted to explore an actual comradeship between Iota and this undelivered message instead of a more subliminal one. Wonder what would have happened if Media Molecule had been given more time to work on the game. What if that idea was (literally) left on the cutting room floor? Both Iota and this other message have the same purpose, after all.
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The narrator warns you and Iota that “things may get a little weird”—but you’re encouraged to go with the flow, to help this story to ultimately reach its end. What Iota’s message is and what prompts the credits to roll is, perhaps, the most philosophically significant thing about Tearaway. As the game draws to a close, you begin to see signs that Iota’s world is, quite literally, your Vita. The various devices that operate it come into view, at certain points. The moment things come together is when you realize that you’re operating this creative story, helping it to be told, because of your Vita. It’s only natural that the world Media Molecule chose to create is, in essence, housed in the very system you’re playing the game on. When Iota finally succeeds in his mission, you’re shown him tearing through your system (as close to realistically as possible) and propelling towards you. The last image you see in the game before the credits roll is one where Iota and you are (finally) together.
There are games and other forms of media that tell the story of a world. I can even pull an old PlayStation slogan out of this—live in your world, play in ours. Tearaway is a game that blends your world with theirs. That’s why it affected me so profoundly.
So, what IS Iota?
Iota is his story—the entire story of Tearaway. You’re given his unique perspective just before the credits roll. The message Iota shares with the player, your entire purpose in this several-hour-long journey, is to appreciate the fact that there was a journey, and that this journey can (and should) go beyond your Vita in order to appreciate your world a little more. I stressed that point in my review, when I highlighted how I took a picture of my girlfriend when the game prompted me to take a picture of my world. The entire point of Tearaway isn’t just to tell an out-of-the-box story…it’s to help you to appreciate your own story, your personal journey, and your world.
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For more analysis:
Analyzing Soma Bringer: Language Barrier be Damned!
On Nihilism and Time: Analyzing the “Chrono” Games
