What is life? It’s a simple question, yet it has been a cornerstone of philosophy and religion for as long as people have pondered existence. From this question, more arise, with debates carried out about the meaning of life as well as what we classify as life. Threefold Recital takes this fundamental question and makes it the centre of its experience. Threefold Recital is less a game about philosophy and more a philosophical journey in the guise of a game.
Threefold Recital’s story finds it origin in a debate between a Daoist priest and Buddhist monk, which attracts the wild animals around them to listen. Three of these animals, a wolf, a fox, and a snake ponder this debate so much that they become Beastlings, which are humanoid versions of themselves.
As part of their change and affiliations, each has an ability. Triratna is the wolfling that became a Buddhist monk, and his powers are based upon karma. He can see karma lines which can be severed to remove obstacles, and affinity lines to see the relationship between people and items. Taiqing is the fox turned Daoist priest who can create items and travel through dimensions. Transia is the snake who becomes an artist, blessed with the ability to travel through paintings and to apply bodypaint so she can disguise herself as other characters.
These three characters live in the city of Bluescales, a place once ruled by nine or ten dragon emperors, depending on who you ask. However, most of these dragon emperors are now dead and Bluescales’ glory has faded with them. They all know each other, but for the majority of Threefold Recital each is on their own path dealing with their own quests including solving a murder and learning the secret of an old theatre. Much of the gameplay consists of speaking to different characters, interacting with items in the world, and solving puzzles.
Triratna’s path is the most hands-on in this regard due to the severing of karma lines. These puzzles consist of lines and knots that must be cut in order. They get harder as new line types are added, including fuse lines that will explode and reset some of the puzzle. The lines will also move around as you try to cut them. These puzzles become a lesson in patience, requiring you to focus on smaller elements to break the larger picture. Taiqing and Transia’s puzzles are more environmentally based, requiring you to figure out the way forward by finding specific items or talking with the right characters at the right time.
Threefold Recital incorporates a lot of religious and philosophy within its game design. The prologue is set at the end of the game which you circle back to eventually, echoing the concept of Samsara within Buddhism which is an endless circle of life and death with no fixed end or beginning. When Taiqing enters another dimension, it stands for the yin and yang of Daoism, switching between black and white to see and hear information. These pieces of information are almost never fully whole as they are only part of the circle. For Transia, much of her adventure deals with the question of life and what it really means. It posits questions such as are you alive if only a handful of people know you exist, or if you were put together instead of being born in the traditional sense.
Threefold Recital is a fun game that has enough variety in its puzzles that none become stale, from the severing of karma lines to donning the right disguise to gather information. The art style fits the narrative well, with art itself being another central theme to Threefold Recital. It has a kind of chibi style for its characters, but then there are artworks within that are inspired by East Asian styles. The soundtrack provides added depth too, from enjoyable environmental tracks to others that set the mood from calm to action, and even a bit of partying. Extras can be collected, such as music tracks, character information, and items, all of which can be viewed in a base that is accessible between chapters. You earn karmarines which can be then used in a turn machine that drops out items. Karmarines are earned by completing side and main quests as well as challenges.