Puppeteer (video game)

"Puppeteer is a game of boundless character, gorgeous aesthetic, and genuine heart."

- Gamesradar.com

Puppeteer (パペッティア) is a platformer game developed by Japan Studio for the PlayStation 3. It was directed by Gavin Moore, who served as lead animator on The Gateway, Forbidden Siren 2 and Siren: Blood Curse, and the creative director for Demon's Souls (2020). Puppeteer was released worldwide in September 2013.

It is playable in both traditional 2D and in 3D. Gavin Moore says Puppeteer plays better in 3D than other games because the camera doesn’t move and his team used a method of 3D that hasn’t resulted in a reduced frame-rate.

Gameplay
Puppeteer is a side-scrolling platformer in which players control a boy named Kutaro, who has been turned into a puppet and had his head torn off. Throughout the game, Kutaro is able to find various types of heads to substitute for his own, each with their own unique abilities, such as throwing bombs. Kutaro is armed with a pair of magical scissors named Calibrus. As well as serving as his main weapon, Kutaro can use the scissors to cut through and move along anything made out of paper or fabric, including effects such as bubbles and smoke that are made out of paper. The right analogue stick can be used to control Ying Yang, a ghostly cat who can examine foreign objects and find new heads for Kutaro.

Plot
"One dark moonlit night, a young boy named Kutaro was carried away by the maleficent Moon Bear King to a black castle where the unlucky lad was transformed into a puppet. Kutaro displeased the terrible tyrant, who devoured the boy's wooden head and cast away his body. But the headless hero was not alone, for he had discovered a very special pair of scissors to help him on his harrowing adventure to find his head, and his way home."

Development
On July 21, 2010, Sony filed a trademark titled Puppeteer. It has been speculated that it would be a game that would make use of the PlayStation Move technology in order to control the main character. Two years later, the trademark was later revealed to be indeed for a game with its official announcement at Gamescom 2012.

In December 2012, Gavin Moore posted an entry on the European PlayStation Blog, stating that the video game is "Shaping up nicely, playing great and looking awesome. From January we will be polishing, refining and adding extra little details, to make the whole experience something fantastical and wonderful that PlayStation fans deserve. I will be in London for two weeks doing the Voice recordings in January, popping across to Budapest for the music recordings, then back to Japan with all my wonderful assets to shove them lovingly into the game. This is one of my favourite parts of game creation. Getting the final assets into the game really brings everything together."

Theatrical Pack (preorder)
The Puppeteer Theatrical Pack included exclusive DLC available to customers who preordered the game:
 * 3 PSN avatars for Kutaro, the Moon Witch, and the Moon Bear King.
 * 1 Dynamic custom theme for the PlayStation 3 featuring hand-drawn concept art from all seven acts of Puppeteer.
 * The original soundtrack of Puppeteer by famed composer Patrick Doyle.

Streaming
Under the updated PS Plus subscription tiers rolled out in June 2022, Puppeteer is available to stream exclusively via the PS Plus Premium tier subscription package.

Downloadable content
The Takahashi Meijin DLC allows players to experience the Japanese demo version of the game along with a new puppet version of Takahashi Meijin, which counts as a new head and comes with a new head action.

Soundtrack

 * Official Soundtrack
 * Kutaro - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * Moon Bear King - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * The Moon Witch - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * Pikarina - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * Land, Already! - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * Open The Gate - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * It's A Traaaaap! - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * Onward And Upward - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * Woe Is Me - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * Tea Party - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * This Saturday Morning Cartoon Is Over! - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * Monkey See, Monkey Do - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * Fire The Long Tom! - Puppeteer Soundrack
 * Ahoy, Moby! - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * Danger - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * Slithering Scourges - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * Across The Plains - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * Horse And Bull - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * Bullfight - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * Hallowee Ville - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * City In The Fog - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * The Gateway To Earth - Puppeteer Soundrack
 * I'm Not Done With You Yet - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * Stop That Monster! - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * The Hero Of The Moon - Puppeteer Soundtrack


 * Unofficial Soundtrack
 * Magic Puppet Theater - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * Act Selection - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * Bonus Stage - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * Head collection - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * Storybook - Puppeteer SoundtrackPuppeteer Storybook Music
 * Calibrus - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * Scene Curtain - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * Horse Head - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * The Four Champions - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * Pikarina Saved - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * Bamboo Forest - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * Shrine Battle - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * Gate Weaver - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * Lake Cedrus - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * Mother and Father Cedar - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * General Snake - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * Pirate Duel - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * Lullaby - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * Inside the Whale - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * Robo Crab Battle - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * Wild Waste Chase - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * General Horse - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * Desert Run - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * Candy House - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * Shadows in the Dark - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * Haunted Graveyard - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * Magic Show - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * Across the Mean Moon Mountains - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * Into the Volcano - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * Space Chase - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * The Sun - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * Reclaiming Wax Wane - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * The Moon Goddess Returns - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * Back to Earth - Puppeteer Soundtrack
 * The End - Puppeteer Soundtrack

Trivia

 * The game's been in development for at least three years; development was postponed so that the team could help work out the Video game: The Last Guardian.
 * The Moon Bear King ruled for the last three years, which is the same amount of years the game was made. Probably to represent the the three years Sony Japan and Gavin Moore were making it.
 * Peter Doyle, who composed The whole soundtrack, also did the soundtrack for movies such as Brave and Thor.
 * There was a Japanese demo of the game that had Kutaro running up an altered version of the tower of tribulation, avoiding puppet children who were building the game and a peek at the Moon Bear King taking a shower, while Pikarina explained to the player about the game Puppeteer. it was exlusive to japan only.
 * The plot for Puppeteer follows that of the Monomyth (or hero's journey as it is more likely called), this consists of an every-man-style hero being thrust into an adventure, overcoming trials, and then returning home richer for the experience.