Hello Goodboy gives a glimpse of what it's like to step into the afterlife and be reunited with a four-legged friend. Coco the dog put the biggest smile on my face; the developers absolutely nailed it with his visual and audio design. I enjoyed the journey in this game, and the art style is the perfect encapsulation of a children's storybook.

I couldn't help but wish for a bit more from it, though. While I absolutely loved the message at its core, it presented itself too vaguely, leaving too much room for interpretation. Also, I don't mind the short length of the game (I often prefer it), but the developers intend for you to only visit 2 of the 4 areas in a single playthrough and then visit the other 2 on a New Game+ playthrough. With such a short length (it took me about an hour and a half), I would have preferred the game take 3 hours for a single playthrough and visit all of the areas. The decisions the game offers are hardly choices at all, but I still felt pleased with making Coco happy each time.

Hello Goodboy was so close to being an easy recommendation from me, but it just slightly missed what I was hoping it would be. Still, I can see it being a perfect bite-sized journey for a parent and child playing together.

I'm absolutely floored with how amazing this game was, from its amazing soundtrack and visuals, to its very touching and well written story, so much love was poured into this game by its devs and it shows with much enjoyment you get out of playing. I loved solving puzzles with the bestest of boys Coco and hanging out with the supporting cast of characters you meet and help along the way. Sitting down and having talks and eating well made comfort food with those characters felt so heartwarming hearing about their lives, it never felt like filler but a part of this games excellent writing. The game requires multiple playthroughs to get the most out of it, and to see its true ending, but that was no problem for me I'd happily get wrapped up in this games dreamlike world, that is just straight out of a childrens storybook. This games highlight is the superb story that is equal times wholesome as it is emotional, like the writers went all in on tugging at your heartstrings, second best highlight is giving Coco bellyrubs and playing with toys to fill his "Good Boy Meter". This is definitely a diamond in the rough that I would love to see more people take a chance with!