Chicory is a really well put together game with unique mechanics and a lot of heart. I had a good time with it, playing mostly as the second player (you just paint).

This game looks great. Everything is simple line drawings and most of the objects and people in the world look like uncolored stickers. As you progress and paint everything at your whim, the world becomes explosions of color, stamped hearts, lines, and squiggles, or fields of paint-bucketed grass.
This painting of the world and characters as you play is the main mechanic of Chicory. Each area has four colors that look pretty good together, and you are free to paint things with tools of varying power as you progress through the game, from a regular paint brush to a paint bucket and paint stamps. Painting is very satisfying and the screens usually end up looking fairly good no matter what you do. Some of the painting hit detection for objects in the world can be a bit finicky, which is a bummer.

Gameplay consists of painting and light traversal and platforming mechanics to navigate the world interspersed with boss fights.
The puzzles are never super hard, but they are interesting and the analog nature of the painting makes solving them feel creative and satisfying.
There are also various design and painting tasks the characters in the world ask for help with. These are mostly open canvasses you paint with a prompt which is then applied to the world in various ways. Designing a shirt that you later see the animals of the world wearing or making your own stamp you can use with your paintbrush are both cute, satisfying, and cool.
The boss fights all have a few unique mechanics but share the same basic goal (paint the enemy). Most of them feel a bit too random and chaotic, but one in particular is really dynamic and amazing (the second one, I believe? The giant head with antennae!).
Playing Chicory with two players was extremely fun. The puzzles all felt like a collaboration and the bosses (while probably considerably easier) felt like we each had specific jobs to do, which was very fun.

The narrative is fine and has some important things to say about imposter syndrome, external and internal expectations, and acceptance. It is a bit heavy handed at times and most characters don't really grow in anything more than a two dimensional way (especially the titular Chicory). I didn't find anything really surprising or moving in the story here, though it is well told.

I had a great time with Chicory. It isn't super long, but there is a lot crammed into its short runtime and it entertained me throughout. I would definitely recommend playing it co-op -- solving puzzles and painting this world together with a friend is pretty awesome.

Chicory é uma experiência muito interessante que acabou deixando um retrogosto amargo em todos os pontos, mas não o suficiente pra tornar a experiência longe de muito boa. Na verdade, a história fofa sobre a vida e a incrível trilha sonora foram praticamente perfeitas e tocaram meu coração, mas o resto... Bom, é legal, mas?

Toda a ideia de pintar todo o mundo é bem interessante (assim como os momentos que o jogo pede pra você pintar algo), mas eu sinto que se eu gostasse de desenhar mais, eu poderia aproveitar mais. Na verdade, não é como se você realmente precisasse fazer isso pra seguir no jogo, o que também é levemente contraditório.

Toda a parte de puzzle-plataforma é bem legal também, menos quando não é, com puzzles que dependem de um timing que não faz muito sentido com os controles levemente estranhos. Eu desisti de jogar no controle porque parecia impossível fazer algumas coisas sem ser no mouse. Pelo menos, eu gostei bastante dos "chefes", por mais que eu imagino que seja um ponto que menos pessoas gostem.

A progressão do jogo também pareceu um pouco maior do que devia? Principalmente perto do final, eu sinto que o jogo tem uma barriga que me fez ganhar umas 3 semanas até conseguir terminar de vez. Sem contar as zilhões de missões secundárias que deu uma certa preguiça, confesso.

Chicory é uma história linda acompanhada por uma trilha sonora incrível, mecânicas interessantes que nem sempre funcionam e uma progressão levemente longa demais, mas é uma experiência que você devia dar a chance se gosta da vibe que o jogo passa, com certeza.

Beaten: Apr 11 2022
Time: 6.5 Hours
Platform: Mac

Chicory is a cool game, but it’s a cool game that didn’t quite hit me like I’d hoped it would. It’s got exactly the kind of thoughtful puzzles and even more thoughtful dialogue that I wish more games had, a confidence in its themes that isn’t often seen, but all the same it didn’t quite connect for me, and I’m not even really at a loss for why. 

In Chicory, you are painting a food-inspired world, pushing your way through puzzles on your way to fight a corruption encroaching upon the edges of this world. It feels like a mix of 2D zelda-inspired puzzles with a tone and vibe closer to Earthbound or Mother 3, but less outwardly absurdist. The puzzles are never real progress blockers, more just the path you need to take. Never too hard, but also not always incredibly easy. They keep you engaged enough on the way from one spot to another.

The real draw (hah!) is your ability to express yourself as you go along, painting literally everything in the world. The game’s themes all grow out of this mechanic naturally, providing commentary on a range of self-confidence and art-related topics, particularly focusing on learning to love yourself, and not self-critique yourself into a spiral.

I should really resonate with all of this, it’s all emotions I’ve been through, but for some reason it just didn’t hit quite right. If I had to blame it on one thing, it might just be that I’m not a huge twee-indie-puzzler guy? I enjoyed the puzzles well enough, particularly how well the different mechanics get mixed so often, but just as often I’d want to just cruise through them and get to the next story beat, or the next boss. There’s a variety of small other things throughout the game that bugged me, but if the game had connected better with me I don’t think I would have even noticed them.

I don’t think there’s much, if anything, “wrong” with the game, it just wasn’t quite my speed. I’d take a million games with themes like this, and art like this, over most big budget games I’ve ever played, and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the game. But it won’t be one of my favorites.

You play as a small dog with a big personality, named whatever you want, but I'll call them Onigiri. So, Onigiri starts out as a janitor, cleaning up at the Wielder Tower, when all of the color disappears! They run off to find the Wielder, only to find their paintbrush, which they happily pick up and begin chaotically painting the world. From there, you follow Onigiri as they come to terms with their new responsibility and try to figure out what happened to the world, why Chicory gave up, and what they really want to do in life. AND there's an awesome bisexual coming out story! YES!!!

Chicory: A Colorful Tale touches on some really heavy themes including depression, imposter syndrome, and finding your passion. Or rather losing your passion because of outside pressures. Expectations and burnout. It's far deeper than I anticipated going in. Make sure to talk to every NPC, because most of them have interesting stories, or just something funny to say.

Visuals

Chicory: A Colorful Tale is absolutely adorable. It looks like a fresh coloring book, at least until you get The Brush on it. You're free to color it in however you want, within limitations. Each area has its own set of colors you can use, and you'll unlock new brush styles as you progress. There are characters who will make requests about how they want their homes to look, but for the most part, go wild! You absolutely do not need to be an artist to bring back color to Picnic.

The character designs are all super cute, but what do you expect from a cast of animal friends. The world feels super alive despite being devoid of color, because there are always NPCs to chat with. Some are outside, some are in their homes, some follow you from town to town. They're everywhere and adorable.

Do be aware of the flashing lights! The boss battles are on black screens with flashing colors.


Sound Effects + Music

I was not expecting to soundtrack here to go that hard. It's fantastic! You've got a mix of fun, quirky, upbeat tracks with some typical adventure sounds. The music in the swamp reminded me of Donkey Kong Country, which as we know, those games have some of the best soundtracks around. But the boss battles?! What is going on?! That second boss track was giving me Space Ex-boyfriend vibes. If you know, you know.

There's no voice acting, but it's really not needed. The written dialogue has enough personality without hearing the words out loud. Occasionally, there will be some generic squeaks and laughs or something, but nothing that sticks out too much. Although there is one special moment late in the game, but I won't spoil that. It's cute.

Gameplay + Controls

Chicory: A Colorful Tale is a puzzle adventure game with some unique mechanics. You move Onigiri around the world, just as you'd expect, but they can't jump. Instead you'll use the environment to get to higher or lower places, which is where The Brush comes into play. Some plants will grown when colored in, while others need to be blank. There are other small puzzles like that, so just play around to see what happens.

You can also find gifts along the way which will give Chicory new clothes, accessories, or brush styles. There are also some hidden kittens that need to be returned to their mother. Some characters will give you small tasks, but they're optional, and can often be stumbled upon during main quests. There's also litter strewn about that you can pick up, which is a nice thing to do.

It does have some Metroidvania elements. It's not overly complex and backtracking isn't excessive. But Onigiri gains new abilities with The Brush as you progress through the game, which lets you get into areas you may not have been able to explore previously. Then of course, there's the side quests, which you may not be able to complete at first, but can come back to later, once you've found something else. Onigiri does have a map which updates as you enter new areas, so you'll never be lost. Plus, you can see where you've been by the paint you've left behind.

The hint system is so cute! Yes, a hint system can be cute. Onigiri can call their mom for a vague hint, or they can ask to speak to Dad for a more long winded explanation. The puzzles aren't too hard, but if you get stuck, just head to a payphone.

There are also some great accessibility and difficulty options, which I didn't even know about until I was prompted during a boss fight. You can change how many hits Onigiri can withstand before "dying" or even make them untouchable. There's no penalty for dying, but it's good to have options. In fact, you can skip boss battles entirely!

I only faced one noticeable problem during my playthrough. For whatever reason, the game didn't save my progress and I had to redo a large chunk of Chapter 4 again. I don't know why, but it happened. It was frustrating, but I got over it.

Replayability

Chicory: A Colorful Tale has a lot of potential for multiple playthroughs. Yes, the story and puzzles will be exactly the same, but the moments where you're asked to get creative are open to infinite possibilities! At least, if that part of the game is what you want to replay.

Otherwise, this game is long enough and has enough content to keep you busy for awhile in just one playthrough. Obviously, it's not as huge as other Metroidvanias, but I think it's the right size for someone who wants extra content beyond the main campaign. For me, I'd be happy 100% completing it.

Overall

I can't believe I was going to quit this game before the first boss battle, because I wound up falling in love with it once I started it again! Chicory: A Colorful Tale is so much fun and has an amazing story! It's a interesting world populated with hilarious and relatable characters. The gameplay is a blast, and there's so much to do, no matter what kind of player you are.

-O jogo esbanja carisma;

-Possui puzzles e design de fases muito bons e que utilizam bem a mecânica do pincel;

-A missões principais e secundárias não estão em um menu, nem marcados no mapa, mas o jogo te guia muito bem para onde ir, o que deixa mais imersivo;

-Gostei deles terem feito os personagens mudarem de local no mapa, deixando o mundo mais vivo;

-De negativo seriam as lutas de chefes, que não são muito interessantes, e a falta de recompensas mais interessantes do que só estilos de pinturas.

I was smiling for like a good 3/4ths of this game, and it was really fun to play coop. I have never been a great artist, but this game makes it fun to just try whatever comes to mind, especially in the art classes. The world and characters are great to interact with, and the quests you do with them are extremely soulful. The soundtrack for this game is pretty great. The song for Dinners goes off. I'd say my main two issues with the game are the boss fights and lulls in the story. The boss fights feel like they have a lot of missed potential. I like the concept of them but like you don't even die to them and the whole experience feels a bit clunky and too low stakes. The story gets a bit redundant at times especially when you have these long conversations with chicory that just kinda feel like repetitions of things that were already stated in a different way. However, overall, this is a great experience to try out and is unlike most games I have played before.

A modern game with retro stylings, an eye-popping adventure with a magical brush that turns the world into your endless canvas. Playing it feels like a lost 2D Zelda, or if Okami had been a Game Boy Colour title, even down to the locations being static screens instead of automatically scrolling.

The game is divided into a loose overworld of fields, rivers, valleys, towns, and dark caverns waiting to be explored. You'll need your brush and growing colour abilities to overcome puzzles and unlock new areas. The only real downside is the boss battles, as they tend to drag on and can't be failed.

The story, about depression and expectations and all our very human insecurities and flaws, hit really hard. I'm glad the main characters are on the path to getting better, and that was only possible by talking to each other and being open.

Though not as poignant as Wandersong, Chicory carries the same emotional core with more engaging zelda-like gameplay and a story about what it means to believe in yourself. Like it's older sibling, Chicory's main strength is in it's ability to deliver on it's writing. NPCs are genuinely exciting to talk to and I would revisit locations just to see what they were up to and what words of encouragement they would give me next. I didn't care much for the story at first as it really seemed to deal with the struggle of being an artist, something I can't exactly relate to so I felt as if I wasn'tthe target audience. However, during the last few chapters of the game I found myself getting invested in Pizza and Chicory's struggles to find meaning in their lives as wielders and defining what it means to be one. It managed to get a few tears out of me due to how personal some of the dialogue between the two got. If you don't get anything out of playing this, you need to let yourself be happy.

What does it mean to be an artist? Is it to create for yourself? For others? Is it even about having talent whatsoever? And how can you still love art if it becomes your work?

These questions and more are what Chicory proposes through both its gameplay and narrative. It's a very quirky game by nature, putting you in the shoes of a total goober coloring a now colorless world while interacting with the, well, colorful world and the characters who inhabit it. I have next to zero competence when it comes to drawing, yet this game was extremely accessible to someone like me. The world is your coloring book and it is shockingly enjoyable to sit down on a random screen of the game and either doodle to my heart's desire to make things as pretty as possible, throw color everywhere haphazardly, or screw around and draw Amoguses everywhere. Even for people who aren't very creatively oriented, there's still a very enjoyable and engaging puzzle adventure to explore and piece together bit by bit. It's not hard at all but Chicory as a game does a very good job of mixing together it elements into a canvas anybody can have fun painting onto.

The narrative reminds me a lot of Kiki's Delivery Service in the sense that the primary themes revolve around a passion and losing that passion to work, perfectionism, or simple artist's exhaustion. Doing anything over and over again is exhausting, let alone something that you love now with heaps and loads of pressure on your back. That's not to say the game ever says having work you're passionate about is a BAD thing, but it does explore the woes of the career artist as well as the hobbyist. As someone who wants to work as a creative myself someday, this story hit me like a freight train. Chicory's writing does a great job of telling you things straight but having the characters have very complex motivations to the point where they could and do reasonably make different decisions in very similar situations. The protagonist (default named Pizza, but I called them Pumpkn Pie) and Chicory (the character) both exemplify this perfectly as both grow and cope with the hand they've been given in very different ways while serving as great foil to one another. Pizza has no innate talent but carries artistic drive, while Chicory violently burned out even though she's definitively the best artist in the whole game. The relationship that forms between these two characters is very believable in both how they interact with one another and how they influence each other for the better, thankfully so since this is the backbone of the entire narrative. (Between this game and Wandersong, I've learned this team is VERY good at making strong protag-deuterag relationships that really explore the themes of the game.) It certainly helps that the cast of side characters are all very charming as well and suitably goofy to break up how honest and raw the main story beats can be.

The other parts of this game are also great, from the art direction managing to hit very good even in monochrome to the absolutely stellar soundtrack by Lena Raine that I'm confident I'll listen to a lot outside the game. There's not a lot to say here since the art style generally speaks for itself, and if I wanted to gush about the soundtrack I'd probably lean a bit into spoiler territory so I'll hold off.

The only real gripe I have with this game is that it's kind of a hassle to go find every little collectible for 100%, but I've learned that games should be enjoyed however much you want to. It's okay if I do most things while leaving a little to rest or go back to later. They're more or less all extras anyway. I feel like I got everything I wanted from this game. Progression can feel a bit boring and repetitive but these levels are so short I barely care, if I really feel bored I can just go do something else since there's lots TO do in Chicory.

I heavily recommend this game. It's very cute, charming, and surprisingly intelligent. Though the game might be a bit trickier without a mouse to really make things precise for those who love to draw all detailed.

Eu genuinamente me pergunto como o pessoal que adora jogos indies não falam mais desse jogo aqui, ainda mais pelo o quão incrivelmente sensacional ele é!

A gameplay é simplesmente perfeita, mas se eu fosse explicar mais aprofundadamente eu podia resumir como uma amálgama entre Zelda, Okami e Epic Mickey, o ponto principal do jogo são as mecânicas de colorir o mapa, e o jogo tira proveito total disso, já que o pincel é usado para desenhar pênis resolver puzzles e atravessar o mapa, algumas áreas usam o pincel de forma mais simples tipo colorir uma planta para tirar ela do caminho, ou colorir um cogumelo para pular para um lugar inalcançável normalmente (pelo menos por enquanto), mas conforme você avança, o jogo vai elevando cada vez mais os puzzles e as mecânicas de colorir no jogo, especialmente nas "dungeons" onde cada uma usa o pincel e os upgrades de forma interessantíssima, tipo pintar o chão para revelar a senha para avançar na dungeon ou mover algum objeto com ele para algum canto da TELA (bote ênfase nesse TELA por sinal), e isso que nem entrei no assunto dos upgrades do jogo que você libera no final de cada capítulo, que deixam a exploração pelo mapa extremamente divertida, tipo nadar pela água e escalar paredes desde que estejam coloridas, atravessar buracos pequenos enquanto nada pelo chão (ou água) colorido e entre outros upgrades, e meu amigo tem tanta coisa para explorar nesse mapa apesar do tamanho dele que você nem imagina, não só tem inúmeros colecionáveis para coletar (assim como dinheiro, ou nesse caso Sucata, para comprar decorações para as TELAS, e bote ênfase no decorações e no TELAS), mas também tem tanto conteúdo extra também, tipo side quests envolvendo entregar cartas, tirar fotos de áreas adivinha só? COLORIDAS, e fazer aulas de adivinha só também? DESENHAR, ah sim, eu já estava devendo falar disso, não só o pincel é usado para explorar o mapa mas também pra ficar desenhando coisas pelo mapa, e combinado com as decorações que você libera seja comprando com sucata ou fazendo side quests, você pode criar uns cenários bem bacanas, sendo o perfeito passatempo para enquanto não continuar a quest principal ou mesmo as side quests, e eu tinha citado desenhar antes, também tem certos momentos onde você tem que desenhar algo (tipo TODAS as aulas de arte em uma certa área do jogo), seja tentar imitar um outro desenho ou desenhar algums coisa para uma loja, e como é divertido demaid desenhar coisas nesses minigames, é quase como jogar um Mario Paint Lite, e ainda os personagens falarem bem dos seus desenhos mesmo ficando realisticamente horríveis é bem bacana. Só mais uma coisa que quero falar antes de ir pra história é falar das boss fights, SIM, apesar de não ter nenhum inimigo que você pode lutar contra diretamente, o jogo tem boss fights bem legais, especialmente as que envolvem doppelgangers de outros personagens, e também assim como todo resto do jogo usam muito bem as mecânicas de colorir e o pincel combinado com Bullet Hell meio Undertale por assim dizer. Enfim, deu para entender o quão excelente a gameplay é, e ela se conecta extremamente bem com os visuais e a história.

E falando no tal, a história é simplesmente fantástica, resumindo a premissa, você era faxineiro da Chicória (personagem que dá nome ao jogo) até por algum motivo todas as cores sumirem de Piquenique, aí o (ou a) protagonista pega o pincel e começa a fazer serviços envolvendo (É CLARO) colorir e desenhar pelo mapa, eu sinceramente eu acho que estou fazendo um desserviço resumindo a história desse jeito, mas é que eu não quero spoilar a história de jeito nenhum por causa que ela é simplesmente incrível, ela conta com temas meio sensíveis tipo depressão, síndrome do impostor e expectativas, ao mesmo tempo que brilhantemente balanceado a história com seus momentos de leveza bem humorados, e os personagens são muito carismáticos e memoráveis no geral, tipo a própria Chicória (uma das minhas favoritas do jogo inteiro sem sombra de dúvidas) e a sua ex-professora Amora, fora toda a backstory por trás do pincel e o templo dos pintores que é muito daora.

Visualmente o jogo é lindíssimo e complementa a gameplay e a história de forma muito boa, as TELAS são todas em preto e branco como se fosse um livro de colorir, reforçando as mecânicas de colorir do jogo, fora que no geral o jogo é lindo também, algum cenários são genuinamente fantásticos tipo o Templo dos Pintores no exterior, e quando combinado com o sistema de decoração de cenários e um certo item aí que não irei falar, você pode desenhar cenários ainda mais belos do que os já presentes no jogo, até quando você desenha o cenário e você acha que ficou uma porcaria ele ainda fica muito bonito, sem contar no design de cada um dos personagens sejam principais ou secundários que fazem deles ainda mais memoráveis do que já seriam só baseado em personalidade. A trilha sonora é muito, mas muito boa, o que faz sentido considerando que foi composta pela aclamada Lena Raine de Celeste (até a história do Chicory tu pode dizer que lembra Celeste, e olha que eu acho a história do Celeste meio superestimada hein), eu até prefiro bem mais a trilha sonora dela aqui do que em Celeste, a maioria das músicas aqui são muito boas tipo todas as músicas de todas as cidades do jogo, as músicas de certas dungeons tipo a da Ilha das Colheres e o Pico da Sobremesa (Celeste 2?!) são muito boas.

Para mim o melhor do jogo é como ele consegue integrar uma gameplay excelente com uma história tão excelente quanto, eu nunca imaginaria que o jogo seria tão bom quanto Hyper Light Drifter, um jogo inspirado em Zelda tão bom quanto, esse jogo merecia muito mais reconhecimento entre os fãs de jogos indie, se você não jogou esse jogo, eu só falo uma coisa... Jogue este jogo logo!

10/10!

Chicory: A Colorful Tale é um jogo único e especial. O que de início aparenta ser apenas um jogo infantil, consegue surpreender ao apresentar temas complexos e muito relevantes para a sociedade atual.

Antes de começar a jogar Chicory eu estava com um receio enorme de me sentir desconfortável jogando, devido ao seu foco na arte e em desenhar. Porém, depois de avançar um pouco na história percebi que o jogo jamais vai te julgar por ter feito algo ''feio'' ou ''bonito'', ele na verdade te incentiva a pelo menos tentar produzir algo, e mesmo essas partes de desenho não são obrigatórias, já que podem ser completadas com uma simples linha no papel.

A forma que Chicory nos faz acompanhar e explorar temas como burnout, insegurança e ansiedade, e a busca por pertencer durante a sua história é sem dúvidas uma das partes que mais admiro nesse jogo, e ele faz isso com muito maturidade e cautela. Isso ajudou a tornar esse game um dos mais importantes pra mim atualmente.

Tudo nesse jogo é feito com muito amor, as músicas são excelentes e acrescentam bastante na experiência - destaque para Song of The Wielders, que me emocionou bastante na primeira vez que joguei. Além disso, o fato do jogo te dar liberdade para se expressar da forma que quiser durante várias missões principais e secundárias da história é algo que admiro muito.

Esse jogo me ajudou a superar um momento péssimo de minha vida, e eu garanto que ele com certeza merece uma chance sua.

Chicory is a Zelda-like game in a world that loses its colours and where the gameplay turns around the recoloration of the world. this basis gives power like swimming in the colours like in Splatoon.
It is an adventure game but there are very few battle encounters. You will spend most of your time exploring, resolving puzzles, painting and reading dialogs. The bosses are the only battles you will have. They are very easy, but the animations are mind-blowing and the music of those bosses are extremely good. By the way, the composer of the game is Lena Raine, and Emi Evans makes an appearance for a song! They are the composer of Celeste and the singer of Nier.

Chicory is a relaxing and very accessible game. I recommend it for his originality, his music and the themes it addresses.
Of course, they are themes centralized around the art world. It poses questions on the loose of author vision during restoration work. It also approaches the difficulty to find a place in this field and having its creations recognized. And a lot more!
But it also deals with very personal subjects. Demotivation, depression, lack of self-confidence, lack of recognition, impostor syndrome, ... I think they are themes that speak to everyone and it make the interactions very touching. Specially between Chicory and the main character.

By viewing the cuteness of the game, I didn’t expect to find a game with such care on the themes it addresses. But it became an aspect that I loved. Also, I was a bit afraid to not like it because I’m really bad with drawing stuff, but finally it was not a problem.

A food named pup understands the challenge of self-worth, societal expectations , and the importance of creating your own value in life.

This game combines simple cutesy art with mental and emotional themes. It’s delves into fighting inner demons from yourself and others to break the barriers we put on ourselves. Battle trauma with art. The gameplay is really unique having to control
Both your character and a paintbrush with each joy stick. Simple and complex challenges with over 20+ hours of gameplay.

Each place you encounter can be colored in. You find things like brush styles that can make fun designs and textures. Spend hours hunting down collectibles or go to the art school and just draw. Or explore the map with most screens offers some type a puzzle to move ahead. As you obtain new skills it’s fun to explore the same areas to see if things were missed.

There are some physics issues that can hinder gameplay - especially puzzles that you have to sorta aim jump. The litter challenge felt impossible even with the hints. Litter is currency to some so it’s hard to know that you’ve actually collected and you only get a vague location hint. I wish at the end you could have received a gps upgrade like you get with the kids. Clothes were not as difficult since they are named you can find lists to see what you missed and look up the location. I had over 100 and was still missing items. I didn’t platinum the game as the collecting of items felt too heavy a chore. For a game about self-worth the item collecting made me feel like such a failure I had to shelve the game for my own wellness which really upsets me. I failed my character but the game was still beautiful and intriguing.

The boss fights can be difficult because you have to be fast and coordinated moving the character and brush around or I would recommend this for kids. I helped my kids fight the 1st boss and it was really easy.

If you are starting out new my two hints are to color at least a path you went so you know where you’ve been and either mark on tend map or keep a list of collectibles you couldn’t collect. There are characters that give hints but i still couldn’t complete them. There are guides that give you checklists I saw too late in my gameplay to use.

A charmingly childish reminder to stop every now and then to smell the flowers around you. Chicory takes zelda-like world design and wields it to present a tale for you to remember to never stop enjoying everything.

I don't want to critique the game because I could summarize it in how a zelda experience like a Link to the Past feels like, but that's not what chicory is about. It's a childish game, in fact it is perfect to recommend to a kid you know. It holds dialogues about a lot of things, but it's surface level ideas for younger people to become curious about and explore.

It touched my inner child, and for my first session I was playing like a wide eyed boy experiencing something new for the first time and enjoying it fully. Chicory is just so beautiful.

Chicory é um jogo de aventura com exploração, bem no estilo Zelda clássico. Ele conta a história de um cachorrinho (cujo o nome é o nome da sua comida preferida, no meu caso, "Amburge") que encontra o pincel mágico de Chicory. Nesse mundo, existe uma espécie de guardião do pincel que é responsável por dar cor ao mundo, nesse caso Chicory. Inicialmente o seu objetivo é tentar devolver o pincel, mas uma série de coisas acontecem e Amburge acaba herdando o pincel mágico e se tornando a próxima guardiã.

O conceito de Chicory é interessante, você interage com o mundo usando o seu pincel, pintando elementos do cenário e dependendo do que você pinta, as coisas se comportam de forma diferente. Existem por exemplo items no cenário que explodem quando são pintados, ou plataformas que só podem ser usadas quando pintadas, etc.

Chicory, no entanto, é dividido em dois atos, e o primeiro deles é bastante tedioso.

O primeiro ato é consideravelmente linear e te guia por caminhos que no final te levam a um chefe e ao vencer, uma nova habilidade é desbloqueada.

E o meu maior problema com o primeiro ato é justamente o quão raso ele é, já que inicialmente você não pode fazer quase nada além de andar, o que faz com que a maioria dos puzzles seja extremamente simples e a exploração seja bem sem graça e direto ao ponto. O início do jogo é praticamente um walking simulator de tão sem graça que são as interações com o mundo.

No entanto, conforme você avança, novas habilidades vão sendo liberadas, como pulos e até escalar paredes. E quanto mais habilidades vão sendo liberadas, mais interessante vai ficando a exploração e os próprios puzzles, já que agora eles podem ser feitos contando com uma gama de possibilidades maior. No finalzinho do primeiro ato eu já estava me divertindo bem mais com os puzzles.

O segundo ato, no entanto, foi onde o jogo me fisgou. Enquanto o primeiro é bem linear, o segundo te solta no mundo e te permite fazer o resto das atividades em qualquer ordem, além de te permitir revisitar lugares com todas as suas habilidades já liberadas, tornando assim a exploração muito mais satisfatória e interessante.

Escalar uma parede no cantinho do mapa e acabar caindo em um lugar completamente novo que te leva pra um item diferente é bem recompensador. O jogo começa a incentivar que você experimente e brinque com as suas mecânicas, diferente do primeiro ato em que você basicamente andava numa linha reta resolvendo puzzles extremamente simples.

Algo que me surpreendeu no jogo, entretanto, foi a história. Não exatamente por ela ser boa, mas sim o fato dela ser bem mais presente do que eu esperava e de fato ter um esforço nela. Eu esperava algo raso e fofinho só pra contextualizar a aventura, mas o jogo realmente se esforça para contar uma história que trata de temas como depressão, ansiedade, qual é o seu papel no mundo.

Mas a história é boa? Então... talvez seja um pouco de cinismo da minha parte, mas me incomoda um pouco essa trend de "jogos fofinhos sobre depressão" em que todos eles meio que terminam do jeito mais previsível do mundo e tem a mensagem mais clichê do mundo que mais parece um discurso motivacional raso. Eu, como alguém que sofro de depressão, vejo uma história como essa e não sinto nada além de uma identificação em alguns momentos. Não acho que seja uma história que traga uma abordagem interessante pro tema, mas ao mesmo tempo, não é uma história que trata o tema com irresponsabilidade, então não vou vir aqui dizer que a história é péssima, ela só é bem previsível e diz algo que várias outras histórias já disseram dezenas de vezes.

Outro ponto que vale ser comentado como um ponto positivo, mas ao mesmo tempo um ponto negativo, dependendo de onde você está jogando, é o fato de que o jogo tem vários momentos em que você precisa fazer desenhos.

Eu estava jogando no PS5, desenhar no controle não é exatamente a melhor experiência, então quando o jogo me pedia pra fazer desenhos complexos eu só meio que ignorava e fazia um among us mesmo. Isso gerou vários momentos engraçados, como os personagens olhando para um among us e descrevendo quais sentimentos aquilo despertava neles.

Nenhum desses desenhos é obrigatório pra progressão, mas eu consigo ver essa parte sendo a preferida de muitas pessoas que desenham e gostam de desenhar, então se você é artista e se interessa por esse jogo por esses aspectos, joga no pc com uma mesa digitalizadora do lado, sei lá.

Realmente achei interessante essa parte dos desenhos e como o jogo meio que tenta incentivar a sua criatividade, mas foi uma parte do jogo que pra mim não passou de uma piadinha em que eu fiz among us de cores diferentes em literalmente todos os desenhos.

No geral, Chicory é um jogo divertido. A primeira metade dele é um tanto tediosa e a história não é interessante o suficiente, mas a segunda metade compensa muito com uma exploração bem divertida e bons puzzles.

originally just wrote a joke but then wanted to come back and write an actual review when i bumped this up to a 10, but then it ended up kind of lame and pretentious and stupid so here it is in bullet point form

- if you hate anything wholesome or heartwarming, this game is not for you (also maybe try cheering up)
- if you draw memes or something vulgar on any white canvas given to you, this game is probably not for you (if you can exercise restraint in story scenes then go ahead)
- if you're expecting links awakening 2, don't. the screen-to-screen "action" comes from painting the world, not combat and is therefore a lot more chill than a zelda
- you should probably be painting things. you really do not have to be meticulous if you don't want to, and you can wait until you get the paint bucket if you want, but the game is better/more satisfying seeing things go from monochrome to colored in
- get the paint bucket as early as you can (start of chapter 2, when you first see a bridge over water go up a screen and there should be a big present) if you don't wanna spend a bunch of time coloring in every screen
- even before the paint bucket you can click and hold to fill as well without needing it, it's just a little bit slower
- you certainly do not need to be an artist (of any medium) to like this game
- that being said if you do make art (of any sort, can be drawn, can be music, whatever), this game gets a heavier endorsement from me since it touches on topics that have a higher chance of resonating with you