The best games aren't the flawless, slick-as-all-get-out games. They're the ones that have very unique appeal. An itch you can't scratch with anything else. That's why Chibi-Robo fans are such a rare breed.

Chibi-Robo has similarities to a lot of other games, but there's nothing else with its blend. It's a game that revels in repetition and limiting your agency. As soon as Chibi-Robo enters the Sandersons' home, he's a source of resentment. Another expensive gizmo that the childish, impulsive father can't afford. Slowly, by accomplishing little tasks, and helping out with housework, Chibi-Robo becomes welcomed, appreciated and eventually, the subject of intense gratitude as he helps fix the family's problems. The more Chibi-Robo does, the more he has access to.

I'd be deeply suspicious of a game that attempted a similar story arc these days. I know it would be either cloyingly mawkish or shallow and insincere. Chibi-Robo, on the other hand, is dumb, dated and disarmingly weird. Toys come to life at night, and there's something off about all of them. The first you meet is some kind of Buzz Lightyear knock-off, but because of the unique balance of surrounding cultural influences where and when the game was made, he's more Kamen Rider than Buck Rogers, and the localisation team aren't equipped to make sense of that for a western audience. It's just another weird thing in this weird game, and you accept it. There's a load of stuff like that in Chibi-Robo, and it's a big part of its appeal. I don't want to spoil the stupidest plot twists the game has to offer, but there's stuff in here that I couldn't fucking believe.

The appeal of what I refer to as "wee guy" games is very much here, though it's probably easy to overstate in something like Chibi-Robo. You're running around a big house, trying to find hidden pathways and ascend to the highest points. In retrospect, it kind of feels like an N64 platformer with iffy level design. There's typically only one or two routes up through each room's furniture, and the paths aren't always terribly intuitive or readable. There's parts where you'll need to attempt a gap multiple times, finagling the camera into an awkward position and having to retread about three minutes of shelf traversal each time it doesn't work. To players of a certain age though, there's a kind of comfort to this. This is how punishing games are supposed to be. There's an honesty to each fall, and with the domestic settings, the moving platforms and obstacles are thankfully rare. It's like those throwback bags of Opal Fruits you can buy - I don't know if the old approach is better, but it's what you want sometimes.

It goes without saying that Chibi-Robo isn't for everyone. It's a lumpy, stupid game where you can't do anything that you want and you get sent back to the starting point every five to fifteen minutes. Only those of very cultivated tastes will find it charming. It's completely indespensible to me though. I've never played another game does what it does the way it does. I hope I never stop coming back to it.