Dropsy is a truly unique point-n-click adventure game from Tendershoot. Originating as a Something Awful "choose your own adventure" comic by Jay Tholen, director Jesse Bull takes a decidedly more lighthearted tone, creating a silly and refreshingly original adventure game that harkens back to times of old.
Bull and Tholen wrote a story about kindness and forgiveness. Dropsy's narrative is rather simple but told uniquely, using symbols instead of any spoken language. This make's Dropsy's story essentially universal, and it adds a lot of personality to the game. However, this can make certain story beats a little difficult to understand at points. The different NPCs you find wandering around town seem to have their own lives, appearing at different places at different times of day, which is an excellent touch. The world ebbs and flows and feels like it breathes, and that is a testament to the smaller details. Dropsy doesn't tell an Oscar-worthy story but it's one that mostly works very well.
As an adventure game, Dropsy follows genre conventions fairly straight. You wander around, solve puzzles, and push the narrative forward. Tendershoot does add variety to this by giving Dropsy a few animal friends who can reach certain areas that he cannot reach himself. Exploring the town is genuinely fun as not only is it visually creative but it has a lot of variety. However, Dropsy falls into a lot of the same pitfalls most adventure games do, such as occasional moon logic for puzzles and at points an aimless direction. There are quite a few points where I had to use a walkthrough because I didn't think to click on a random thing that was barely even in-frame. Since there is no written language, sometimes it's hard to tell what objects exactly are, which can make puzzles confusing at points. This isn't a problem for most of the game, but it can lead to occasional moments of frustration.
Dropsy's strongest element is its presentation. Beautifully detailed and fluidly animated pixel art paints a world full of variety and color. Each character you encounter feels different from the last, some are more exaggerated than others but none clash. Chris Schlarb's original soundtrack has a jazzy feel, with an emphasis on horns and bass, wrapped in a nice blanket of chiptune. The soundtrack is really what pulls the whole experience together and it lends the game a rather laid back, relaxed mood.
Dropsy is a very solid point-n-click adventure game that fans of the genre will adore. Its theme of kindness, its gorgeous presentation, and its fun exploration hold the game above its sometimes confusing puzzle design. Adventure fans itching for a more classic style experience would do right to check this out.
Bull and Tholen wrote a story about kindness and forgiveness. Dropsy's narrative is rather simple but told uniquely, using symbols instead of any spoken language. This make's Dropsy's story essentially universal, and it adds a lot of personality to the game. However, this can make certain story beats a little difficult to understand at points. The different NPCs you find wandering around town seem to have their own lives, appearing at different places at different times of day, which is an excellent touch. The world ebbs and flows and feels like it breathes, and that is a testament to the smaller details. Dropsy doesn't tell an Oscar-worthy story but it's one that mostly works very well.
As an adventure game, Dropsy follows genre conventions fairly straight. You wander around, solve puzzles, and push the narrative forward. Tendershoot does add variety to this by giving Dropsy a few animal friends who can reach certain areas that he cannot reach himself. Exploring the town is genuinely fun as not only is it visually creative but it has a lot of variety. However, Dropsy falls into a lot of the same pitfalls most adventure games do, such as occasional moon logic for puzzles and at points an aimless direction. There are quite a few points where I had to use a walkthrough because I didn't think to click on a random thing that was barely even in-frame. Since there is no written language, sometimes it's hard to tell what objects exactly are, which can make puzzles confusing at points. This isn't a problem for most of the game, but it can lead to occasional moments of frustration.
Dropsy's strongest element is its presentation. Beautifully detailed and fluidly animated pixel art paints a world full of variety and color. Each character you encounter feels different from the last, some are more exaggerated than others but none clash. Chris Schlarb's original soundtrack has a jazzy feel, with an emphasis on horns and bass, wrapped in a nice blanket of chiptune. The soundtrack is really what pulls the whole experience together and it lends the game a rather laid back, relaxed mood.
Dropsy is a very solid point-n-click adventure game that fans of the genre will adore. Its theme of kindness, its gorgeous presentation, and its fun exploration hold the game above its sometimes confusing puzzle design. Adventure fans itching for a more classic style experience would do right to check this out.