This review contains spoilers
Chicory is a game that is so sincere and direct in its message, so completely free of cynicism, that I've got to respect it for that reason alone. With that said, the execution of its narrative fell pretty flat for me, its bright eyed optimism often crossing the line over to being somewhat patronizing and naive. If you're one of the hard ass capital G gamers who gets disproportionately furious at the idea of "wholesome games," this one is definitely not for you. Hell, I'm someone who likes Steven Universe and it ended up too much even for me at times.
When it comes to just being a fun and engaging video game to play, I found a lot to love about Chicory, which is the main reason my view on it leans quite positive overall. It's a 2D Zelda like that reserves combat exclusively for bosses, instead focusing on puzzle solving and overworld navigation that revolves around the core brush gimmick. Figuring out new ways to paint in the world and applying your knowledge of the various twists they throw your way to progress was on the whole pretty satisfying. When the optional challenges that lead to collectibles mainly interested me for the intrinsic reward of solving the puzzles themselves, I'd say you're a well designed puzzle game! It's also paced well, which I've come to really value in games recently, and the chapter based structure works to ensure both story progression and new gameplay ideas are introduced frequently enough to not get boring on either end of things. Lena Raine also brings her A game here and continues to be one of my favorite composers working right now, perfectly setting the tone for the game's cozy mood as well as making the climactic moments feel genuinely exciting.
The bosses are mostly engaging, but they do function as a segue into some of the things I ended up disliking here. The boss design itself is fine, outside of the insane decision to make the final boss rely on an AI partner who consistently misses it's target, which kind of destroys the whole teamwork thing that it's supposed to actually be enforcing. However, the way that damage works in this game feels... very compromised. Your character takes two hits to defeat by default, and this can be adjusted through an accessibility option. Only thing is... even if you do get knocked over after two hits, you just get back up and continue the fight with no penalty??? There is no fail state??? There is even another accessibility feature that lets you skip bosses entirely! While I think both of these options are nice as just that, accessibility options, there is no point in even designing the game to have bosses that you fight, with patterns you can dodge, if not dodging or learning the fight at all results in the same outcome even without accessibility options enabled. The whole thing makes the game feel patronizing and undermines some of its own themes.
Which gets to my last issue here, the story. Chicory has a number of likable characters, amusing scenarios, and its heart is absolutely in the right place. The issue is it presents its themes in such a safe and easy way that it had me feeling completely detached. Messages can be made more powerful through ambiguity, through what is not said, through expression that feels decidedly personal, and this... just feels so surface level. Most dialogue exchanges quite literally boil down to:
"I'm really sad and depressed because I have impostor syndrome. I don't think I'm living up to what is expected of me."
"Hey don't worry! I totally understand the feeling and know words alone won't fix it, but I want you to know that personally I think you're doing great and am 100% supportive of you!"
When characters just state all of their internal feelings like this and all other characters basically just serve to emotionally support them, it makes the conflict feel weak and, to use that word again, really patronizing! For those more involved in artistic pursuits this may land closer to home, but I think even then the read on everything here just feels so saccharine as to not feel real or emotionally resonant. Contrast to something like Celeste, a game that has had criticism leveled against it for being too earnest/sappy. Celeste manages to work way, way better for me because it leaves certain things ambiguous/understated in its writing and knows when to actually have characters lash out at each other. Above all, Celeste is actually extremely difficult, so the theme of how overcoming your mental hangups can be brutal and feel like hitting a brick wall is bolstered by the game forcing you to overcome its own challenges.
Even the ending, where I felt the game was setting up for a bittersweet "In order to create art we must also accept the negative emotions and inner turmoil that comes with it" message, swerves into more safe "anyone can create art! We shouldn't rely on old hierarchal systems!" territory. Of course that's true, it also is an opinion that just about anyone would agree with and isn't really explored very meaningfully here!
Despite all my misgivings, I have to say I had a good time with this game, and it was mostly enjoyable to briefly escape to a world so free from the sort of cynicism that I'm putting out in the world with this very review. I was just left with that nagging feeling that it could have been so much more if it was willing to push back a little harder, both in its game design and narratively.
When it comes to just being a fun and engaging video game to play, I found a lot to love about Chicory, which is the main reason my view on it leans quite positive overall. It's a 2D Zelda like that reserves combat exclusively for bosses, instead focusing on puzzle solving and overworld navigation that revolves around the core brush gimmick. Figuring out new ways to paint in the world and applying your knowledge of the various twists they throw your way to progress was on the whole pretty satisfying. When the optional challenges that lead to collectibles mainly interested me for the intrinsic reward of solving the puzzles themselves, I'd say you're a well designed puzzle game! It's also paced well, which I've come to really value in games recently, and the chapter based structure works to ensure both story progression and new gameplay ideas are introduced frequently enough to not get boring on either end of things. Lena Raine also brings her A game here and continues to be one of my favorite composers working right now, perfectly setting the tone for the game's cozy mood as well as making the climactic moments feel genuinely exciting.
The bosses are mostly engaging, but they do function as a segue into some of the things I ended up disliking here. The boss design itself is fine, outside of the insane decision to make the final boss rely on an AI partner who consistently misses it's target, which kind of destroys the whole teamwork thing that it's supposed to actually be enforcing. However, the way that damage works in this game feels... very compromised. Your character takes two hits to defeat by default, and this can be adjusted through an accessibility option. Only thing is... even if you do get knocked over after two hits, you just get back up and continue the fight with no penalty??? There is no fail state??? There is even another accessibility feature that lets you skip bosses entirely! While I think both of these options are nice as just that, accessibility options, there is no point in even designing the game to have bosses that you fight, with patterns you can dodge, if not dodging or learning the fight at all results in the same outcome even without accessibility options enabled. The whole thing makes the game feel patronizing and undermines some of its own themes.
Which gets to my last issue here, the story. Chicory has a number of likable characters, amusing scenarios, and its heart is absolutely in the right place. The issue is it presents its themes in such a safe and easy way that it had me feeling completely detached. Messages can be made more powerful through ambiguity, through what is not said, through expression that feels decidedly personal, and this... just feels so surface level. Most dialogue exchanges quite literally boil down to:
"I'm really sad and depressed because I have impostor syndrome. I don't think I'm living up to what is expected of me."
"Hey don't worry! I totally understand the feeling and know words alone won't fix it, but I want you to know that personally I think you're doing great and am 100% supportive of you!"
When characters just state all of their internal feelings like this and all other characters basically just serve to emotionally support them, it makes the conflict feel weak and, to use that word again, really patronizing! For those more involved in artistic pursuits this may land closer to home, but I think even then the read on everything here just feels so saccharine as to not feel real or emotionally resonant. Contrast to something like Celeste, a game that has had criticism leveled against it for being too earnest/sappy. Celeste manages to work way, way better for me because it leaves certain things ambiguous/understated in its writing and knows when to actually have characters lash out at each other. Above all, Celeste is actually extremely difficult, so the theme of how overcoming your mental hangups can be brutal and feel like hitting a brick wall is bolstered by the game forcing you to overcome its own challenges.
Even the ending, where I felt the game was setting up for a bittersweet "In order to create art we must also accept the negative emotions and inner turmoil that comes with it" message, swerves into more safe "anyone can create art! We shouldn't rely on old hierarchal systems!" territory. Of course that's true, it also is an opinion that just about anyone would agree with and isn't really explored very meaningfully here!
Despite all my misgivings, I have to say I had a good time with this game, and it was mostly enjoyable to briefly escape to a world so free from the sort of cynicism that I'm putting out in the world with this very review. I was just left with that nagging feeling that it could have been so much more if it was willing to push back a little harder, both in its game design and narratively.