Okay, I'm not sure how to start this review, because I absolutely adore this game, but it has its slew of problems that prevent me from calling it perfect
Let's start there. The gameplay is unintuitive. You're constantly getting bogged down by the limited inventory space. They give the bosses health bars, but the fights almost always end before the bar is depleted, so why bother giving them health bars in the first place? The final area has enemies with attack that takes out a fat chunk of your health and is completely unavoidable. and they make you do MATH.
But oh my god, this game's charm is through the roof. The visuals are like nothing I've ever seen, from things like fun battle backgrounds to oddly smooth sprite animations to full 3D models of the protag and Busdriver. And it's the same with the audio too. This game's soundtrack is spectacular, almost every song is something memorable. Songs like VS Nout and Meet Your New Coworkers been stuck in my head for weeks now.
The story is nonsensical. Like, I get that people like to make the joke "quirky earthbound inspired RPG" to describe games like these, but games that get this descriptor, like Undertale and Omori still have a meaningful and structured story. But this game is weird from head to toe, and the story reflects that. It doesn't feel like you're part of the story, it feels like you're getting dragged around by it. (Which also kind of reflects the protag's feelings I feel). But somehow I still found myself falling in love with the characters HARD. They're all so normal despite the world they live in being so, so weird. Except for the burger boss of course, that guy is just weird all around. I can't describe to you how happy Dolus' oddball shtick makes me.
I'm not really sure how to end this review. I'm so in love with this game's world and its characters and, even though the game itself could use some improvements, it's an experience I won't forget and already find myself wanting to replay.
Let's start there. The gameplay is unintuitive. You're constantly getting bogged down by the limited inventory space. They give the bosses health bars, but the fights almost always end before the bar is depleted, so why bother giving them health bars in the first place? The final area has enemies with attack that takes out a fat chunk of your health and is completely unavoidable. and they make you do MATH.
But oh my god, this game's charm is through the roof. The visuals are like nothing I've ever seen, from things like fun battle backgrounds to oddly smooth sprite animations to full 3D models of the protag and Busdriver. And it's the same with the audio too. This game's soundtrack is spectacular, almost every song is something memorable. Songs like VS Nout and Meet Your New Coworkers been stuck in my head for weeks now.
The story is nonsensical. Like, I get that people like to make the joke "quirky earthbound inspired RPG" to describe games like these, but games that get this descriptor, like Undertale and Omori still have a meaningful and structured story. But this game is weird from head to toe, and the story reflects that. It doesn't feel like you're part of the story, it feels like you're getting dragged around by it. (Which also kind of reflects the protag's feelings I feel). But somehow I still found myself falling in love with the characters HARD. They're all so normal despite the world they live in being so, so weird. Except for the burger boss of course, that guy is just weird all around. I can't describe to you how happy Dolus' oddball shtick makes me.
I'm not really sure how to end this review. I'm so in love with this game's world and its characters and, even though the game itself could use some improvements, it's an experience I won't forget and already find myself wanting to replay.