I was really excited about this game like I am anytime Cosmo D releases something new, but I walked away a little bit disappointed this time.

Here, Cosmo D pushes into new territory with a short RPG built around dice-based skill checks. It’s as strange a take on that as you’d expect, with customizable pizza dice and a physique skill that’s frequently used to contort your body in weird ways to get people’s attention. It’s fun and unique, with some enjoyable writing that adds new layers to the Off-Peak universe, but the balance of the default difficulty is off - while the game is built to be replayed several times, I had a hard time progressing whether I built my character as a jack-of-all trades or focused on one or two skills, and I had to save scum once I hit the late game. I think I’d probably enjoy it a lot more on the lower difficulties, so I may give that a try when I inevitably come back to this.

Also, Cosmo D’s Off-Peak universe is one of the strangest and most creatively bizarre in video games, and that’s very much on display here. But the move away from a first-person perspective and the focus on RPG mechanics takes some of the focus off the game world, which means there’s not as much room for the details of that strangeness as before, and I found the game less engrossing as a result.

Regardless, I’m excited to see Cosmo D push into new territory, and I’m excited for what he does next!