Costume Quest is somewhere in my top 10 favorite childhood games, and I still really like it to this day. It's a game that captured my imagination as a kid, and I always found its atmosphere and tone to be cozy and fun. I used to have a tradition where I'd play it to 100% completion every October. It's one of my favorite games ever, and I think it holds up to this day.
Gameplay:
Costume Quest is a turn-based RPG with adventure game elements that takes place at Halloween. You play as one of two siblings, Reynold or Wren, and go on a mission to save the other after they are mistaken for a piece of candy by a candy-stealing army of monsters. You team up with two other kids and use the powers of your costumes to fight your way through the game's many encounters.
Your primary objective is to trick-or-treat at every house before you can move on, either encountering a normal person at the door or a monster which you must take down. I always loved (and slightly feared) the trick-or-treating aspect as a kid, as there's a tense build-up to the door being opened, leaving you to wonder if you're in for a trick or a treat. There's lot of things to do off the beaten path though. There's tons of hidden areas to find and side objectives to do. The main form of currency in the game is candy, which you can get by trick-or-treating or collecting in other ways. You mainly use it to buy stamps which give you special benefits to help you in combat. Stamps are also reward through side objectives. The main motivation for exploring, however, is the costumes. There's a good variety of costumes to collect and wear throughout the game. Some have certain applications for progression and puzzle-solving, but all have their own niches in combat that make them worth collecting and using. Costumes are constructed by finding three of their pieces scattered throughout an area. Once you get the pieces, the costume is yours and can be equipped onto any of your three party members at any time.
Combat is fun yet simple enough for a kid to understand. You can definitely call it "baby's first RPG", because it was certainly mine. It's a good system though. Everything is pretty straight-forward. Time that would otherwise be spent looking at stats and equipping gear is replaced with focus on team composition through swapping around costumes and equipping a stamp that would benefit a certain costume's niche. As for the battles themselves, they see your characters transforming into giant versions of what their costumes represent. For example: you wear a knight costume, you turn into a giant knight. The enemies do the same. For most of the battle, you'll be pressing a single button to initiate an attack and some extra buttons to boost its damage. After a couple turns, a meter will build up and allow a costume to use its special abilities. Some costumes unleash a powerful attack on a single enemy, some can hit multiple enemies, some will give buffs, and some will heal. This is where the team composition element comes in. There isn't much to do outside of that in battles though. Luckily, the combat stays entertaining through its enemy variety and set amount of battles. The game's also pretty short too, so you can rest assured that nothing will be overstaying its welcome.
Story:
The story isn't too crazy, obviously, but I do find it quite fun for what it is. Like I said before, it's basically about one sibling saving another sibling who has been kidnapped and also it's Halloween. There's a few fun twists though and some interesting characters here and there. I especially love the writing. It's very charming and I appreciated it even as a kid. There's uh... not too much to say outside of that.
Sound and visuals:
The sound design and music is pretty dang good, though the mixing can be a little weird at times.
As for the visuals, they're also pretty dang good. The characters in the overworld are cartoony and cute, which is humorously contrasted by the more detailed art style that the battles switch to. The environments are full of warm colors that really help to see the fall vibes. There's a nice variety in the settings as well. There's some really fun and creative designs all-around. I did always find the UI to be a bit underwhelming, but it's still fairly solid.
Conclusion:
Costume Quest is simply a really fun and charming game. Though it may be short, taking about only 5-7 hours to fully complete, it still manages to feel like a fulfilling experience thanks to its focused progression and meaningful side content. I don't think any other piece of media captures the fun of Halloween for a kid quite like this does. It is definitely a game I'd recommend, especially since it goes on sale for very cheap on Steam.
Gameplay:
Costume Quest is a turn-based RPG with adventure game elements that takes place at Halloween. You play as one of two siblings, Reynold or Wren, and go on a mission to save the other after they are mistaken for a piece of candy by a candy-stealing army of monsters. You team up with two other kids and use the powers of your costumes to fight your way through the game's many encounters.
Your primary objective is to trick-or-treat at every house before you can move on, either encountering a normal person at the door or a monster which you must take down. I always loved (and slightly feared) the trick-or-treating aspect as a kid, as there's a tense build-up to the door being opened, leaving you to wonder if you're in for a trick or a treat. There's lot of things to do off the beaten path though. There's tons of hidden areas to find and side objectives to do. The main form of currency in the game is candy, which you can get by trick-or-treating or collecting in other ways. You mainly use it to buy stamps which give you special benefits to help you in combat. Stamps are also reward through side objectives. The main motivation for exploring, however, is the costumes. There's a good variety of costumes to collect and wear throughout the game. Some have certain applications for progression and puzzle-solving, but all have their own niches in combat that make them worth collecting and using. Costumes are constructed by finding three of their pieces scattered throughout an area. Once you get the pieces, the costume is yours and can be equipped onto any of your three party members at any time.
Combat is fun yet simple enough for a kid to understand. You can definitely call it "baby's first RPG", because it was certainly mine. It's a good system though. Everything is pretty straight-forward. Time that would otherwise be spent looking at stats and equipping gear is replaced with focus on team composition through swapping around costumes and equipping a stamp that would benefit a certain costume's niche. As for the battles themselves, they see your characters transforming into giant versions of what their costumes represent. For example: you wear a knight costume, you turn into a giant knight. The enemies do the same. For most of the battle, you'll be pressing a single button to initiate an attack and some extra buttons to boost its damage. After a couple turns, a meter will build up and allow a costume to use its special abilities. Some costumes unleash a powerful attack on a single enemy, some can hit multiple enemies, some will give buffs, and some will heal. This is where the team composition element comes in. There isn't much to do outside of that in battles though. Luckily, the combat stays entertaining through its enemy variety and set amount of battles. The game's also pretty short too, so you can rest assured that nothing will be overstaying its welcome.
Story:
The story isn't too crazy, obviously, but I do find it quite fun for what it is. Like I said before, it's basically about one sibling saving another sibling who has been kidnapped and also it's Halloween. There's a few fun twists though and some interesting characters here and there. I especially love the writing. It's very charming and I appreciated it even as a kid. There's uh... not too much to say outside of that.
Sound and visuals:
The sound design and music is pretty dang good, though the mixing can be a little weird at times.
As for the visuals, they're also pretty dang good. The characters in the overworld are cartoony and cute, which is humorously contrasted by the more detailed art style that the battles switch to. The environments are full of warm colors that really help to see the fall vibes. There's a nice variety in the settings as well. There's some really fun and creative designs all-around. I did always find the UI to be a bit underwhelming, but it's still fairly solid.
Conclusion:
Costume Quest is simply a really fun and charming game. Though it may be short, taking about only 5-7 hours to fully complete, it still manages to feel like a fulfilling experience thanks to its focused progression and meaningful side content. I don't think any other piece of media captures the fun of Halloween for a kid quite like this does. It is definitely a game I'd recommend, especially since it goes on sale for very cheap on Steam.