I think this game is a great entry point into the Bone series. It's a bit short even for an episodic thing and looks a bit cheap at times, very simple too, but there's a lot of character to everything, making moving forward quite satisfying.
The casting choices were actually very good, they all have a lot of personality with the exception of Thorn (played by Bridgit Mendler of Good Luck Charlie fame). You get to go through certain scenarios as both the main character, Fone Bone, and his cousin, Phoney. Both have a unique walking animation and both speak very differently. Fone carries a copy of his favorte book Moby Dick, and he is not afraid to read entire passages from it, which I found neat. He's friendly, and plays like a mostly plain point-and-click adventure protagonist, but he has his moments when interacting with other Bones or bumbling around with Thorn. My favorite part of his is him trying to get Thorn to notice the Dragon when it pops out of the well, which was already silly by itself. He calls for her to run and see him, trying to catch the dragon off-guard, but, of course, the dragon always ducks just in time.
But he contrasts with Phoney so well. Going through the same scenarios, Phoney will be coarse and get through situations in a completely different way. He walks and talks like a jackass, and is a lot like the absolutely crazy protags of other point-and-click games, ones that steal or come up with insane, morally dubious ideas to solve puzzles. I especially loved the two different styles of interacting with the possum kids. Fone Bone plays a nice game of hide and seek with them and is out on his merry way. Phoney gives no effort during the same game and has to manipulate the kids into finding him. Upon returning and seeing that they have something he needs, he can either scam them by scaring them to the point they play dead, or act like he's the victim so hard to the point they help him because they feel bad for him. It's so good, and his delivery really elevates it. Telltale always had these fun moments and I had fun replaying these games a lot as a kid because of that.
This is all a set-up for the future parts of the series, and this concept of approaching a scenario as different characters is already explored better in the next part. It's very kid-friendly, which I can appreciate. It, for example, helped me a lot in learning English initially. Too bad the series never took off and is now delisted from Steam, I always thought it had potential. I doubt the new Telltale will ever go out of their way just to have this be added back on any platform, so it's likely forever abandonware by now. It's a piece of history for a super fascinating studio, so it is a big shame. Just the curse of the Bone adaptations I suppose. Maybe one day we'll get a complete one.
PS: I am now the speedrun world record holder for this game. It has three runners ever. Yes, I will flaunt it regardless.
The casting choices were actually very good, they all have a lot of personality with the exception of Thorn (played by Bridgit Mendler of Good Luck Charlie fame). You get to go through certain scenarios as both the main character, Fone Bone, and his cousin, Phoney. Both have a unique walking animation and both speak very differently. Fone carries a copy of his favorte book Moby Dick, and he is not afraid to read entire passages from it, which I found neat. He's friendly, and plays like a mostly plain point-and-click adventure protagonist, but he has his moments when interacting with other Bones or bumbling around with Thorn. My favorite part of his is him trying to get Thorn to notice the Dragon when it pops out of the well, which was already silly by itself. He calls for her to run and see him, trying to catch the dragon off-guard, but, of course, the dragon always ducks just in time.
But he contrasts with Phoney so well. Going through the same scenarios, Phoney will be coarse and get through situations in a completely different way. He walks and talks like a jackass, and is a lot like the absolutely crazy protags of other point-and-click games, ones that steal or come up with insane, morally dubious ideas to solve puzzles. I especially loved the two different styles of interacting with the possum kids. Fone Bone plays a nice game of hide and seek with them and is out on his merry way. Phoney gives no effort during the same game and has to manipulate the kids into finding him. Upon returning and seeing that they have something he needs, he can either scam them by scaring them to the point they play dead, or act like he's the victim so hard to the point they help him because they feel bad for him. It's so good, and his delivery really elevates it. Telltale always had these fun moments and I had fun replaying these games a lot as a kid because of that.
This is all a set-up for the future parts of the series, and this concept of approaching a scenario as different characters is already explored better in the next part. It's very kid-friendly, which I can appreciate. It, for example, helped me a lot in learning English initially. Too bad the series never took off and is now delisted from Steam, I always thought it had potential. I doubt the new Telltale will ever go out of their way just to have this be added back on any platform, so it's likely forever abandonware by now. It's a piece of history for a super fascinating studio, so it is a big shame. Just the curse of the Bone adaptations I suppose. Maybe one day we'll get a complete one.
PS: I am now the speedrun world record holder for this game. It has three runners ever. Yes, I will flaunt it regardless.