Costume Quest is a rare gem of a game. It’s simple, just addictive enough, and just long enough to allow for attachment without overstaying its welcome. You play as a young boy or girl attempting to rescue your brother or sister from the monster that kidnapped him or her on Halloween. You fight using costumes you construct using a variety of items scavenged around maps, with classics like paper tube swords and tin foil robots. Every fight begins with a wonderfully charming transformation sequence, and the combat itself has a surprising amount of depth without getting overwhelming or distracting from what the game is trying to be: a mindless diversion. There are collectibles if that’s your sort of thing, and an upgrade and level system to give a light RPG feel.
Although not voice acted, the script tries to be light hearted, campy, and funny, and it hits more often than it misses. It has the feel of the old Animaniacs TV show; that perfect balance between kids humour and adult undertones. It’s not laugh out loud funny, but that’s a good thing; even the humour of the game backs off before you take it too seriously.
As someone who plays games as art and generally over-analyzes things, it’s great to have a game you can just play though like a child playing with a ball on a string, even though I generally hate anything casual. The fact that I liked this game at all speaks to just how much it needed to get right. It’s often on Steam for 75% off, and the next time this happens I would encourage you to pick it up.
No comments:
Post a Comment