- Charming, relaxing, wholesome experience
- Emotionally impactful story and themes
- Engaging characters and witty dialogue
- Lack of gameplay depth and challenge
- Short, repetitive, and overpriced
- Excessive and lengthy dialogue
Emotions
Players felt satisfied by the game's enjoyable and relaxing gameplay, often highlighting its heartwarming story, charming characters, and fluent controls. Achieving 100% completion, especially when it was non-tedious and efficient, also contributed significantly to this feeling, along with the game's overall quality and value for money.
Joy stemmed from the game's adorable and wholesome nature, often described as a fun and cozy experience. Specific elements like cute characters, humorous dialogue, enjoyable exploration, and smooth movement mechanics frequently made players smile and laugh, contributing to an uplifting and delightful experience.
Nostalgia was a strong emotion, as the game frequently evoked childhood memories and feelings of childlike wonder. Players often mentioned it reminded them of playing pretend, childhood adventures with siblings, or simply feeling like a kid again, creating a warm and familiar emotional connection.
Excitement was generated by the game's overall fun and engaging experience, with many players strongly recommending it and expressing a desire to replay. Anticipation for future DLC, new game modes like New Game+, and the discovery of unique items or a larger island also fueled this emotion.
Disappointment arose from issues such as achievements being locked behind unreleased DLC, the game's perceived short length, and a lack of challenge or variety in quests. Some players also felt the full price was too high for the content offered, or that the gameplay became repetitive and tedious.
Verdict
Mostly positive
Summary
Positive 96% · Negative 4%. Score: 4 / 100
Positives:
- Players overwhelmingly praise the game for its adorable aesthetic, cozy atmosphere, and stress-free gameplay. It consistently evokes feelings of childhood nostalgia, joy, and emotional healing, making it a perfect escape for both children and adults seeking a lighthearted adventure.
- The game's narrative deeply resonates with players, often bringing them to tears due to its heartfelt exploration of childhood, growing up, sibling relationships, and the bittersweet nature of change. It's praised for its ability to evoke strong personal emotions and provide valuable life lessons.
- Reviewers highlight the game's charming cast of characters, noting their unique personalities and endearing designs. The dialogue is frequently described as funny, clever, and wholesome, contributing significantly to the game's overall appeal and making interactions memorable.
- The game's visual presentation, characterized by a fresh, colorful, and cartoonish art style, is widely admired. Its low-poly aesthetic, vibrant environments, and charming character designs enhance the whimsical atmosphere and encourage exploration.
- The game's movement mechanics, including climbing, gliding, and a dedicated ragdoll button, are consistently praised for being fluid, satisfying, and fun. These elements contribute to a playful exploration experience and often elicit laughter from players.
Negatives:
- The game was criticized for its overly simple and shallow gameplay loop, offering minimal difficulty and a lack of meaningful activities or combat. This absence of challenge and dynamic elements resulted in a tedious and unsatisfying experience for many.
- Many players found the game to be too short (3-6 hours for 100% completion) and repetitive, leading to boredom. This brevity, combined with simplistic gameplay and a lack of meaningful engagement, made the full price feel unjustified for a significant portion of the player base.
- Players frequently complained about the overwhelming amount of dialogue, often described as lengthy, uninformative, and even 'cringey'. This heavy reliance on text, sometimes challenging for younger audiences, detracted from the gameplay experience.
- A major frustration for players was the absence of a useful map or quest tracker, making it easy to get lost in the open world. This led to aimless wandering, senseless backtracking, and a general sense of confusion, especially for younger players.
- Completionist players were frustrated by the inclusion of achievements for unreleased DLC, making it impossible to achieve 100% completion of the game. This design choice negatively impacted the sense of progression and accomplishment.
Gameplay:
- The game is consistently described as short, with most players completing the main story in 3-5 hours and achieving 100% completion within 5-8 hours. It's noted for its low difficulty and straightforward quests, making full completion easily accessible.
- Players characterize the game as a cozy, open-world 3D platformer heavily inspired by 'The Legend of Zelda' (especially Breath of the Wild and Wind Waker) and 'A Short Hike'. It focuses on exploration, climbing, gliding, and simple quests rather than complex combat or deep RPG mechanics.
- A core gameplay loop involves exploring a large island to find and recruit other animal children. Players complete simple quests for these NPCs, which often involve fetch tasks, breaking cardboard monsters, or time trials, to convince them to join a collective imaginative game.
- The central narrative revolves around the protagonist, Lil Gator, attempting to reconnect with his older sister. His goal is to convince her to play their childhood adventure game again, often by creating the 'greatest adventure' with his friends.
- Combat involves smashing cardboard monsters and objects with cardboard weapons. Players collect cardboard scraps and confetti, which serve as currency to craft new gear, costumes, and decorations, emphasizing the game's imaginative, child-like theme.
Performance:
- The game is noted for its incredible performance and low-spec friendly nature, running easily on a wide range of PC configurations, including lower-end systems.
- Players experienced a smooth gameplay experience with no reported glitches or bugs, indicating a stable and polished release.
- The game has a very small download size, around 350 MB, which is convenient for players with limited bandwidth or storage.
Recommendations:
- Players overwhelmingly recommend this game for its charming, relaxing, and wholesome adventure, often comparing it to 'A Short Hike'. It's seen as a perfect 'palette cleanser' or a game to unwind with, appealing to both adults seeking nostalgia and children.
- The game is considered excellent value, with many reviewers strongly recommending it. While some suggest waiting for a sale due to its shorter runtime, most agree it's worth the purchase, often giving it high ratings.
- Many players consider this game to be one of their top games of the year, praising its overall quality and unique experience. It's frequently described as a 'must-play' and a 'true gem'.
- Reviewers suggest that playing with a controller significantly enhances the gameplay experience.
Miscellaneous:
- Players are eagerly awaiting the upcoming DLC, with many having completed the base game 100% and expressing a strong desire for more content. The DLC is also seen as a potential solution to the game's relatively short length.
- The game lacks official support for several languages, notably Chinese and Japanese, requiring players to rely on fan-made patches or real-time translation tools. The addition of PT-BR was appreciated, but more official localization is desired.
- While visually appearing suitable for preschoolers, the game's themes and narrative depth make it enjoyable for kids, teens, and adults alike. Some suggest a simpler version could cater specifically to very young children.
- Players acknowledge and appreciate the efforts of the developers, MegaWobble and Playtonic Friends, expressing gratitude for the creation of the game.
- The game accommodates different playstyles, from short daily sessions to longer completionist runs. Players also have preferences for control schemes, with some finding keyboard and mouse superior to a controller.
