I must declare conflict of interest because my best friend was the story board artist and one of the main three developers. I didn't see any of the development process so I went into this blind. Also this is review contains SPOILERS! Now that's taken care of:
Firstly, the story is wonderful. Three friends who have lost touch, find eachother at a bus stop, and while reminiscing figure out they all have different memories about what happened to dearly departed Stuffie. Its clear from the beginning that this is a passion project and the team put their heart and soul into every detail. The dialogue is so funny, the characters are immediately likable, and there are little easter eggs all around. My favourtie hands down is the "He's such a wife guy" comment from Stuffie's stream at the end. In just a few minutes and frames the team showcases how close these friends were, their personalities, and their shared love of creative pursuits. Once the conflict is established, we can jump right in the stories of each character.
I already expected great art but holy cannoli each story's art style being completely unique and relating to their names is masterful. To avoid repeating myself over and over: the art of this game was beyond outstanding. I was constantly amazed by the detail, fluidity of the animations, and the creativity in character and setting design. It is the perfect example of being able to create something so cleary inspired by the love of cartoons yet totally unique. The team did such a great job of creating characters with motifs so they could be clearly represented across the styles. The commitment to each character's representiave art style is so impressive and well thought-out. the action is in the mini-games and comic-style portions, and those comic-style interludes were so full of life. I really cannot praise the team enough for the artisitc nature of this game, it will absolutely stick with me for life.
The mini-games are top tier. Some visual novels can feel so boring after awhile, just clicking and no gameplay. This game is NOT that. There are 5 or 6 unique mini games, each is an homage to classic genres for the side-scroller medium. Major props to y'all for creating games that are easy to figure out but still rewarding. My favourite was the fight against the Laundry Dragon; a brilliant recreation of 8-bit RPGs. the dragon itself was S-Tier design. I laughed out loud at Chalk's full name and then her mother killing the dragon in the end. Also all the times Paper was represented by pics of actual dogs from team members, so cute and hilarious. I was a fiend for point-and-click adventures so Scissors' game was great nostalgia for me too.
The humour of the game is professional quality. Some of y'all must have taken a comedy writing class or maybe you were visited by a fairy who blessed you with the gift of the gab because I laughing the whole time. The writing overall was fantastic, the characters spoke like friends, like art and fantasy nerds, like friends who are all art and fantasy nerds. I have a list of my favourite moments:
-Manne Bathaway, Chalk's mom killing the dragon, "Paper, how come you don't bark anymore", the fun-dip 'cigarette', "e", Ugly Ken, Gumbo, the "Depressed???, Don't!" bus ad, all of Stuffie's backstory, the stuffie-exposed video thumbnail, and the creme de la creme: the music video montage itself. The H&R Block cameo sent me to mars.
The heart of the story is that this is a celebration of the optimism and imagination of childhood, and having friends who share that with you. I actually got emotional during Paper's story. I was flooded with the best memories of my childhood friendships and legit started crying. The wonderful music with its slightly melancholic tone just pixar-ed me into tears, so congratulations on being able to do that. The music and sound was just perfect. I don't know difficult it is to execute timing but y'all got it spot-on everytime.
I am so glad I got to play this game and relive some the happiest parts of growing up. I really think each of you, from the main three developers to everyone who worked on this, can and will do great things. I am so beyond proud to be a part of a generation of creatives that is able to accomplish something so spectacular. I remember conversations with my friend who is on the team, talking about staying up late and grinding to get this done. Babe, the effort paid off tenfold. You did it. From Swagilicious, to the 62-slide Froggy presentation, to Boogerman, it has been such a privilege to watch your creativity, humor, and artistic vision develop into something truly one-of-a-kind. You are a bright light admidst a lot of darkness right now and I will be so excited to watch you shine your light on the rest of the world.
In Sum: This is a masterpiece for a portfolio. Thank you so much for making it!!
