Developer: Imaginarylab
Publisher: LeonardoInteractive, VLG Publishing, WhisperGames, BadLand Publishing
Platform: Switch, PS4, PC
Tested on: Switch
Willy Morgan and the Curse of Bone Town (Switch) – Review
There is a wide range of point-and-click adventure games on the Switch, so Imaginarylab’s Willy Morgan and the Curse of Bone Town certainly has got its work cut out for it if it aims for a must-have spot in the libraries of point-and-click aficionados. For what it’s worth, it certainly makes a decent first impression, with fantastic-looking screenshots and a plot that is set in a pirate town, something that should excite fans of Guybrush Threepwood. Does Willy Morgan and the Curse of Bone Town (hereafter referred to simply as ‘The Curse of Bone Town’) have what it takes to plunder the wallets of players or should this game walk the plank?
Story
The titular Willy Morgan is the son of two Indiana Jones-esque adventurers. As the story of the titular curse of Bone Town unfolds, Willy finds himself stepping into the same footsteps as his parents. The game wastes no time setting up the story, with Willy delivering the premise through exposition: 10 years prior to the events of the game, Willy’s father mysteriously disappeared. When a mysterious letter arrives at the Morgan household, apparently from Willy’s father, Willy sets out on an adventure that will take him to Bone Town, a place where pirates are still around (even though the game takes place in the modern era). During Willy’s time in Bone Town, he won’t just try to find his missing father, but he’ll have to deal with a curse as well.
We won’t delve into spoiler territory here, but we have to address some of the game’s logic and pacing issues. Before The Curse of Bone Town gets rolling, there is a tremendous amount of background information that needs to be relayed to the player about Willy’s parents. However, rather than thinking of a creative way to let the player discover things for themselves, developer Imaginarylab simply has Willy explain things in the most basic and emotionless way possible. Willy could have -for example- accidentally stumbled upon his father’s diary or even a treasure map that would have led him to Bone Town. Although that would have been cliché, it would have been better than have Willy talk to himself about how his father disappeared. When Willy receives his long-lost father’s letter, he barely bats an eye. Instead of showing any emotion, he basically goes “Alright, I guess I’ll go look for him then.” after which the game lets you spend the next half hour in the house looking for bicycle parts. At times, the way the game explains things feels somewhat insulting to the player’s intelligence as it can be very on the nose story-wise. As you’ll find out later in this review, logic and overexplaining things go out the window when it comes to the puzzles, however, so the game isn’t consistent in this regard either. Given the game’s brief length, there is no excuse for the issues with story pacing and lack of character emotions either.
Graphics
The Curse of Bone Town is one of the better-looking point-and-click games on the Switch. The game’s environments look amazing and are filled with tiny details that make Bone Town a joy to explore. Environments are presented as series of static screens rather than a fully rendered environment that you can roam around in freely, but the game takes advantage of this by making sure everything is presented from the right angle, and certain screens show parts of other screens, making the world feel connected and larger. Juxtaposed against the detailed environments are 3D character models. What stands out with these are their animations, which are incredibly fluid. Unfortunately -and this is the game’s only real visual downside- the 3D models don’t feel “connected” to the environment. If we’re really nit-picky here, we also feel like they are a bit too clean and smooth for the grubby environments, but that’s a minor gripe that most people won’t even notice. Overall, though, The Curse of Bone Town is a visual treat, even if there are a few visual nitpicks.
Sound
We were happy to hear that The Curse of Bone Town was fully voice-acted. The cast does a decent job with the material they’ve been given, especially considering the writing isn’t always up-to-par. Kylen Deporter’s performance of Willy makes the young boy sympathetic, even if the script doesn’t really give the protagonist room to deal with his emotions. The other voice actors bring their characters to life as well, with Matthew Curtis’ portrayal of Willy’s father standing out in particular. As for music and sound effects, what’s present here is suitable but not outstanding.
Gameplay
The Curse of Bone Town aims to offer up a classic point-and-click adventure in the vein of classic LucasArts games like the Monkey Island series and more recent offerings like the games published by Daedalic Entertainment. What you’re getting here is par for the course: you’ll wander around from screen to screen, interact with people and objects and use items in your inventory to solve puzzles. The point-and-click adventure formula hasn’t dramatically evolved since the ’90s, and The Curse of Bone Town certainly sticks close to the tried and true conventions of the genre. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it certainly applies here, and Imaginarylab understands this. Rather than attempt to insert a gimmick, the developer seemingly put their effort into making sure the game was as polished as possible. Because of this, The Curse of Bone Town uses a fairly simple control scheme that is very accessible, ensuring that anyone can pick up and play the game. With a simple push of a button, icons pop up to show everything that can be interacted with. You can then look at an object or person or attempt to interact with it. Objects that can be picked up are placed in the inventory, and naturally, you can combine some of these as well. Anyone that has ever played a point-and-click adventure will instantly feel at home here.
Where The Curse of Bone Town fell a little flat was with its puzzle design. We’re not quite sure which age group the game is aimed at, as the puzzles seemed far too complicated and obtuse for the younger crowd, but the story was too simplistic and poorly paced for an older audience. It’s an issue that is present throughout the entirety of the game, with the game’s first major puzzle serving as a grim indication of what’s to come. In the game’s opening chapter, Willy must put back together his bicycle, with the parts required spread out throughout his house. Sounds easy enough, right? Well, not exactly. The parts are placed in the most illogical places, and obtaining them requires you to really throw logic out the window. For example, one of the bike wheels has been turned into a dream catcher and it is screwed to the wall. You obtain a screwdriver early on, but when you attempt to use it on the wheel, you’ll discover that the screws are rusted. In order to remove the rust, you’ll need to take a bottle of dried sun-tan lotion, heat it up with a lamp so it turns into oil, and then use the oil on the screws.
Some of the more obtuse puzzles had us look up the solution online, as the game is very stingy with hints when it comes to the puzzles. The Curse of Bone Town is a very short game overall, and it has pretty much no replay value, so it often feels like the puzzles were made this illogical and complicated simply to pad things out. As we mentioned, we referred to a guide when we really couldn’t figure things out, and it took us about five hours to complete the game. Given the game’s price point, we can’t help but feel like The Curse of Bone Town doesn’t deliver on what we expected it to be, even with the high degree of polish and the gorgeous presentation.
That’s not to say that The Curse of Bone Town is a terrible game. As we said before, the gameplay itself is simple but solid, and not every puzzle you run across is frustrating and obtuse. When The Curse of Bone Town works, it really works. Unfortunately, the shining moments are far and few between and the overall experience feels mediocre, simply because what’s present here has been done before. There is nothing wrong with sticking close to a tried and true formula, but if you’re going to do so, you need to have excellent writing and satisfying puzzles to grab your audience’s attention. The Curse of Bone Town doesn’t seem to know which audience it wants to appeal to and as a result, misses the mark.
Conclusion
We can’t help but describe The Curse of Bone Town as a mixed bag. On one hand, it’s a very polished game. It looks great and sounds good, and the gameplay mechanics are easily accessible to anyone. On the other hand, the obtuse puzzle design and story issues drag down the experience. Add to this that the game is too short for its price point, and you’re looking at a title that’s outclassed by its competition in the genre in pretty much every aspect. If you can pick this one up with a 50% discount (or higher), it might be worth a look, but it’s difficult to fully recommend The Curse of Bone Town otherwise. The full title implies that this game is the first in a series of Willy Morgan games, so we’re hoping that the sequel learns from the mistakes of the first, as Willy Morgan is sympathetic enough to deserve another chance.
Willy Morgan and the Curse of Bone Town (Switch) - Review,
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