Developer: Knuist & Perzik
Publisher: Knuist & Perzik
Platform: PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tested On: PC
Wuppo – Review
Already critically acclaimed on PC, Wuppo was released for consoles not too long ago. This cute game with a hand drawn aesthetic draws heavily from some great games in different genres. Besides some obvious games such as Metroid and Castlevania, some other games like Undertale come to mind. With intricate stories, branching paths, and lots of side stories and missions, there is a lot of potential for this game to become a cult classic. Will it live up to its strengths? Take a look with us, at Wuppo.
Story
Waking up on your couch by the ringing of the phone, you play as a creature called a Wum. After you pick up the phone you’re told that you can come pick up your ice cream from the reception desk on the first floor. Clumsy as you are, you smudge some melting ice cream on the floor, but that wasn’t your first mistake however at the Wumhouse you’re resident of, and it’s the final straw for the hotel manager. Now homeless, it is up to the player to find a place to live for our sweet little Wum.
Drawing from other popular games, Wuppo hides a lot of the story from the player. There are no overly long mission dialogues or long quest texts, and a lot of the background of the story and characters is locked in little film strips that serve as the discoverables for the game. Discovering small parts of story at a time serves the game amazingly well, really driving players to play the game thoroughly and explore every screen, corner, and area.
Graphics
Wuppo’s art style is one of hand drawn crayon animation. Even in the underground sections of the game it does a great job of packing in a lot of vibrant colors. This makes it really pleasing to look at, though it is not always easy to play with. Due to the way the game handles colors, players can sometimes find it difficult to find surfaces to stand on, and distinguish the front screen and background elements. Being mainly a platforming experience this will mean that it requires some trial and error to figure out where to stand when you start playing, but once you’re an hour or so in you will get used to it and it will become less noticeable.
Sound
Underscoring Wuppo is a really light and happy tune. Going by the short descriptions of the backstory of the game it seems really out of place, but it does go really well with the light and happy gameplay of the title. This makes the soundtrack really memorable, as it makes players really take notice of it while not feeling out of place at the same time.
All Wums, but especially the player’s, have walking and jumping sounds. Some of these sound effects are repeated on loop or on command as the player jumps, which could become annoying on longer playing sessions as it did for us. Other than these small gripes, all of the other sounds are just as colorful as the game’s visuals are. The fast travel tubes found in some parts of the game make satisfying sounds when used, and the cannon feels sufficiently cheesy the times you actually get to use it.
Gameplay
Wuppo gets advertised as a metroidvania game, but that is only superficially true. Yes, most of the gameplay is in a platforming style, but unlike other games in the genre, there is very little combat in Wuppo. Most of the actual activities will be in puzzle solving and finding secrets. Added replay-ability comes from the multiple different endings and paths to play through the game.
Interspersed throughout the game are some small combat encounters with the game’s bosses. Not all of these are part of the story however, which is another of the small moments of subversion Wuppo makes to distinguish itself from other games in the metroidvania genre. The one gripe we had when playing was to do with the control scheme, which is in the fact that jumping on a controller is bound to the left trigger. Players who are used to platforming games would have to take a moment to get used to this, and it makes tight jumps a little bit difficult to make. The controller is re-mapable, luckily, but this means you have to make choices with what action to place where.
Conclusion
Wuppo is a game deserving of its cult following. The partially hidden story background and, dare we say, cute characters certainly make it memorable and quirky. As stated before, the controls on controllers could use a little tightening because of the weird control scheme, but with the freedom to remap buttons and some getting used to, this can be ignored easily. Its cutesy hand drawn in crayon art style means you can enjoy the game with younger children that show interest in gaming. If you’re a fan of platformers, or are just looking for a small title for a warm winter-y night, Wuppo absolutely deserves a chance.
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