80%Nintendo Switch

✅作りこみがとにかくすごい

❌ミニゲーム1つ1つの作りこみは浅く、ゲーム性が薄い
❌逃した要素の救済がない

85%PC

While it definitely has room for improvement, the sheer JOY radiating off every asset kept me grinning. Apparently this is the realization of ideas and prototypes the lead dev had as a kid, and you can tell.

90%Nintendo Switch

I honestly don't think that I have ever played a game quite like this before. It's charming like you wouldn't believe and truly does evoke the themes it's going for in a great way. It genuinely feels like being guided around a fictional world of a young person's imagination, brilliantly told via the most exceptional style of art design. The hand-drawn visuals are great and convey the narrative in a fantastic way. The kid narrating the story is implied to be doing different voices for all the characters, wearing a different hat for each character he voices. This is a fun way of portraying it that shows nice attention to detail by the developers. The combination of notebook and desktop items are a fun reminder of the setting, with each being balanced quite nicely in my opinion.

Despite calling itself an RPG, I would argue that it's really nothing like one. It's all at once a stylish narrative adventure with minigame fights and light puzzle solving. All in all it's very casual, but after some of the games I've played recently that was a welcome change. It's fun just to be in this world and watch it all unfold before you. There are times when this game is actually quite funny in a kinda goofy way, which certainly added to my enjoyment of it as well.

In fact, I didn't have a lot to complain about for most of the game. It's a super relaxing family-friendly game, but... a certain point during chapter four contains a bit of a tonal shift which makes it ever so slightly less so. It's not a big deal at all to someone like me, but it does feel jarring given how the rest of the story is presented. Another minor gripe I had was to do with the movement, as it felt absurdly slow and plodding for most of the game (probably by design though, in fairness). The D-pad is also required for movement, which caught me out quite a bit when I kept going for the stick to move my character. This was clearly done to differentiate the investigation menu from the movement controls, but since you can't do both at once anyway I fail to see why this restriction was imposed.

Overall though, these are fairly minor complaints around an otherwise great game that massively flew under the radar for most. Great little hidden gem that more people need to experience.

90%Nintendo Switch

The most charming and magical games of yhe last many years.

100%Nintendo Switch

The game brings me back to my childhood. I used to make RPGs on notebook & scratchpad too, and always want to make it a reality.