Developer: Sectordub
Publisher: Devolver
Release: 2019
Platform: PC (played), Switch, XOne, Stadia
Genre: Adventure
Oozing charm on the presentation side–including some fantastic sound design/music–Pikuniku doesn’t quite know what it wants to be. From a promising tactile digital toy, it unfolds as a (light): metroidvania; collectathon; platformer; puzzle; action; highbrow indie title. Unfortunately, for the most part it drags.The bouncy aspect of the original premise makes everything else (exploring, jumping around, hitting buttons, fighting) a chore, and it becomes more evident when backtracking (an integral, unavoidable part of the experience) comes into play, rendering an underwhelming feel to the 3-hour main campaign run (taking into consideration the amount of time spent solely on traversal matters, that is). |
| Blatant. |
As for ~ v i b e s ~ Pikuniku’s smartass attitude fits Devolver’s catalogue well and may act as a selling point in the current dystopian late capitalist world, but if it’s the case humans (and videogames) survive such games might as well be seen as the 90’s mascots of our time: inadvertently silly and puerile.
