izigame.me

So, Calico is an okay game. It's very cute, and I had a relatively enjoyable experience while playing but certain aspects of the game make it difficult to justify buying. If you're just looking for a cute little game to pass some time then maybe these issues won't bother you; but for others like myself this may not be the best use of your time or money.
I first purchased the game shortly after it came out and immediately had to put it down. There were just too many issues (such as keyboard controls, bugs, etc etc) that made it feel unplayable. A couple months later (as of writing this review) I picked it up again because I don't like "wasting" money on a game I wouldn't play and thought I would give it another go. There are still bugs and other issues but this time around I was actually able to play the game.
I have completed all the achievements in the game, as well as all the quests so I feel like my review will be fair as I have essentially "completed" the game to the best of my ability.
PROS
- This game as an A tier aesthetic. It's simply adorable, fluffy, cute etc. I really do love the art direction. The character designs are awesome, I love the clothing and hairstyles of the NPCS and i genuinely think every NPC has an interesting design and role in the game. (some more-so than others, but that's alright!)
- The diversity in this game is excellent and refreshing to see! It makes me very happy to see people reflect on being able to be represented in this game. Not many games give you the ability to customise yourself to look as you do IRL. This should always be sought after by all game devs.
- Cute concept! Like I said previously, this game is very cute. I enjoyed it enough, the atmosphere is relaxing and peaceful. I adore all the animals, and was surprised to see other types of animals that I was expecting! I know the concept is to run you "cat" cafe but it was nice to be able to have other animals as well! The animal designs are very sweet and adorable as well.
CONS
- There's just not enough to do in this game. The game can be fully completed in under 5 hours at a leisurely pace. I'm not saying it being a short game is bad inherently but...it's a short game and it's not very interesting either. The game can only ride on being cute for so long before you realise that it's just a boring game with very little to do.
- (cont) I was expecting more from this game. While I can understand it's from an indie developer I feel like there's just not enough game-play aspects to make it worth playing some times. I was expecting more interactive quests and events. The quests in this game are ALL run and fetch related. Character has a problem, asks you to go talk to someone, you talk to someone, you return to them. Quest done. There's only a hand full of quests that don't require you to simply walk from place A to B, but they still follow the same patterns. Someone wants food, you go to your cafe and make the food they want, you go back to them, they liked the food. Quest done. Character either needs an animal, or wants you to get ride of animals. You go searching around for the animal and then drop it in front of them. Quest done.
- (cont) There just isn't enough substance to this game. There's quests where it seems like there should be a fun mini game to go along with it! But literally all you do is run from one place to the other! It's just boring! There's quests where there's a PERFECT opportunity for an interactive mini game that would make it so much more fun than just running around. Crafting potions for the magic quests, actually delivering baked goods to people instead of them just magically having already gotten them before you return back to them. There's one quest where you prep your cafe for a photo-shoot and I really thought I would maybe be the one who gets to take the pictures, or maybe be the model myself but! No! It all happens when you're away and you don't even see the interactions that these NPCS have with the quest. It all happens when you're not looking and it feels so hollow.
- This goes along with the lack of interactions in the game but, cooking/baking in this game is also the most boring experience. You'd figure maybe you'd get to mix ingredients and bake things in the over! Literally any sort of ACTUAL baking mini game that exists in other games of a similar fashion but. The baking in this game is very similar to quests in the sense that. You're a tiny version of yourself once again running around, picking stuff up, and then throwing it into a bowl and boom. Recipe completed. I can't think of a worse way to include a baking aspect to your game than this. If this was the extent of the interaction you get to have with baking then they should have just cut it entirely and just let you magically procure the goods. Baking is actually as frustrating as it is boring. After i filled all the slots of my case I didn't make anything else because it was just too painful and annoying to try and throw ingredients into the bowl. The controls in this game are not very good and there's definitely a lack of precision when it comes to just chucking stuff into a small bowl.
- In a similar vein to my last point, this game is about running a cat cafe? And for the most part you don't even do that? There's no incentive to put other baked goods into your shop. I made plenty of money by putting random things in the case and leaving the shop while I did other stuff. Every character has their preferred food but it doesn't even matter, I still had so much money in the end game that I was able to buy out all the stock from every shop whenever I went by. But, I don't even need to buy other furniture and stuff. I don't really like how furniture is placed, I found it so annoying to do I just didn't bother with it. The furniture doesn't look very good anyways I found no desire to decorate my cafe. NPCS don't have preferred decorations so you don't need to change things up to get people to visit. I had random tables and random chairs because decorating just isn't fun. (and this is coming from someone would loves interior design and was very excited for this aspect of the game) Owning the cafe is cute but, I feel like it should actually have some importance to the game. You could completely ignore it and still be able to do other things. If that's the case then what is the point of giving the player the cafe to run?
NIT-PICKY THINGS
- These are just general complain-y type comments that maybe are just problems exclusive to me but I'll still mention them anyways.
- The running animation: I really can't get over the running animation for your character, it just looks so stupid. You look like you can barely balance yourself and it looks like you're teetering side to side uncontrollably and just looks.... dumb? Like your body moves too fast to look unnatural in the animation anyways? The normal sort of, brisk jog animation would have sufficed for the running animation if it was faster. I literally just rode a mount every where so I could avoid looking at how stupid running was.
- Clothing/Customisation: I said in my pros that I love the character design and I still do! But it makes me sad that NPCS have beautiful clothes and your player character gets very simple, very boring outfits. I like that you can choose any colour and customise outfits but. Ever article of clothing is just a very boring plain texture. You just walk around in plain clothes with no texture and you look so much worse compared to the very detailed and beautiful clothes that NPCS wear.
- The controls: It seems likes since release they've optimised controls a little so it doesn't feel as bad but god. On the loading screens it tells you the game is best played on a controller. I have to ask, why is a STEAM game, playable on your PC, optimised for a controller and not your keyboard and mouse? I believe the game is also available on switch but i feel like that's not excuse.