Chicory: A Colorful Tale Review (Vitlöksbjörn)
Chicory is a little hard to talk about. There were moments when I was completely blown away by how on point the writing was, and there were moments when I couldn't bring myself to play for more than 10 minutes at a time because of how horribly boring it was.
The short version is that I generally think that Chicory is simply not as good as both devs' previous works (Celeste and Wandersong, respectively). To keep things simple: it's best to think of it as three separate things. Chicory is a story, a game, and a colouring book. The game and colouring book parts are pretty mediocre; enjoyable at times, but generally a slog. But the story is so incredibly good, you keep playing anyway.
The Game
You walk, you explore, you solve puzzles which involve using your brush in different ways. Later on you learn abilities which make the exploration a bit more interesting... in theory. But in practice everything feels flimsy and there were many times where I wondered "wait, was it supposed to be like that?". Jumping in particular felt just bad.
Admittedly, the world of Picnic is rather interesting to explore, but I found it too big and empty. And due to the nature of the game, everything you find will be devoid of colour... unless you paint it yourself, that is. So whenever you're exploring you're faced with a dillema: do I continue exploring, or do I stop and doodle a bit to make this boring cliff a little more appealing?
Well, I chose to paint in every single screen that I encountered, and it really ground the pacing to a halt all the time. But at least I was somewhat satisfied with the result.
The Colouring Book
Every area has five (or four?) colours available to use. On one hand, it's an interesting limitation, forcing you to make orange trees and blue grass - fitting for a jungle, I'd say. On the other, it simply prevents you from truly making the world the way you want it to be (until much later, at least).
Still, there's the same problem I mentioned before: you have to make a choice of either killing the pacing of your adventure or walking in a boring, colourless world. Admittedly, some areas were more fun to paint than the others, but in general after 2-3 screens of a new area I've had enough already.
At some point you unlock the ability to place ornaments. So you can turn this empty meadow into a campsite, perhaps into an outdoor art studio, and NPCs will react to whatever you do! Even sit on chairs that you place. That's nice, but I felt like it doesn't really add much to the game.
The Story
And here we go, the reason why I'm recommending this in spite of all the complaining.
The writing itself is razor-sharp. It just cuts directly to the core; every conversation feels like this super earnest exchange that you have at 2 AM in the kitchen when the party is slowly winding down. I absolutely loved this. I know not everyone is into New Sincerity, so if you're one of those weirdos who still thinks sarcasm and irony are cool, then you'll probably hate this game.
And the topic, well: it's a game about imposter syndrome and dealing with trauma. The thing that just makes it is that you're literally an imposter - you're a janitor that happened to pick up the Brush after the previous wielder threw it away after a mental breakdown. And yet here you are, wielding it to the best of your ability. As someone who struggles with imposter syndrome pretty much daily, I'm very grateful for this setup. "You are not an imposter" is cheap, "everyone is an imposter" is unhelpful. But "You absolutely are an imposter, so what?" is a legitimately refreshing and helpful take.
It's not just your trauma, either. In fact, your "only" issues are lack of faith in yourself and imposter syndrome. But there are others. There's the eponymous Chicory of course, but also pretty much every single NPC (they're all unique and named, by the way) has something going on in their life. And they'll tell you about it, if you listen. Maybe you'll even be able to help.
Wait, so is it good or not?
I mean... the game is just slow and boring for the most part. There, I said it. I didn't really like the painting, either; I guess I'm the kind of artist who only produces art for the result, rather than for the fun of it, which dooms me to life of misery. I guess I need to work on that.
But the writing and the story manage to make you care. About the characters, about the world, about Chicory, about your little dog character. Besides, it taught me a lot about myself. So while Chicory may not be a very good game... it is also an excellent game. Maybe. Definitely.
Curator Page