Choo-Choo Charles Review (StarStreak)
I feel really bad about this, as i've played it quite a bit (as you can see), and i respect the game and the developer. it's an indie horror game that ties something different, and has heart. but all things considered, i can't recommend this game.
first, i know this may get some flack, but this game is wayy too expensive for the amount of actual (good) content it gives you. i can't imagine buying this game at full price before the nightmare update, i would have been able to refund it with how long it took me to beat normal mode. i'm not normally one to complain about game prices, but this did really feel like a lot for what it gives.
the game doesn't look bad at all, at higher settings the atmosphere is pretty good, and charles is a really awesome design. unfortunately, the island is boring as hell. everything kinda looks the same, the character designs are.......... interesting. it kind of feels like it was slapped together with pre-made assets, which i know some were used - not saying this is bad, but it is very dissonant with the rest of the game. This is suuuuuper striking to the player as actually most unique textures are hand-drawn - if this was made more clear with ALL the objects in the game, it could be a really unique style! unfortunately, it falls flat and looks like there's objects with personality shoved into a "nintendo hire this man" looking game. I will say though, if the entire game went with the realistic looking style and just having the goofy no-mouth-moving characters, it would be a lot less charming. the combination of the two is kind of fun to look at, but i feel it could be more unique if it fully leaned into that "hand-drawn texture" style.
map design and quests are boring. I'm really sorry, but there's only so much go here -> get thing -> go back i can take. There are some really interesting or funny quests like the pickle one, or the slender one, but most are just kinda lame. the quests don't even involve charles, and we'll get to that later.
the cultists are my least favorite enemies in a game i've seen in a long time, they are annoying, uncreative, and have broken ass AI that barely works with the stealth system. by far the worst part of the game.
charles, the by far coolest part of the game, is also underwhelming. you only encounter him randomly, and only on chases is he actually interesting. he's only scripted in the intro, and in the ending. it's a really lame usage of a great design. i wish he had more neat and actual skill based interactions instead of "hope he doesn't spawn" and "if he does, wait for him to go away or fight." there needs to be more interaction, more actual you know, gameplay instead of running, waiting, or the same chase scene.
speaking of the chase sections where charles is running behind you, they're awesome! it's fun, exciting, and spooky! i wish there was more of that! but like unique versions of that, and not just that same scene recycled. I want this game to more content, but that content needs to be unique.
lastly, i'll talk about nightmare mode. I really gave this my best shot, as you can see i've given about 14 hours of attempts into it. it's just not fun. it's not skill based, there is no skill in it. it's really just luck of hoping charles will work with you. along with that, it does the classic videogame "harder mode just enemies faster and stronger!!!!!!" which is super duper lame. the scenery and music is nice, but that doesn't replace the fact that the mode is incredibly poorly designed. It completely not only ruins the chase scenes by making you stall charles out with the flamethrower, but even that won't work 100% of the time for some reason (don't ask me, ask the broken ass AI.) the enemies all kill you in about 2 hits, which is fucking ridiculous, but wouldn't be that much of a problem if the mode wasn't permadeath. the permadeath makes this mode absolutely insufferable. it's completely luck based, takes fucking forever not only to get through a run but to even get through the intro that you have to replay EVERY time. i understand it's a hard mode that's supposed to make you "rage quit lmaooooooo!" and fuck, i know it's a free update, but it's wasted potential on something that could be an actual, well designed challenge instead of the "turn the sliders all up" challenge we got. and yes, i know, i know, skill issue. you try saying that shit when you get a random supersonic charles attack that kills you when on a 50m sprint.
that's what i feel this game is really, just an awesome idea with a lot of wasted potential in execution, which makes it middle of the road. this sucks because i really love the idea and the dev. twostar has been one of my favorite indie devs as of late! I think that a Choo-Choo Charles 2 or a spinoff or whatever could be super dope, there's so much you could do with it.
I don't recommend that you buy Choo-Choo Charles, but i am really looking forward to what's coming next from this series or twostar.