Fall of Porcupine Review (KatoMacabre)
IMPORTANT: I haven't finished the game. I left it the halfway point or so. If that changes I'll make sure to update the review.
Fall of Porcupine was easily my most waited game for... Ever since it was announced. To the point of checking the Steam page on release to check how many hours were left to be able to play it, get it on release day and so on. But I just... Don't really enjoy it much?
Let's get the obvious elephant in the room out of the way first: Night in the woods. FOP wears its NITW inspiration on its sleeve. It's OBVIOUS. And with NITW being one of my favourite games ever, obviously that was one very big reason why I ended up anticipating this game so much. Problem is, seeing it now in hindsight, being so obvious with the inspiration was a bold move that can be equally good and terrible.
As I said, one of the good parts is obvious: You're instantly gonna catch the attention of the fanbase of a very very beloved game, and interest will spike almost instantly.
But the bad part came when I started playing: This just looks like Night in the woods aesthetically. Nothing is really even close to NITW. And I know I should be judging Fall of Porcupine for being Fall of Porcupine and not Night in the Woods 2, but I feel this reaction is normal precisely because of the very conscious choice of making it look so similar.
The first thing that had my alarms ringing was the soundtrack. It's... Charming I guess, but for the most part, it's almost like it isn't even there. It's SO subtle, and simple, that at some points you don't even notice it. There's a lot of parts in the hospital where you're practically in silence.
There's this scene with Mia where you're both running to see who makes it first to a basketball court. And I caught myself thinking, in the middle of it, "If this had a good, emotional song in the background, this scene would hit A LOT and would be something people remember". Because, again... That's what NITW would've done. And what made it be so beloved. So it was bold to kinda create some of your game so much after it, making people's expectations go a certain way, and then have them find out it was just the very outer layer that looks similar to it.
I loved the demo, because it had what I expected: Main character introduction, then you go to the hospital, the day ends and you hang out with new friends and learn more of their backstories, and then the whole thing ends up with a mystery to hopefully unravel in the back through all the game.
But then the full game is just... Very repetitive and samey. You go to the hospital. Have conversations that feel like they go nowhere and feel repetitive and the work consist of sequentally completing a few minigames that go from "Oh, this is entertaining and makes sense contextually" to "I don't know why this is representing doing this thing/I hope I don't have to do many more of these". There's practically no mentions about the mystery, practically no hangouts, practically no mention of anyone's personal lives... It's just "Go to the hospital, do the same three things, go back home, repeat". And sometimes you see Finley making comments and remarks that look like they were actively trying to emulate something that would've come out from NITW... And it just doesn't work. You feel a whiplash. Because it's disconnected. What happened before and what happens later doesn't really fit with that moment.
I don't know... I feel like they had the tools to make a GOOD game and a GOOD memorable story, but the choice to work between the margins someone else laid before made some things just not work and feel out of place, disconnected, slow...
I can see the love behind it. That's why I'm sad. Because I know they could've made a VERY good game. But I ended up being in a situation of "I really really really want to like this game but I keep getting distracted every 30 minutes because nothing is grabbing my attention". But I'll try and finish it and see if I can end up with a better taste...