The Spirit and the Mouse Review (pt_heart)
The Spirit and the Mouse is a fantastical game that clearly had a lot of love put into it. The atmosphere is breathtaking, the story is simple but is sweet and charming, and the characters are quirky and lovable. The environment has a lot of nooks and crannies, so there's plenty to explore. There's a lot to love about this game.
The game is a puzzle platformer, with Lila the Mouse navigating the various architecture of the French town of Sainte-et-Claire and assisting those in need. To do so, you'll need to platform your way across various ledges, trellises, and rooftops to complete your task. The game lacks a jump, which is an interesting choice for a platformer. Instead, you'll need to climb short objects and use special electrical cables to transport yourself to higher ground, and needing to fall down to descend onto certain platforms. It's functional by all means, but I did find it somewhat difficult navigating each area. The camera feels a bit to close to Lila, which makes it harder to see the entire area in context, and to my recollection there's not a way to zoom out (but I may just be stupid). This can also complicate the platforming, as you may be searching for the path to reach a certain platform, but can only see the way piece-by-piece, making it easier to get turned around. It's a very minor complaint, but it would have definitely improved the quality of life for the game.
As you aim to help people, you'll meet Kibblins, little energy spirits that power the city. To enlist the help of each Kibblin, you must complete a small mini-game or puzzle. These are all very easy, and I wish some were a bit harder--for example, there is a puzzle where you must find the cost of a specific food. To do so, you must examine a menu and take down the price. However, the game records the price for you in your notebook, so you don't need to memorize--or take in the menu at all--as it saves the answer. Yes, this is a nice feature so you don't need to write it down yourself, but it takes away the fun of needing to actually hunt for the information on the page (I initially expected this puzzle would have required me to search for the menu on props in the environment instead of interacting with it like a text box). These minigames are brief distractions and breaks from the platforming, so this is yet another very minor complaint, but I feel there was some more potential here.
Outside of helping people, there are also lightbulbs scattered around the world. These are extra collectibles that act as rewards for exploring and overcoming difficult platforming challenges. It's a nice incentive to explore and they're frequent enough to keep you invested while still being rare enough that you feel like you accomplished something for looking behind that plant pot.
Overall, it's a very cute game that I do not regret buying. It is fairly short, however, with me finishing the main story and collecting a good number of lightbulbs in a little under 4 hours (I would imagine it would take me no more than 5 hours total to get the remaining bulbs). That said, it has a lot of heart, and definitely worth picking up at some point. The ending almost had me crying.