Costume Quest (by Double Fine Productions) is a simple, addictive and stylish adventure role-playing game which falls short on replay value and difficulty. The game is so painfully easy that strategy becomes pointless. This, coupled with a linear leveling design and lack of deep customization, hold the game back from being great. It’s still a good game though and is definitely worth purchasing if you can find it on sale for 50 per cent off or cheaper.
Costume Quest uses a turn-based combat system that revolves around quick time events. At first I was disappointed by this mechanic, but I soon found myself addicted to the fast-paced, clutter free execution. I completed the game in one sitting and found all but one collectible. Sadly the game offers no variations or difficulty settings that would entice me to start a new game.
The plot follows a group of kids on Halloween who must rescue their sibling (dependant on player decision) from the forces of evil. These forces are obsessed with stealing all of the candy in the world for their master. They have gates stationed around the world that section off new areas. To get past these gates, the player must trick-or-treat at every house. Houses act as a gamble between getting candy or a battle. Battles level your party and progress the game. Candy can be traded for battle-stamps, which act as buffs in battle.
The game’s art style is cartoony and very polished. In battle the characters, enemies and backgrounds transform to anime-style super-soldiers with abilities and appearances based off of their costumes. The music in this game is also very good, but I did not pay much attention to it during my five hour play through as I was too busy battling and collecting. The dialogue pulls humour from the relationship between kids, adults and monsters. No adults in the game believe you when you are talking about monsters, but they give you quests anyway.
Costume Quest is fast and fun. Its collecting and pseudo-strategy elements make for a game that is hard to put down. It’s far from perfect, but is well polished and highly amusing. Sadly the amusement is only good for a few hours due to the lack of replay value.
For a more detailed analysis and gameplay footage, you can check out my full video review at (www.youtube.com/Vok250).
