Why they decided to make a game for Gravity Falls, a series held in large part for how sharp the delivery of its writing is, and then kneecap it by having absolutely no voice acting baffles the mind. The 3DS COULD handle voice acting, as seen with Kid Icarus Uprising and the various Fire Emblem/Layton games on it. Even the main theme present in the game sounds very clean. Whatever writing tying this together is made far drier when you only have text boxes.

Also you fight the same boss four times and despite literally every other character looking palette accurate they made Wendy look permanently sunburned and it bugged me all game.

At least the UbiArt engine does bring the world to video game life in a way few other styles could and the secret codes are about. Stands out for the novelty as a 3 hour romp but for very little else.

This is a (very) short platform game for the fans of the Gravity Falls television series looking for more of the characters’ antics and the town’s supernatural lore outside of the cartoon, yet it doesn’t deliver the same feel of mystery or discovery the show is adored for. As a licensed Disney game with lush visuals, it still falls completely short in gameplay and fun-factor.

The visuals being the stand-out of this 3DS game unintentionally show its shortcomings in other areas. While the environments look like a 1:1 representation of the background art within the cartoon, and the characters themselves look good, there’s life and heart missing in the story, gameplay, and sound.

The narrative of the game feels like it could have been an episode if there was a funny sub plot to compliment it. That is to say, it’s a little light.

Since Dipper and Mabel don’t often actively, physically fight their adversaries throughout the show, it feels somewhat odd for the two to take on weapons in this platform game, but fight enemies they must. It’s not so fun when the combat is so simple that it is mapped to one button. The platforming itself is fine. Nothing is too difficult to press on through, but the level design doesn’t throw any curve balls at the player - despite each level having different environments to enjoy visually - they all feel very much the same. There is minimum use of the touch screen, reserved for the most basic of puzzles.

In regards to sound, voice acting is sorely missed, even if a line here or there could have been thrown in, I feel it would elevate the game, and add some warmth. I didn’t find the environmental music noteworthy either; it’s a bare-bones presentation.

Fans of Gravity Falls would enjoy this game as the dialogue captures the characters’ personalities well and the secret behind the Gnome Gemulets is fun, but there’s not much incentive for the player to collect all of the lost items scattered about each level and return them to their owners, unless you want some supplementary trivia. For the die-hard fans, there are codes hidden in the game to crack. For me, I came away thinking I wanted so much more out of this pretty-looking licensed game.

⚠️46%

This was the bare minimum a Gravity Falls game could be. The gameplay is extremely repetitive with 75% of the game being the exact same thing. Nothing is new at all except the enemies which are just variants. It was just find artifacts for Stan to unlock a boss fight for a gemulet, and every single boss fight was the same. The first time it wasn't terrible, but every fight, even the final boss, had the exact same moves.

They couldn't really try much because the combat system is terrible. Only one move. The game isn't entirely focused on combat, but you have to fight quite often and you only use one move. I wish they could've incorporated Dipper's flashlight and Mabel's grappling hook into the combat more. The platforming has so much potential but it becomes lackluster. They have hidden places, but they are so blatant. It tries to feel expansive but it comes just short. I also feel like this game didn't know if it wanted to be single player or co-op, because there are so many moments where it feels like a co-op game, but you're constantly backtracking because it isn't. I think it should've had both single player and co-op options.

What the game does get right is that it looks really good and maintains the style of the show. The dialogue may be weak in areas but they do get the humor right and the characters do feel like their original versions. It gets the environments right too, even if the level design itself isn't as good as it should've been. This whole game feels like a first draft of what could've been, but it just wanted to make a buck. Legend of the Gnome Gemulets gets only a few things right, but in reality is just a repetitive, lackluster Gravity Falls game.

Having never watched the show, I basically bought this based on a recommendation, because it was on sale, and because I was curious about playing other games that make use of the graphics engine that was used in the Rayman Origins/Legends games which are two of my favorite modern platformers.

Gravity Falls looks and plays good, it's a bit simplistic in terms of gameplay with some basic puzzles thrown in the game and some backtracking but overall the game doesn't really excel at anything except the graphics.