I found this game amusing at first, but after a while just got kind of bored with it. The comedy is pretty great at points, but as it is Justin Roiland, it will eventually devolve into a ridiculous mess of concepts that go unresolved. This can be interesting to just let dialogue play out between enemies or NPCs, but then it just starts to really wear on you. There was an unskippable dialogue that I found myself just surfing the Internet instead of paying attention. That kinda sucks when a game does that to you, and that's the main feeling I'm left with after finishing.

I liked it. I bought it on a sale, and went in with fairly low expectations, since generally I think Justin Roiland is funny in small doses, and too much of his humor relies heavily on just making a wild setup, but without really resolving any of the jokes, sometimes just stream of consciousness references said in a silly voice.

Sometimes it's a hit, most times it's a miss, but this was mostly hits with a few misses. The gameplay isn't inspired and innovative, but it's a good system for a VR game. You're stuck in a chair, and have some minimal interactions with the environment(until you get a power up that allows you to float a few different objects), but the execution of this sort of beat em up combat where you exist in the same world as the character you're controlling was very clever. The puzzles also aren't anything to write home about, but the novelty of the way it's presented are pretty good. It does lose steam towards the end, mostly because of the earlier problem I mentioned about Roiland's improv, and the final part is a little non sequitur, but overall it does have some great laughs and feels pretty fun to play. Even though it's not executed perfectly, it's nice that they had the attention to needed features, like dialogue resuming after an event happens. In a game that's mostly a vehicle for delivering comedy, that's essential. The VA from supporting characters was also very well done, and it was cool to see a variety of interesting character actors contributing.

This game was kinda dumb...and cringey...and the gameplay was repetitive...and the writing was half baked...but somehow I still kinda enjoyed it????

The absurdist comedy that hit somehow outshined the comedy that missed.

kinda wished I played it in VR instead of on a 2D screen - may have elevated the experience.

Make no mistake, this is Rick and Morty the game. Yes, I know about Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality, but that was more of a themed version of Job Simulator with an emphasis on manipulating virtual objects. This one actually feels like an episode of the show, which is weird because Rick and Morty aren't actually in it, but actually they (kind of) are. Trover is Morty and all the same mannerisms are there, and yes, the voice of Justin Roiland is used throughout (including a Rick voice for the boss). The game is also funny, several times I laughed out loud at the commentary. It was also really fun in VR, because they stopped forcing you to use Move controllers or the Dualshock to do item manipulation and just had you look at the items you needed to move. It's so much easier and so much more fun. Actually kind of sad this one is over, it was really excellent and definitely the best game I've played in VR yet.

Rick & Morty became an animation phenomeon due to its quirky humor, crazy art style, and memorable characters. A lot of people don't like the show, which is fine, and a lot of people love it. I just want to preface this review by saying if you don't like Rick & Morty you won't like this game. It's basically an interactive Rick & Morty episode with the same voice actors, but with original characters. It's the same humor, but more vulgar and mature due to not needing to tone things down for cable TV.

You play as a Chairorpian. A floating person in a chair holding what looks like a PS4 controller. The center part shows Trover's health and the button presses reflect yours in real life. This is mostly for playing in VR, but it's still funny without. Your two dogs get stolen by an evil god thing and Trover is sent to you so you can control him to save the universe. The story is insane and crazy and while it makes sense it's as simple as an animated TV episode. It's nothing groundbreaking. The most entertaining part about the game is the dialog. Characters break the third and fourth wall constantly and call out typical video game tropes which is hilarious. You can stand near a character and they will drone on for several minutes longer with a new dialog. If you don't do a certain action Trover will call you out on it knowing you're supposed to do it. The writing never misses a beat and is spot on.

When it comes to gameplay this is where Trover kind of falters. It's incredibly simple and basic and pretty boring. Trover has a lightsaber-looking sword and he has a simple basic and heavy attack, but the heavy attack has to be acquired later on. You also have a dodge roll button which also has to be acquired. It's an obvious stretch for gameplay time and feels necessary. Enemies are "kiddie video game" territory in terms of ease. There's zero challenge here. Some enemies need armor knocked off which you can do by throwing objects into them, but it's still not a challenge. There aren't any puzzles here either. The ones that could pass as one are super easy and require no thinking. There is some platforming, but this is marred by the weird camera angles due to your perspective. There are nodes that allow you to move around and you can hover higher up to get a bird's eye view, but it still makes some platforming more difficult than it needs to be.

There are green babies you can collect to upgrade Trover's health, but I didn't bother much with this outside what was out in the open. The game is so easy the upgrades feel like an afterthought. I mostly enjoyed just exploring the weird worlds and listening to all the dialog. The game gets incredibly graphic, but I personally love this kind of stuff. Too many games are afraid to dive into this territory. It's just gross, sexual, vulgar, and super weird which I can't get enough of. The writing of the show is elevated a bit due to not needing to censor anything. Visually, the game is fairly tame outside of some cartoony gore, but the dialog goes off the rails.

The game can be finished in about 5 hours, maybe 6-8 if you collect all of the green babies. It doesn't stay its welcome and has a satisfying ending. However, there's zero replay value unless you want to go back in VR. The gameplay is so basic and dull that I wouldn't even do that, to be honest. If it weren't for the awesome writing and characters and striking visuals this would be a pretty basic and generic game at its core. The pacing is at least great and you get pushed along the story and always see something new. A single evening would suffice and it would be well worth your time.

Overall, Trover Saves the Universe is full of Rick & Morty humor cranked to 11, but offers simple childlike gameplay. If you hate the show you will hate this even more, but fans of the show must play this. The over-the-top writing that you never see or hear in video games is a breath of the fresh air and it's never boring. Once you finish the game there's no reason to come back, but the time spent is worth the price of entry.