Pikuniku feels like it defines what a standard modern day indie game is. It's designed in a way that it would likely have never been green-lit by a larger studio, but with an amount of polish that would make those same studios blush. These indie games tend to excel in certain categories that it doesn't feel like these larger studios put much care into, at the expense of shorter playtime and smaller ambitions.

The first thing that jumps out to me about this game was its sound design. Part of this is due to the fact that I played the co-op mode (featuring a set of 9 levels unique from the story mode) before anything else, and was struck by how great some of the level background songs are. This in tandem with the well-done sound effects for kicking, jumping, dialogue, and collecting items just lends this game to have audio that sounds polished to a mirror shine.

The visuals also have a similar polish, although I feel they don't 'stand out' as much as they are just unique. Not in some sort of game-changing way or anything, they're just not your standard fare. They appear more as if they're designed in some sort of vector-based design program rather than a pixel-based one, with almost everything being constructed of circles and rectangles lined up in certain ways. This style lends itself well to the game's nonchalant tone, feeling confident and well done, while not trying to reinvent the wheel.

The structure of the story mode is pretty standard, being narrative based with the player accomplishing objectives by moving from one area to another with a puzzles and platforming challenges sprinkled throughout. None of the puzzles are particularly challenging, nor the platforming, but even then this game still has a generous checkpoint system that seems to respect the player's time. Some backtracking is required, but I'd argue that the dialogue more than makes up for this. I was cracking up a ton playing this game due to some of the options you can use to respond to NPCs, and their responses. This humor even comes in to impact certain parts of how the game story progresses, which I enjoy seeing, because it shows that the story and game design were done in tandem.

I'd also like to give a little credit to the devs for adding the side content they did, this including a co-op, basketball, and rhythm minigame to name a few.

The main thing that I'd want to see from this game would be a larger emphasis on what its good at, the narrative. I feel the developer's sense of humor could go great in lots of projects, maybe ones that went a bit further to do something interesting. As it is though, this game is definitely worth the 4 or so hours it took me to play it, and it had me smiling for pretty much the whole runtime. At the end of the day, what else can you really ask a game for?

Platformer with a well-built world, with a short story telling a cautionary tale of mass corporations. Brilliant for children.

Had a fun time 100%ing this one as the controls and vibrant atmosphere were such a joy to use. Something different that reminds you that are no limits with creative game design.

The game is definitely on the shorter side but there is lots to see and do and you will most likely be replaying if you're like me and kept skipping by the missable trophies and insects.