dope
longer review incoming!
Game Finished [Again] In 2024 #15:
In preparation for what's going to be a pretty big undertaking, I wanted to play some shorter games. Shadows Over Loathing, this game's sequel, is on my list for after that undertaking, so I wanted to replay the first game, which I remembered really liking when I played it years ago.
West of Loathing is a singleplayer spinoff to the browser based MMO Kingdom of Loathing, which I played a fair bit of when I was younger, despite my relative lack of understanding it. You don't need to have played it to understand this game in the slightest, and you could probably get away with not even knowing it exists, but it's fun background info. The Loathing series, as I suppose it counts as one now, is characterized by an extremely simplistic art style of monochromatic stick figures and a LOT of jokes.
Many games have tried to be comedic, but West of Loathing is intimately Committed To The Bit in every way imaginable. An NPC will mention things haven't been the same since The Cows Came Home, which is an event that deeply impacts the setting to the point demonic cows are one of your primary types of random encounter. As the jokes are so integral to the game, I regretfully must leave them as unspoiled as possible, but I will make one exception for my absolute favorite joke in any game, the spittoons. Spittoons are, of course, pans that people spit things such as tobacco in. However, in West of Loathing, they contain amazing gear. Every time you investigate one of these, the narration gets increasingly hostile towards you. It starts at telling you how gross it is to be sticking your hand into one, and why you REALLY shouldn't be doing it, and only escalates from there with somehow more disgusting spittoons and more powerful equipment. There's a very noticeable lean on the fourth wall, but the spittoons are one of the few times it gets broken entirely. To call this bit god tier is an understatement. While this is the best one, there are a LOT more jokes. In my roughly eight hours of playing the Joke Per Minute rate was utterly insane.
It helps as well that the game itself is really good at what it sets out to do. The gameplay is secondary to the writing and jokes for sure, but there is still very clear effort being put in. You choose one of three classes, western spins on the fighter/mage/thief dynamic, and explore the west, getting into turn based battles along the way. If you are RUSHING the main story, the basic quest can be done extremely quickly, but a lot of the joy comes in finding new places, which will give you new stuff and new jokes. The stat and skill system deserves special attention, too, as with the right stats and skills you can solve encounters in ways other than combat. This game lets you skip the final boss with the right item. There are also a lot of puzzle based encounters. The Gun Manor DLC is a great example of this, having you explore a manor full of ghosts that you can choose to either settle peacefully by solving their puzzle or violently. Some puzzles made me break out a guide, but there are very few truly bad puzzles.
I didn't have the words for it when I first played, but this game is a genuine CRPG, and a great one at that. The main game is short enough to allow you to replay it multiple times, and there are four different companions to facilitate this. It's a really excellent little package, and absolutely worth playing, as it seems to have become a bit of a hidden gem. I greatly look forward to Shadows over Loathing.
In preparation for what's going to be a pretty big undertaking, I wanted to play some shorter games. Shadows Over Loathing, this game's sequel, is on my list for after that undertaking, so I wanted to replay the first game, which I remembered really liking when I played it years ago.
West of Loathing is a singleplayer spinoff to the browser based MMO Kingdom of Loathing, which I played a fair bit of when I was younger, despite my relative lack of understanding it. You don't need to have played it to understand this game in the slightest, and you could probably get away with not even knowing it exists, but it's fun background info. The Loathing series, as I suppose it counts as one now, is characterized by an extremely simplistic art style of monochromatic stick figures and a LOT of jokes.
Many games have tried to be comedic, but West of Loathing is intimately Committed To The Bit in every way imaginable. An NPC will mention things haven't been the same since The Cows Came Home, which is an event that deeply impacts the setting to the point demonic cows are one of your primary types of random encounter. As the jokes are so integral to the game, I regretfully must leave them as unspoiled as possible, but I will make one exception for my absolute favorite joke in any game, the spittoons. Spittoons are, of course, pans that people spit things such as tobacco in. However, in West of Loathing, they contain amazing gear. Every time you investigate one of these, the narration gets increasingly hostile towards you. It starts at telling you how gross it is to be sticking your hand into one, and why you REALLY shouldn't be doing it, and only escalates from there with somehow more disgusting spittoons and more powerful equipment. There's a very noticeable lean on the fourth wall, but the spittoons are one of the few times it gets broken entirely. To call this bit god tier is an understatement. While this is the best one, there are a LOT more jokes. In my roughly eight hours of playing the Joke Per Minute rate was utterly insane.
It helps as well that the game itself is really good at what it sets out to do. The gameplay is secondary to the writing and jokes for sure, but there is still very clear effort being put in. You choose one of three classes, western spins on the fighter/mage/thief dynamic, and explore the west, getting into turn based battles along the way. If you are RUSHING the main story, the basic quest can be done extremely quickly, but a lot of the joy comes in finding new places, which will give you new stuff and new jokes. The stat and skill system deserves special attention, too, as with the right stats and skills you can solve encounters in ways other than combat. This game lets you skip the final boss with the right item. There are also a lot of puzzle based encounters. The Gun Manor DLC is a great example of this, having you explore a manor full of ghosts that you can choose to either settle peacefully by solving their puzzle or violently. Some puzzles made me break out a guide, but there are very few truly bad puzzles.
I didn't have the words for it when I first played, but this game is a genuine CRPG, and a great one at that. The main game is short enough to allow you to replay it multiple times, and there are four different companions to facilitate this. It's a really excellent little package, and absolutely worth playing, as it seems to have become a bit of a hidden gem. I greatly look forward to Shadows over Loathing.