Chibi-Robo is a game about helping doing house chores, for about 30 minutes. It then becomes about solving marital problems, uncovering the mystery behind an ancient being, and staging a military assault on a pet dog, among many other things. Chibi-Robo is weird. But there's a method to its madness, which makes it very hard to describe.
In broad strokes, Chibi Robo has the structure of a life sim, where you'll want to talk to every NPC, seeing what they're up to, and then doing whatever activity they ask of you. These are all really varied and worth seeking out, as is every possible secret or oddity that is present in the game: Chibi Robo is a game that rewards exploration and experimentation, if something sounds doable, whether it's a possible use of a gadget or something that looks climbable, it's worth trying out because there's a decent chance that it might work. There's not a lot of games that manage this and it's an added asset to a game that starts in a pretty simplistic way but gradually gets more complex by giving content at a rapid enough pace to always give the player something to do, but never so much that it becomes overwhelming.
I could go more in depth with explaining what actually is in the game but I feel that the more I may say about it the more I might ruin, because the unpredictability of the various situations you'll be in will be a major draw for players after the game establishes all its mechanics and locations. Depending on how the individual sees it it might be a negative, since that means that Chibi Robo isn't really a game that expects to be replayed, but either way the less is known about the contents of Chibi Robo the stronger the reaction to it will be.
Chibi-Robo is a game that has "acquired taste" written all over it. There's no way around it: you either find the premise of the game very charming from the very beginning or you'll find the game to be a pretty boring, maybe even annoying experience. But if you are interested whatsoever, I'd absolutely recommend Chibi-Robo. It might not be the deepest game experience, but even 15+ years later there's nothing quite like it, and if you spend the time to get to know every NPC, you'll probably feel a bit melancholy when the credits eventually roll. By that point you'll presumably either move on or you'll hallucinate and get visions of stuffed toys dropping love letters around the house, I guess it depends.
In broad strokes, Chibi Robo has the structure of a life sim, where you'll want to talk to every NPC, seeing what they're up to, and then doing whatever activity they ask of you. These are all really varied and worth seeking out, as is every possible secret or oddity that is present in the game: Chibi Robo is a game that rewards exploration and experimentation, if something sounds doable, whether it's a possible use of a gadget or something that looks climbable, it's worth trying out because there's a decent chance that it might work. There's not a lot of games that manage this and it's an added asset to a game that starts in a pretty simplistic way but gradually gets more complex by giving content at a rapid enough pace to always give the player something to do, but never so much that it becomes overwhelming.
I could go more in depth with explaining what actually is in the game but I feel that the more I may say about it the more I might ruin, because the unpredictability of the various situations you'll be in will be a major draw for players after the game establishes all its mechanics and locations. Depending on how the individual sees it it might be a negative, since that means that Chibi Robo isn't really a game that expects to be replayed, but either way the less is known about the contents of Chibi Robo the stronger the reaction to it will be.
Chibi-Robo is a game that has "acquired taste" written all over it. There's no way around it: you either find the premise of the game very charming from the very beginning or you'll find the game to be a pretty boring, maybe even annoying experience. But if you are interested whatsoever, I'd absolutely recommend Chibi-Robo. It might not be the deepest game experience, but even 15+ years later there's nothing quite like it, and if you spend the time to get to know every NPC, you'll probably feel a bit melancholy when the credits eventually roll. By that point you'll presumably either move on or you'll hallucinate and get visions of stuffed toys dropping love letters around the house, I guess it depends.
Reviewed on Apr 27, 2021