Beaten: Apr 11 2022
Time: 6.5 Hours
Platform: Mac

Chicory is a cool game, but it’s a cool game that didn’t quite hit me like I’d hoped it would. It’s got exactly the kind of thoughtful puzzles and even more thoughtful dialogue that I wish more games had, a confidence in its themes that isn’t often seen, but all the same it didn’t quite connect for me, and I’m not even really at a loss for why. 

In Chicory, you are painting a food-inspired world, pushing your way through puzzles on your way to fight a corruption encroaching upon the edges of this world. It feels like a mix of 2D zelda-inspired puzzles with a tone and vibe closer to Earthbound or Mother 3, but less outwardly absurdist. The puzzles are never real progress blockers, more just the path you need to take. Never too hard, but also not always incredibly easy. They keep you engaged enough on the way from one spot to another.

The real draw (hah!) is your ability to express yourself as you go along, painting literally everything in the world. The game’s themes all grow out of this mechanic naturally, providing commentary on a range of self-confidence and art-related topics, particularly focusing on learning to love yourself, and not self-critique yourself into a spiral.

I should really resonate with all of this, it’s all emotions I’ve been through, but for some reason it just didn’t hit quite right. If I had to blame it on one thing, it might just be that I’m not a huge twee-indie-puzzler guy? I enjoyed the puzzles well enough, particularly how well the different mechanics get mixed so often, but just as often I’d want to just cruise through them and get to the next story beat, or the next boss. There’s a variety of small other things throughout the game that bugged me, but if the game had connected better with me I don’t think I would have even noticed them.

I don’t think there’s much, if anything, “wrong” with the game, it just wasn’t quite my speed. I’d take a million games with themes like this, and art like this, over most big budget games I’ve ever played, and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the game. But it won’t be one of my favorites.

Reviewed on May 25, 2022


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