You play as Jester, as he and his friend Sok come up with a plan to steal the royal diamond! The princess is having a contest, where the best theater show is invited to the palace to perform for the king, and that is your way in! Sure, Jester and Sok have never done theater before, but how hard can it be?
Visuals
Once Upon a Jester is super vibrant and reminds me of South Park. It has that same kind paper cut-out feel, with mostly primary colors. The style definitely fits the nonsensical tone of the story.
Sound Effects + Music
Once Upon a Jester is fully voice acted and it's hilariously done! I loved all of the voices! Some of the characters even break out into song, with varying levels of skill.
Gameplay + Controls
The controls are very simple. Use the arrow keys to move around and space to interact. That's essentially it. Jester just walks across the screen, occasionally needing to move slightly backward or forward to interact with different elements.
As for gameplay, you are creating your own stage productions! Each day, Jester goes into town to see what genres the people like or hate, to take into account for that night's entertainment. You'll also have to create a poster to advertise the show using stickers that can be unlocked from certain interactions. Then you perform the play and make some decisions throughout to guide the plot and hopefully keep the audience engaged.
During the plays, you'll also have a variety of mini games. Most of them are time or rhythm based. Think keeping within a highlight range or pressing a button at a certain moment. How well you do will also affect how the audience enjoys your performance. At the end, you'll get a score, which is 0-5 flower bouquets. You'll need 15 from each town to progress.
Replayability
I do think Once Upon a Jester is replayable. You can always do each play differently to get different outcomes based on what the audience wants. The story will stay the same, but the journey will be slightly different. It's also just adorable and put me in an excellent mood, so if you need that, give this a go!
Overall
I absolutely adored Once Upon a Jester! There's no way to not smile while playing it. It's just ridiculous without being over-the-top. The story is silly and engaging. The gameplay is simple enough to grasp so you can just chillax and enjoy.
Visuals
Once Upon a Jester is super vibrant and reminds me of South Park. It has that same kind paper cut-out feel, with mostly primary colors. The style definitely fits the nonsensical tone of the story.
Sound Effects + Music
Once Upon a Jester is fully voice acted and it's hilariously done! I loved all of the voices! Some of the characters even break out into song, with varying levels of skill.
Gameplay + Controls
The controls are very simple. Use the arrow keys to move around and space to interact. That's essentially it. Jester just walks across the screen, occasionally needing to move slightly backward or forward to interact with different elements.
As for gameplay, you are creating your own stage productions! Each day, Jester goes into town to see what genres the people like or hate, to take into account for that night's entertainment. You'll also have to create a poster to advertise the show using stickers that can be unlocked from certain interactions. Then you perform the play and make some decisions throughout to guide the plot and hopefully keep the audience engaged.
During the plays, you'll also have a variety of mini games. Most of them are time or rhythm based. Think keeping within a highlight range or pressing a button at a certain moment. How well you do will also affect how the audience enjoys your performance. At the end, you'll get a score, which is 0-5 flower bouquets. You'll need 15 from each town to progress.
Replayability
I do think Once Upon a Jester is replayable. You can always do each play differently to get different outcomes based on what the audience wants. The story will stay the same, but the journey will be slightly different. It's also just adorable and put me in an excellent mood, so if you need that, give this a go!
Overall
I absolutely adored Once Upon a Jester! There's no way to not smile while playing it. It's just ridiculous without being over-the-top. The story is silly and engaging. The gameplay is simple enough to grasp so you can just chillax and enjoy.