You play as a small dog with a big personality, named whatever you want, but I'll call them Onigiri. So, Onigiri starts out as a janitor, cleaning up at the Wielder Tower, when all of the color disappears! They run off to find the Wielder, only to find their paintbrush, which they happily pick up and begin chaotically painting the world. From there, you follow Onigiri as they come to terms with their new responsibility and try to figure out what happened to the world, why Chicory gave up, and what they really want to do in life. AND there's an awesome bisexual coming out story! YES!!!
Chicory: A Colorful Tale touches on some really heavy themes including depression, imposter syndrome, and finding your passion. Or rather losing your passion because of outside pressures. Expectations and burnout. It's far deeper than I anticipated going in. Make sure to talk to every NPC, because most of them have interesting stories, or just something funny to say.
Visuals
Chicory: A Colorful Tale is absolutely adorable. It looks like a fresh coloring book, at least until you get The Brush on it. You're free to color it in however you want, within limitations. Each area has its own set of colors you can use, and you'll unlock new brush styles as you progress. There are characters who will make requests about how they want their homes to look, but for the most part, go wild! You absolutely do not need to be an artist to bring back color to Picnic.
The character designs are all super cute, but what do you expect from a cast of animal friends. The world feels super alive despite being devoid of color, because there are always NPCs to chat with. Some are outside, some are in their homes, some follow you from town to town. They're everywhere and adorable.
Do be aware of the flashing lights! The boss battles are on black screens with flashing colors.
Sound Effects + Music
I was not expecting to soundtrack here to go that hard. It's fantastic! You've got a mix of fun, quirky, upbeat tracks with some typical adventure sounds. The music in the swamp reminded me of Donkey Kong Country, which as we know, those games have some of the best soundtracks around. But the boss battles?! What is going on?! That second boss track was giving me Space Ex-boyfriend vibes. If you know, you know.
There's no voice acting, but it's really not needed. The written dialogue has enough personality without hearing the words out loud. Occasionally, there will be some generic squeaks and laughs or something, but nothing that sticks out too much. Although there is one special moment late in the game, but I won't spoil that. It's cute.
Gameplay + Controls
Chicory: A Colorful Tale is a puzzle adventure game with some unique mechanics. You move Onigiri around the world, just as you'd expect, but they can't jump. Instead you'll use the environment to get to higher or lower places, which is where The Brush comes into play. Some plants will grown when colored in, while others need to be blank. There are other small puzzles like that, so just play around to see what happens.
You can also find gifts along the way which will give Chicory new clothes, accessories, or brush styles. There are also some hidden kittens that need to be returned to their mother. Some characters will give you small tasks, but they're optional, and can often be stumbled upon during main quests. There's also litter strewn about that you can pick up, which is a nice thing to do.
It does have some Metroidvania elements. It's not overly complex and backtracking isn't excessive. But Onigiri gains new abilities with The Brush as you progress through the game, which lets you get into areas you may not have been able to explore previously. Then of course, there's the side quests, which you may not be able to complete at first, but can come back to later, once you've found something else. Onigiri does have a map which updates as you enter new areas, so you'll never be lost. Plus, you can see where you've been by the paint you've left behind.
The hint system is so cute! Yes, a hint system can be cute. Onigiri can call their mom for a vague hint, or they can ask to speak to Dad for a more long winded explanation. The puzzles aren't too hard, but if you get stuck, just head to a payphone.
There are also some great accessibility and difficulty options, which I didn't even know about until I was prompted during a boss fight. You can change how many hits Onigiri can withstand before "dying" or even make them untouchable. There's no penalty for dying, but it's good to have options. In fact, you can skip boss battles entirely!
I only faced one noticeable problem during my playthrough. For whatever reason, the game didn't save my progress and I had to redo a large chunk of Chapter 4 again. I don't know why, but it happened. It was frustrating, but I got over it.
Replayability
Chicory: A Colorful Tale has a lot of potential for multiple playthroughs. Yes, the story and puzzles will be exactly the same, but the moments where you're asked to get creative are open to infinite possibilities! At least, if that part of the game is what you want to replay.
Otherwise, this game is long enough and has enough content to keep you busy for awhile in just one playthrough. Obviously, it's not as huge as other Metroidvanias, but I think it's the right size for someone who wants extra content beyond the main campaign. For me, I'd be happy 100% completing it.
Overall
I can't believe I was going to quit this game before the first boss battle, because I wound up falling in love with it once I started it again! Chicory: A Colorful Tale is so much fun and has an amazing story! It's a interesting world populated with hilarious and relatable characters. The gameplay is a blast, and there's so much to do, no matter what kind of player you are.
Chicory: A Colorful Tale touches on some really heavy themes including depression, imposter syndrome, and finding your passion. Or rather losing your passion because of outside pressures. Expectations and burnout. It's far deeper than I anticipated going in. Make sure to talk to every NPC, because most of them have interesting stories, or just something funny to say.
Visuals
Chicory: A Colorful Tale is absolutely adorable. It looks like a fresh coloring book, at least until you get The Brush on it. You're free to color it in however you want, within limitations. Each area has its own set of colors you can use, and you'll unlock new brush styles as you progress. There are characters who will make requests about how they want their homes to look, but for the most part, go wild! You absolutely do not need to be an artist to bring back color to Picnic.
The character designs are all super cute, but what do you expect from a cast of animal friends. The world feels super alive despite being devoid of color, because there are always NPCs to chat with. Some are outside, some are in their homes, some follow you from town to town. They're everywhere and adorable.
Do be aware of the flashing lights! The boss battles are on black screens with flashing colors.
Sound Effects + Music
I was not expecting to soundtrack here to go that hard. It's fantastic! You've got a mix of fun, quirky, upbeat tracks with some typical adventure sounds. The music in the swamp reminded me of Donkey Kong Country, which as we know, those games have some of the best soundtracks around. But the boss battles?! What is going on?! That second boss track was giving me Space Ex-boyfriend vibes. If you know, you know.
There's no voice acting, but it's really not needed. The written dialogue has enough personality without hearing the words out loud. Occasionally, there will be some generic squeaks and laughs or something, but nothing that sticks out too much. Although there is one special moment late in the game, but I won't spoil that. It's cute.
Gameplay + Controls
Chicory: A Colorful Tale is a puzzle adventure game with some unique mechanics. You move Onigiri around the world, just as you'd expect, but they can't jump. Instead you'll use the environment to get to higher or lower places, which is where The Brush comes into play. Some plants will grown when colored in, while others need to be blank. There are other small puzzles like that, so just play around to see what happens.
You can also find gifts along the way which will give Chicory new clothes, accessories, or brush styles. There are also some hidden kittens that need to be returned to their mother. Some characters will give you small tasks, but they're optional, and can often be stumbled upon during main quests. There's also litter strewn about that you can pick up, which is a nice thing to do.
It does have some Metroidvania elements. It's not overly complex and backtracking isn't excessive. But Onigiri gains new abilities with The Brush as you progress through the game, which lets you get into areas you may not have been able to explore previously. Then of course, there's the side quests, which you may not be able to complete at first, but can come back to later, once you've found something else. Onigiri does have a map which updates as you enter new areas, so you'll never be lost. Plus, you can see where you've been by the paint you've left behind.
The hint system is so cute! Yes, a hint system can be cute. Onigiri can call their mom for a vague hint, or they can ask to speak to Dad for a more long winded explanation. The puzzles aren't too hard, but if you get stuck, just head to a payphone.
There are also some great accessibility and difficulty options, which I didn't even know about until I was prompted during a boss fight. You can change how many hits Onigiri can withstand before "dying" or even make them untouchable. There's no penalty for dying, but it's good to have options. In fact, you can skip boss battles entirely!
I only faced one noticeable problem during my playthrough. For whatever reason, the game didn't save my progress and I had to redo a large chunk of Chapter 4 again. I don't know why, but it happened. It was frustrating, but I got over it.
Replayability
Chicory: A Colorful Tale has a lot of potential for multiple playthroughs. Yes, the story and puzzles will be exactly the same, but the moments where you're asked to get creative are open to infinite possibilities! At least, if that part of the game is what you want to replay.
Otherwise, this game is long enough and has enough content to keep you busy for awhile in just one playthrough. Obviously, it's not as huge as other Metroidvanias, but I think it's the right size for someone who wants extra content beyond the main campaign. For me, I'd be happy 100% completing it.
Overall
I can't believe I was going to quit this game before the first boss battle, because I wound up falling in love with it once I started it again! Chicory: A Colorful Tale is so much fun and has an amazing story! It's a interesting world populated with hilarious and relatable characters. The gameplay is a blast, and there's so much to do, no matter what kind of player you are.