[technically a replay, I flew through it once in 2016, refunded it, and forgot almost everything about it in the 6 years since then. I was like, 13 when I first played this lmao]
I'm not 100% sure what to think about Jazzpunk. I don't really think it's a very funny game, and it often feels way too confident in thinking that it is. Doing either exaggerated voices or completely deadpan delivery on the lamest puns and most non-sequitur x3 randem humor imaginable can only get you so far. And for a game where you mostly just walk around and get punchlines delivered to you, this should be a death knell, right? But despite that, I still think I enjoyed my time with Jazzpunk!
Jazzpunk is a game that works because it's built on the idea of eclecticism, and total commitment to those swings. And as someone who spends a decent amount of time listening to stupid and weird avant garde metal, I can appreciate that! There's a complete depth to this game you miss out on when you're laser-focused on the objectives, the earlier levels are definitely better in this aspect but there's so much hidden stuff, so many secret nooks and crannies where tons of fully-realized ideas are just sitting, even with the knowledge that most people probably won't see any of it. When you click on a random object and are whisked away for 10 minutes into a completely optional diversion that had as much thought put into it as any other part of the game, it's really impressive! Funny? Probably not, if the game's joke hit rate is anything to go by, but it tells so many jokes, and puts so much effort into quite a fair few of them, that Jazzpunk remains interesting, moreso thought of as a piece of software that exists, rather than the collection of gags it's trying to tell.
I'm not 100% sure what to think about Jazzpunk. I don't really think it's a very funny game, and it often feels way too confident in thinking that it is. Doing either exaggerated voices or completely deadpan delivery on the lamest puns and most non-sequitur x3 randem humor imaginable can only get you so far. And for a game where you mostly just walk around and get punchlines delivered to you, this should be a death knell, right? But despite that, I still think I enjoyed my time with Jazzpunk!
Jazzpunk is a game that works because it's built on the idea of eclecticism, and total commitment to those swings. And as someone who spends a decent amount of time listening to stupid and weird avant garde metal, I can appreciate that! There's a complete depth to this game you miss out on when you're laser-focused on the objectives, the earlier levels are definitely better in this aspect but there's so much hidden stuff, so many secret nooks and crannies where tons of fully-realized ideas are just sitting, even with the knowledge that most people probably won't see any of it. When you click on a random object and are whisked away for 10 minutes into a completely optional diversion that had as much thought put into it as any other part of the game, it's really impressive! Funny? Probably not, if the game's joke hit rate is anything to go by, but it tells so many jokes, and puts so much effort into quite a fair few of them, that Jazzpunk remains interesting, moreso thought of as a piece of software that exists, rather than the collection of gags it's trying to tell.