Chicory: A Colorful Tale Demo Peer-Review
A Colorful Twin-stick Adventure
Developed by: Greg Lobanov
Produced by: Finji Co.
To be released on: PlayStation, Windows
Release Date: Spring 2021
As part of Ludo Narra Con, Finji Co. released several demos for some of their upcoming highly anticipated games to Steam. What is Ludo Narra Con? Created by Fellow Traveler, It is a celebration of indie narrative games. Featuring narrative game sales, demos for upcoming games, panels, and celebrating the developers that make them, Ludo Narra Con has quickly become something special. This year, one of the featured demos was Chicory: A Colorful tale, developed by Greg Lobanov. Starting as a Kickstarter that met its goal within its first day, Chicory was shown to the world at PAX West and was met with wholesome, positive reception. Shown more and more, it has quickly grown in my heart as one of my most anticipated indie games. We are soon to be getting it, with a Spring 2021 release date. The latest news being it’s now a PlayStation console exclusive, launching on both PlayStation 4 & 5 and Windows. What makes Chicory so charming?
Finding the magic paintbrush to color the world.
For me, the draw is several things—first, the main character. When you first boot up the demo, you are asked for your favorite food (I went with Sushi). Whatever your answer is, it becomes the name of the dog you control(pictured in the picture above). It’s a charming little touch that makes the game feel more personal. Second, it’s the nature of how you interact with the world. When the demo starts, you learn that the controller of the magic brush, Chicory, has gone missing, and all color in the world has vanished. Your character grabs the brush, and you immediately can paint the colorless world. Choosing any color, you move the paintbrush around with the right stick (when using a controller like I was). All of a sudden, the whole world is your canvas. Paintings, walls, floors, plants, trees, anything you can paint. Painting the world ended up being freaking fun! Then, there is the interactivity with the world. As you color the world, you begin to learn how paint changes things quickly. For instance, I was walking along but couldn’t get across a gorge. There were little trees on the ground that, when covered with paint, bloom immediately. I then stepped on them and got flung across the map. Another time, I heard meowing in a tree. After painting the tree several times to jiggle it, a cat fell out. I can feel that this is only the beginning for Chicory, with much more colorful exploration to come. Finally, Exploration is rewarded. There are hidden chests throughout the world, and each gives a special outfit for the character. During my playthrough, I found a dress, a sunhat, and a new T-shirt. Just about every hidden path I went down, I was rewarded with something.
Flipping with trees after painting them
The demo ends with a boss fight against a giant eyeball. This is where the subtitle of this article originates. While before I used color to explore the world, I had to use it to fight. I played the demo with a controller, meaning the left stick is to move the character and the right stick is to paint. While dodging attacks, I had to paint the eyeballs to damage them. While I’m generally not a fan of twin sticks, this one felt different. Usually, twin sticks involve bullet hells. Chicory’s combat requires focus, but it’s still relaxing. After several hits and surviving the encounter, This demo promised me much more to come when the game’s final release hits.
Fight against a giant eyeball by using paint
With just a taste of what to expect for combat, puzzles, exploration, dialogue, EVERYTHING, this demo set my expectations right where I hope they’d be, “The release of Chicory: A Colorful Tale cannot come soon enough.” What was shown are all the pieces that draw me in to a wholesome indie game; fun puzzles and being able to lose myself to hours of cute fun. Now, where is that release date?
