Thursday, October 11, 2012

LTTHTGP: Costume Quest (XBLA)

LTTHTGP means "Late To The Halloween-Themed Game Party," by the way. Just in case any of you were wondering.

What does that mean, you ask? It means that I finally picked up (the XBLA version of) Double Fine Production's trick-or-treat-centric RPG, Costume Quest, earlier this week.

I've been meaning to do so since the game was released nearly two years ago but, well, you know how it goes sometimes (especially when you have a backlog as extensive as mine).

Anyway, none of that matters now. What matters is that I'm playing Costume Quest. Finally. And not only that, but I'm enjoying it. It's so completely cute and charming that it's all I can do to keep myself from puking (you know, because everything's so damn adorable) while working my way through Tasha Harris' wonderfully creative and nostalgic tale.

The only aspect of Costume Quest that I'm not absolutely in love with at the moment: The QTE-heavy battle scenes. I wouldn't say I dislike them, but I also wouldn't say I like them as much as I would if they were, say, more traditionally turn-based. Oh, well, you can't have everything, right?

Have any of you played through the PC, PS3 or Xbox 360 version of this game? If so, what did you think of it?

16 comments:

Paul said...

I got this on PSN when it first came out and I loved it. I loved the idea of the kids' costumes turning into the real thing in battle, and I looked to forward to seeing how each new costume would turn out.

Not massive, or groundbreaking or anything, just a lot of fun. The Art Direction's pretty cool, too.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Hey there, Paul. Yes, I like the costume-turning-into-the-real-thing aspect of this game, too. I also loooooove the art style. The writing's good, too -- very witty.

Also, I agree that Costume Quest isn't at all groundbreaking, but it doesn't much matter when it's as enjoyable as this is, right?

warp said...

This is one of those games I bought on a Steam sale awhile ago and just played a few minutes of before getting distracted. Seemed like it would be a good Paper Mario clone, and some day I will actually play more and find out.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Hmmm, why did you compare it to Paper Mario, warp? I ask because that wasn't the first game that came to mind for me. The game is witty, though, and has a great art style, so the comparison isn't completely without merits. Anyway, you definitely should get back to it at some point, as it's a lot of fun! (Or at least I'm thinking it is so far.)

warp said...

As I recall, the battle system is turn-based, but if you hit buttons at the correct time, you can do extra damage like in Paper Mario. Am I way off-base with the comparison?

Retr0gamer said...

I bought this last year and totally forgot to play it last Halloween so I'll be playing it myself as well as part of my horror month, right after I finish Siren 2.

Bryan Ochalla said...

No, you're not off-base with the comparison, warp. I just didn't make the connection when I first thought of the two games, I guess.

At this point, I have to say I much prefer Paper Mario's battle scenes to those in Costume Quest, but that could change as I spend more time with the latter.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Ah, that's great, Retr0gamer! I'll bet lots of people only play or even think about this game during this time of year :)

Raphael said...

It's a great holiday ritual!

Bryan Ochalla said...

That's wonderful, Raphael! I hope it becomes a Halloween tradition for me, too. I have a feeling it will :)

Damian said...

I have played it a year ago or so and at first I enjoyed it quite a bit. I have even thought that the battle system is fun: A combination of strategy and timing skills. Though after the first chapter it became apparent that there is not much strategy in it and the timing is more tedious then anything close to fun. Combine it with the fact that you have to fight every 10s and you have a disaster. I kept playing only to see every dialogue line (awesome writing) and, of course, to get every costume (they are so freaking cute!). Overall I don't know what to think about it, I can forgive the repetitive and unimaginative battle system if the game were made for kids (they may like that kind of things), but there are no voices and some of the speech bubbles were vanishing to fast even for me. The signs of great game for kids is that it appeal for kids and adults. What Double Fine did there is aiming for the middle ground which neither pleases us nor kids [Disclaimer: Huge fun of Double Fine, but who isn't?]

Viewtiful_Justin said...

I have it on Steam, but haven't played it yet. Now might be the perfect time to bust that out, huh? Although quick time events are my least favorite video game trend EVER.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Hello, Damien, and thanks for the comment :)

Ah, it'll be interesting to see if I end up agreeing with you when it comes to this game's battles. So far, they aren't annoying me, but who knows what will happen as I continue to play it?

I haven't found the lack of voice acting to be an issue, nor have I found the speech bubbles to be too speedy, although I have heard that complaint elsewhere. I'll have to pay closer attention to the latter next time I play the game.

Anyway, it sounds like you at least partially liked the game, eh? If so, I guess that's better than completely hating it, right? :)

Bryan Ochalla said...

Hey there, Justin! This kind of surprises me -- that you have a game you haven't played. I thought you rarely do this?

Anyway, I wouldn't say the battle scenes in this game are full-on QTEs. They're more like turn-based battles with QTE elements -- *kind of* like Paper Mario, but not as fun. Does that make sense?

I'll be curious to hear what you think of them, by the way. I'm not completely sold on them myself, which is pretty surprising for an RPG...

Viewtiful_Justin said...

We shall see!

As far as having games that I haven't played, it depends on the medium. PC games, games on Steam, are most likely to be unplayed. I actually have about ten (maybe more) games on Steam that I haven't played yet. I bought them when the Steam HUGE sale was going on, and I haven't gotten around to them yet.

I also have two or three games for the PS3 I haven't played yet. Bioshock 2, Uncharted 2, and Assassins Creed Brotherhood come to mind. And there are MANY I haven't finished yet.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Ah, well, that makes sense. I do think downloadable games are especially prone to going unplayed -- at least for a while.

It certainly sounds like you're doing a better job than I am at the moment, BTW. I really should stop buying games until I've played the mound of unopened ones in our basement, but I can't help myself!