Today we are going to take a look at Chuchel. This new indie comedy adventure game from the creators of such awesome indie games as Machinarium or Samorost – Amanita Desing - is promising amazing graphics, funny characters and lots of slapstick humor and cracking you up throughout the whole game. Whether it can deliver on this promise is the question we will try to answer today. Chuchel is available on Steam for 9 Euros and 99 cents or your regional equivalent.
With this review you have a choice of either reading it here in text form or listening to the video review. They both contain the same content.
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Video Review
Text Review
I should probably start by saying I love the games from Amanita Design. The one I love the most is probably the original Samorost. Not only have I played in on my laptop in high school many many times over, but when its third iteration came out for tablets I didn’t hesitate for a single second and bought it as well.
But we are not here to talk about Samorost, we are here to talk about Chuchel. But there is one more thing that needs to be addressed before the review itself starts. The pronunciation of the name of the game (and its main protagonist). It’s Chuchel. ( Č/č is the Czech letter for the sound English makes when CH is written down) Not Čučel, not Čačl, not Čučl nor Čačel. It is Chuchel. Trust me, the game is made by Czech developers, I’m Czech I know how this word is pronounced. And if anyone is interested it means a wad, a lump or a clot of something.
Gameplay
So that is now solved so let’s actually take a look at how Chuchel plays. And if you ever played anything by Amanita Design you will be able to guess how it plays. You got a character on screen and you need to solve puzzles to progress to the next screen. Sometimes the puzzles are very logical sometimes they go on the verge of the world of moon logic. And I’ll be honest with you guys, I’m not the biggest fan of moon logic, I prefer solutions that make sense, instead of combining a penny, a banana, and a bottle to create a rocket ship that will take you to the moon.
Luckily, Chuchel tends to stick a bit more on the “normal” side of logic. And the places that do feel like moon logic aren’t actually caused by the fact that there is no logic to them. It’s because the characters and items on screen are so strange you are just missing the logic because of that. But once you figure out what item does what and what are the behaviors of the characters it is usually very simple to figure out what you need to do.
But let's say even after you know what each thing does and how the characters behave you still don’t know how to solve the puzzle. No fear, you don’t need to alt-tab out of the game and find a solution by finding a video and that finding the exact puzzle you're stuck on in it. There is actual in-game help. And I will be honest, I did use it a few times because… well… I’m dumb, never forget that. And the help has always helped me.
Apart from the classic puzzle sections, the game also features two other kinds of levels. First, there are the levels inspired by other video games like Tetris or even Flappy Bird. These are just pure fun, paying homage to either the gaming classics or just using the simple yet addictive concepts found the newer ones. And on top of that, they provide a great way to change the pacing so it doesn’t become monotonous. And on top of that top, they aren’t always just recreations of the games with the graphics of Chuchel, for example in the Tetris level, you aren’t trying to stacks the blocks, but you are trying to avoid being crushed them. Love it!
The second type of non-puzzle levels are the ones that actually aren’t levels. They are essentially interactive cut-scenes where no real puzzle or gameplay appears but you still have to interact with the level to get the cut-scene to move forward. I personally am not the biggest fan of these scenes in general, but luckily the humor and the fact that there aren’t many of these in Chuchel makes them actually fine.
So, gameplay-wise Chuchel was actually exactly what I expected it to be. A lighthearted comical adventure game. I’ll talk more about the comedy in the graphics part of the review, but if you are looking for something that you can play mostly for the laughs, not to break your mind on insanely hard puzzles, Chuchel is exactly what you are looking for.
Graphics
Let’s move on the thing that makes, in my opinion, Amanita’s Desing’s games so amazing. Their graphics. But, there is one important distinction when looking at Chuchel compared to their previous titles. Chuchel is just soo much more cheerfully colorful. And that is actually a good thing. Not to say that the graphics of their previous titles were bad. Far from it. They are amazing. But I do believe that it is important for gaming studios to change up their formula every now and then.
So, the graphics, they remind of graphics that are nowadays being used in kids TV shows. At least the ones here in the Czech Republic. I’m not a painter nor am I knowledgeable about art. But I can definitely tell you the style is using a very modern style. And it takes that and applies a classic to it. Slapstick humor. Whether it’s something falling on Chuchel, usually many many times over or him getting completely distorted, it’s something most of us can laugh at very easily. Just, who doesn’t love stuff like Buggs Bunny or going even further Popeye.
This is only intensified by the sheer insanity of Chuchel. Do you want aliens? Check. Do you want living toothbrushes? Check. Or perhaps you just want to see strange blobs of something sucking the main character up and spitting him out. All of this and more is waiting for you in Chuchel.
Story
Now onto to the story. And with Chuchel it’s going to be even harder not to spoil it as the story is insanely simple. You’re Chuchel, a lump of… I presume(and hope) hair… that loves cherries. But your cherry is always being taken away from you. So you go and try to get it. Not much else really to it, but Chuchel is not trying to become a great work of art because of it’s amazingly complex story and three-dimensional characters. It has its graphics for that.
Music
And the last piece of the atmosphere building tool in games apart from the graphics and story is the music. So I guess it’s time to take a look at that now. And you won’t likely be surprised by the fact the music of Chuchel is … well… loud and cheerful. Loud in the sense that most of the sounds are quite in your face, not subtle at all. And on top of that, it just awesomely fits the game in general.
Another important part of the sound design of Chuchel is its voice acting. Though I am somewhat unsure to actually call it voice acting. It just a ton and ton of random gibberish with occasionally hearing the words Chuchel and Kekel in the middle. Interestingly enough, if you watch the “body language” of Chuchel and his tone of voice you will also always know exactly what he wanted to say. And if that isn’t proof of amazing sound design I don’t know what is.
Performance
We’re slowly getting to the end of the review so it is time to take a quick look at how Chuchel performs. And I do not think anyone will be surprised that the level of technical polish is high. The game runs awesomely, though that will in large be caused by the fact that it is a 2D game.
Conclusion
So… In conclusion: Chuchel is a great adventure game. The closest thing that could be considered a problem with the game is its price compared to the time it will take you to beat the game. It took about two hours of game-time to finish the game, but I did not get all the achievements in game so if I wanted I could still go in and hunt for those adding some run-time to the game. That being said, if you like awesome graphics, slapstick humor and great indie games don’t hesitate at all, Chuchel is the game you have been looking for.
So, that’s it for today guys. Hope you like the review and if you did, please consider upvoting the review and following my blog. And comment, if you have something you would like to add. See you guys later with more gaming content.
Disclaimer: All the images have been taken directly from the Steam game page
fabulous
Wow wow wow..
It's a really nice and wonderful article..
I love it..
Thanks for this..
Looking forward to seeing more of your posts here on steemit.
I considered getting this game, and the review makes it all the more enticing!
By the way, I'm close to done with my playthrough of Snake Pass from one of your previous giveaways. Thanks again, man! The game is fantastic, and my viewers love the playthrough I've made of it so far!
:)
In Russian it will be "Chuchelo" )