LogFAQs > #962008950

17. Chicory: A Colorful Tale

When I played Wandersong, it was essentially the best possible time to experience something with such a high concentration of optimism. I awarded it my prestigious Game of the Year for 2018 award, and while I certainly doubt this game holds up to the high standard I put it at three years ago, and while it certainly has its own supreme issues in game design, that initial experience was so transformative. I remember finishing the game and feeling as if I was in a haze, still feeling miserable about my life situation at that time, yet for the first time I felt able to reconcile that depression and anxiety. To process it and tell myself things were going to be okay. I still struggle with severe anxiety, but Ive been able to manage it quite sufficiently, and I think playing Wandersong at the right time in my life was a significant help for me.

The director of Wandersong would go on to work on his next project, Chicory: A Colorful Tale, which was released in 2021 and is now being featured on my list of video games from that very year. Normally, I would see a game like Chicory: A Colorful Tale and say, Wow, that looks kind of neat, but I do not want to put forth any money to play it, and I am truly sorry to the developers working on this project. I say this, verbatim, nearly every time I see an indie game trailer, regardless of whether or not I am alone. I need to be able to verbalize my full intent in hopes that this will one day lead to sweeping changes where all video games are always legally available for free, and the creators of said video games are compensated appropriately, while large publishers slowly die off and rot away.

The difference between Chicory: A Colorful Tale and other indie projects is that its director also made Wandersong. The difference between Wandersong and other indie projects is that I found out Wandersong had a dedicated dance button, and I thought this was the best thing ever. Fortnite may have popularized this shit, but Wandersong made dancing available when moving, standing still, mid-cutscene, and mid-dialogue. This was truly gamings greatest innovation. Chicory: A Colorful Tale does not have a dedicated dance button, so, in retrospect, Im not sure what I saw in it

What Chicory: A Colorful Tale does have is a sentimental story, a single unique mechanic which is stretched to pretty extreme capabilities, and charming dialogue, all of which were present in Wandersong. I would never make the suggestion that Chicory: A Colorful Tale is attempting to ape Wandersong with its design, as they are quite different from one another, but it is important to note how Chicory: A Colorful Tale failed to capture me in the same way. Chicory: A Colorful Tale is a wonderful game, both in its gameplay loop and narrative design, but I did not need it in the same way I needed Wandersong a few years prior.

Chicory: A Colorful Tale Score: 4/6