Costume Quest was one of those games that truly snuck up on me. I pride myself on keeping up-to-date on all the things entertainment, especially when it encompasses the industry that pays me! That in mind, imagine my shock when I found out about the development of a game from one of my favourite developers only three days before it was due to come out! Yeah, uhhh... Dropped the ball on that one. Double Fine is led by the now-legendary Tim Schafer, best known for imbuing greatness within such titles as The Secret of Monkey Island (with the help of Ron Gilbert and Dave Grossman), Grim Fandango, Psychonauts, and most recently, Brütal Legend.
In Costume Quest you play as either Wren or Reynold, depending on which choice you make at the very start of the game, and then you set about your little town trick-or-treating the local residents. All seems well and fine until your sibling (the one you didn't choose, shame on you!) gets kidnapped by some gluttonous monster, firm in his belief that you're all giant pieces of candy. Being the heroic and fearless person you so clearly are, you're given the task of saving your family member through a series of quests and random battles, spanning over three distinct areas and about six hours of gameplay. The battle mechanic is your standard JRPG fair with turn-based attacks (think Final Fantasy). The unique charm of Costume Quest comes with the fact that in this small, strange, little town, whatever costume you happen to be wearing as the battle begins turns into a fully realized version of itself. Your dress determines your effectiveness in battle: whether that's a twelve-foot, missile-armed, robot, a knight, complete with sword and shield glistening in the afternoon sun, or even the Statue of Liberty, you must choose wisely. Costume Quest turns the art of discovering your playstyle into an integral part of gameplay; changing costumes constantly offers a wide array of both aesthetic and strategic combinations. As is usual with an RPG, exactly how long the game will last is entirely dependent on whether or not you're the type of person who completes every single side mission you're given. I am that kind of person. I trick-or-treated on every house available and collected every costume piece the game had to offer and, as such, Costume Quest lasted me a good 6 – 7 hours. Not bad for a downloadable game if you ask me. The gameplay is sprinkled liberally with the sense of humour we've all come to expect from Double Fine. Despite a lost connection between most gamers and the main character, a young child, I found myself laughing out loud on various occasions. Not that it surprised me, not at all, it's just good to know that Tim Schafer can still make me laugh - even after all these years.
The way that Costume Quest is presented to the player was something I wasn't really expecting. Screenshots really don't do the game's engine any justice at all. It's not the most advanced piece of technology I've ever seen but it looks beautiful, it fits perfectly with the tone of the game, kids going out on a night just being kids. The toon-shading looks perfect and plays with great fluidity. The game world was made to look more like a cartoon outside of battle cinematics, but as soon as the battles kicked off, the graphics changed to something which looked a lot more realistic while still maintaining the popular toon-shading. I suppose that when you hire an ex-Pixar employee to be the art director of a game you're guaranteed to get something visually impressive. To imagine that the same graphical pleasure can be achieved from a year of development as that of a "triple A" game is enthralling.
There was very little wrong with Costume Quest in my eyes. I've always loved Tim Schafer's games, but the trouble is when there's something wrong it usually spoils the game. In Brutal Legend, it was the addition of that god-awful RTS element which made it so that I didn't even want to finish the game, despite my roots as a metal head. In Costume Quest the main problem I had was the combat: turn-based gameplay is fast becoming the dated, underdog genre. Turn-based play only works in games heavily geared toward in-depth strategy (see: Blood Bowl, Elven Legacy), and Costume Quest does not fulfill this requirement. The fact that there are only two attacks per costume, combined with slow turn-based play, creates a recipe for game-ruining repetition. The game is just about short enough to keep the annoyance from truly setting in, but it almost did.
Costume Quest is very funny and massively entertaining, but there's no replay value in it at all and the combat can quickly get repetitive unless you're really into the combat style. I'd recommend playing the demo first. If you can handle the combat (bearing in mind that what you see in the demo is the same stuff you'll be doing for up to seven hours) then getting the full game would be a good idea. If you can't see yourself being the greatest pink unicorn warrior to grace the face of the earth then, sadly, I'd have to say skip it. Maybe whatever the other game Double Fine is making to be published by THQ will be right up your alley. Here's hoping *crosses fingers*.