Ah, the common-or-garden fetch quest. Staple of RPGs seeking to pad out their a whole bunch of hours of content material by making you run forwards and backwards like a glorified courier however with even much less advantages that an Amazon supply driver. It’s typically criticised as being a lazy manner of dealing with quests, and but it has additionally develop into a style itself. There are heaps of video games on the market constructed round delivering parcels, and Mika and the Witch’s Mountain is the newest, impressed by the basic Japanese 1990 animated transfer Kiki’s Supply Service.
The sport’s improvement and launch is price commenting on earlier than we delve additional into this evaluate, although. You see, Mika and the Witch’s Mountain truly launched on PC and Swap in 2024. Weirdly, although, it launched on PC as an Early Entry sport whereas the Swap model was offered as regular. The reason was that extra content material was going to be added so builders Chibig and Nukefist felt it made sense to launch it as an Early Entry title. Now, it’s coming to Xbox and PlayStation, with the entire deliberate content material included, which means other than updates for bugs and glitches this needs to be the total, last sport in all of its magical glory.
Out there On: Xbox, PlayStation, PC, Swap
Reviewed On: PS5
Developed By: Chibig, Nukefist
Revealed By: ChibigEvaluation key supplied by the writer,
The sport stars the titular witch Mika, a younger lass of indeterminate age and seemingly infinite cuteness. The superbly animated opening sequence units the scene: armed along with her broom and a hat, we discover her heading to the highest of a mountain the place a previous witch lives and can supposedly train Mika the secrets and techniques of magic. However as an alternative of imparting knowledge, the previous bat explains that there’s an essential custom to handle first, designed to show witches a lesson. And with that, she yeets Mika off the mountain.
Tossed from the mountaintop, little Mika finds herself in an idyllic village and the proprietor of a damaged broom in determined want of restore earlier than she will hope to make her manner again up the mountain to her potential mentor. Fortunately, she has landed in a city filled with kind-hearted individuals, and the primary girl she meets agrees ton assist mend her broom. She’s going to wish a couple of cash to fund the repairs, although, and meaning getting a job with the native courier firm, delivering parcels to the numerous and vibrant inhabitants. Earlier than lengthy, Mika finds herself caught up in all of the tales of the individuals round her: the loving bond between a grandfather and his grandson; an artist struggling to seek out inspiration; a loner who hides herself away; a scientist who thinks her ardour bores everybody else, and so many extra. And he or she learns extra in regards to the individuals and is welcomed into the neighborhood, Mika begins to take pleasure in her new job.
Thus the core of the sport’s loop is fashioned: seize parcels from both the depot or instantly from the individuals themselves and ship them. Some can’t be bought moist, some can’t be broken and some might need to be delivered at a fast tempo, comparable to some tasty ice-cream. Because the story progresses the deliveries develop into trickier, requiring you to go to new areas of the small island or attain locations that may solely be accessed by utilizing historical floating followers or by discovering useful funnels of wind. It’s by no means notably difficult stuff, thoughts you. The toughest it ever will get is perhaps determining the place get some top from to make it out to a ship, or needing to spend a little bit of time exploring to discover a path. The straightforward nature of the gameplay is a part of the attraction, although, letting you sink into the cosy heat of cruising round, having fun with the surroundings and discovering a couple of collectibles alongside the way in which.
Mika’s huge benefit in package deal supply is her magical broomstick which lets right here cruise alongside the bottom and soar by way of the sky. Properly, kinda. She could also be a witch however Mika isn’t able to flying. As a substitute, her broom floats a couple of ft above the bottom and might carry out a bit of hop for added top. However ought to she fly off one thing tall the broom is able to gliding for a substantial distance, and its flight is aided by varied increase rings, winds and extra. Chances are you’ll not be capable of fly absolutely, however you may get near it. The controls are easy and simple to understand, and whereas Mika’s broom isn’t essentially the most exact device on this planet you may normally pull off pin-point landings or breeze by way of gaps with ease. After all, it helps that Mika can fall from nice heights and be completely advantageous, too.
The writing does drop the ball a bit of within the type of two individuals who dwell on the island, each of whom serve in a extra antagonistic function. There’s no enemy or villain to combat on this relaxed supply sport as such, however these two are supposed to be some delicate opposition to the in any other case pleasant vibes of the sport. Sadly, they only type of vanish at a sure level within the story, leaving their narrative thread dangling within the breeze. It’s not a large downside however I’d have appreciated extra closure, particularly because the story would appear to naturally push Mika right into a scenario the place she competes with one in all these individuals instantly. That by no means occurs, although.
The problems apart, the writing does an honest job of portray its characters as charming, easy individuals whose lives are improved by Mika, simply as Mika finds her life bettered by their presence. It does a superb job of capturing that basic animated feel-good issue. Sure, it’s honest to say that the writing and characters lack any substantial depth or nuance, however given what the sport is aiming for that’s completely okay.
I used to be additionally shocked that Mika’s witchiness didn’t come into play extra. Apart from her broomstick and a sharp hat, Mika is just a bit woman. It could have been enjoyable to convey some extra magical parts into the gameplay for Mika to make use of, however alas she has all of the magical capacity of a Muggle. However then once more, I suppose that’s why she wanted to go to high school.
As satisfyingly easy because the gameplay loop is, I’m glad Mika and the Witch’s Mountain doesn’t overstay its welcome. You’ll most likely wrap up the sport in 3 or4 hours. You may tack on a couple of extra for side-quests, and if you wish to chase the Platinum Trophy like I did you’re most likely below 10 hours. The purpose is, the gameplay couldn’t actually help something longer, so I’m glad the journey ends when it does. That stated, if really feel that good worth equals what number of hours a sport lasts, Mika and the Witch’s Mountain may not be for you. And it does really feel as if there was room to develop on the gameplay a tad extra, offering room to develop on the characters and perhaps also have a few extra of these attractive cutscenes.
In Conclusion…
Mika and the Witch’s Mountain did hit me on the proper time as I’m going by way of a part of studying plenty of cosy fantasy books, so the low stakes and heat of the sport remind me plenty of that style.
Mika and the Witch’s Mountain is a heart-warming sport, a heat hug reworked right into a supply sport packaged up in a cutesy wrapper. It’s the type of sport I can see interesting to a really particular crowd, the type who’re simply in search of one thing cosy and cute, simple and enjoyable.
