Lil Gator Game is a casual two-to-three-hour single-player action-adventure game developed by MegaWobble and published by Playtonic Friends. We start off with our young protagonist bored and seeking adventure with his older sister. Your older sister then schemes up an epic fantasy game with a backstory and some references to the Zelda series. However, your big sister leaves for college, pausing the fun. Although she returns for fall break, she’s busy with school assignments. It’s up to you and your friends to spark her interest again and finally play your heroic fantasy game.
The majority of the gameplay is easygoing and chill. There’s an emphasis on exploring at your own pace and finding new potential friends, quests, and cardboard baddies to destroy. No health bars, no sense of urgency — simply a no-pressure experience. I spent a lot of my time platforming to destroy the cardboard enemies, gain confetti, and use that to craft cosmetics for our hero. Left to my own devices, I enjoyed the freedom and sense of chill exploration.This was only amplified with serene and peaceful soundtrack that fit the overall vibe perfectly.
The plot is heartwarming, wholesome, and truly the biggest highlight of the game. As the story unfolds, your group of friends assists you by adding simple quests to help you as a hero. Some quests will be simple fetch quests, while others requires more effort and verbal communication.Not all of your buddies have the same level of enthusiasm; however, their contributions are sweet. Eventually, you’ll gain the opportunity to make new friends to join the cause after you assist them with their tasks. The characters and plot exude so much child-like innocence that injects so much charm into this title.
The more time I invested in Lil Gator Game, the more I appreciated the writing. The writing truly honed in on each character’s personality trait and tied it well into the plot. For example, there’s a quest where Martin is trying to fit in with his friends at the splash pad. This quest breaks into additional quests where we learn more about Martin’s “cool” friends and their insecurities and understand why there was any conflict to begin with. It’s organic, honest, sometimes funny, and told perfectly through the lens of each character.
My biggest annoyance with the title is the camera. Our protagonist wobbles quite a bit, and throughout my playthrough, the camera needed constant adjustments as it always seemed a bit awkwardly placed. I’d prefer having a bit more control by having it pushed back slightly. The camera doesn’t break the experience, but I never really got accustomed to it.
Lil Gator Game took me by surprise. There’s clearly a massive amount of love and care put into the title, and it shines best with its plot, characters, and writing. The gameplay is modest and laid back, allowing players the freedom to enjoy it at their own pace. This gator game may be little, but it made a big splash in my heart.
Lil Gator Game is out December 14 on Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam for $19.99 with a 30% launch discount.
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Published: Dec 15, 2022 02:31 pm