Costume Quest

Posted 2 years ago By - JD Speedy

It’s not hard to see the appeal of Costume Quest. While it is, at its core, an extremely simple RPG, it’s art style is just so incredibly vibrant and its concept is so well-executed that CQ is elevated from merely a ’good for an arcade game’ to a ’good game, period’.

The conceit of CQ is that it’s Halloween night and you are trick-or-treating with your twin sister (or brother, depending on who you decide to play as). When your sibling is kidnapped, you have to battle monsters to win back both a bevy of stolen Halloween candy and your kidnapped kin.

But this is where CQ really shines because when you enter a battle, instead of using the same cutesy art style as the overworld map, your character morphs into a giant representation of what the kids really think their costumes look like. If you’ve seen the South Park episode “Fun with Weapons”, you know what I’m talking about.

And the attention to detail is just ridiculous. The huge avatars are beautifully rendered in a sort of Dragonball-style and the animations are just plain gorgeous. While the Ninja costume may not have been the costume with the best offence, I rarely switched my outfit because of just how goddamn incredible his attacks looks. It is a game that really has to be experienced to be understood.

And on top of all that, CQ happens to be the funniest game I’ve played in at least the last five years. Not funny for a game mind you, but actually consistently humorous throughout the games’ story. Both myself and my roommate were actually laughing at the witty dialogue that really manages to inject humor in amongst the gameplay and in cutscenes.

The gameplay is pretty much stock RPG fodder, but boiled down to its basest elements. Think of it as a further simplified Paper Mario, as it employs timed attack and defense boosts, but without the complication of items or healing after battle. For every fight you run away from or survive, your health is automatically replenished.

Conclusion

Costume Quest is one of my favourite additions to my downloadable library this year and I’ve got my fingers crossed that Double Fine will realize just what a great commodity it is they’ve created and make one in time for Halloween next year.