Review: Costume Quest

Double Fine delivers the cutest Halloween game ever!

Developer: Double Fine
Publisher: THQ
Platforms: X360/PS3 (PS3 reviewed)

I’M A PRETTY ROBOT. Not really. But if I was, my robot-self wouldn’t be as awesome as the one in Double Fine’s Costume Quest! The spirit of Halloween oozing out of this game snatched me up in an instant, I was hooked.

Costume Quest starts you off at home with your fraternal twin, getting the usual parental talk from your mother before you go out to enjoy the Halloween festivities. She assigns one of you to be “in charge”, that being the character you choose to play as — Wren or Reynold.

Nothing changes in the gameplay depending on the toon, the only difference is male or female. I, being female, of course chose Wren! You put on your costumes —- wait, what is this? I’m dressed as an awesome cardboard robot and my brother decides on a cheesy candy corn outfit!? BLASPHEMY. I gripe at him and off to the neighbor’s we go. Do you know what happens? HE DOESN’T LIKE YOUR COSTUME, BROTHER. NO CANDY FOR US BECAUSE YOU’RE A PIECE OF CANDY CORN. OH AND LOOK AT THAT, A GRUBBIN HAS MISTAKEN YOU FOR DELICIOUSNESS — oh crap.

Turns out that the town is being over run by ugly monsters trying to empty out each house from it’s candy stash! And they’ve taken my brother! Queue some scenes I won’t spoil and now you’ve got your plot, save your brother before he’s eaten and you are grounded for the rest of your life!

So now your brother is gone, some witch was all up in your business, you can’t go home, and monsters are everywhere. What to do?! Trick-or-treat yourself to victory! In order to save your brother, you need to unlock special gates which only open once all the houses in the neighborhood are void from their tasty treats — but not all houses are filled with candy. You’ll be fighting. A lot. Shamans, warlocks, and cannoneers! Oh my! You’ll also find friends along the way who will want to join you on your quest(with their own costumes!). But you’re just kids, how are YOU supposed to defeat these monsters?

I’d like to compare the battle system to the mind of a kid in his disguise. Your costume is not just a card board box put together, YOU’RE A GIANT MECH-LOOKING ROBOT IS WHAT YOU ARE. Engage an enemy and you are thrown in a battle of epic proportions! Each costume has a spiffy transformation scene and special abilities/attack types. The robot for example is a ranged offensive type with misseles. It’s a turn based battle system, with quick time elements to keep you in the action. PRESS X NOW. Oh, you missed it. PRESS O NOW! Missed it? You’re bad at this! Grrrr!!

There are no healing “items” in the game, so it’s all about endurance. Kill them before they kill you! Not to say some costumes don’t have healing or shield abilities. Just ask the floating Abraham Lincoln head (you’ll see.) Purchaseable for candy pieces (the sole reason for them) are Battle Stamps. The stamps have different abilities, be it increased attack power or some AOE damage. Only one stamp per character is assigned, sadly. Switch them up and see what works for you!

Aside from the battles, each costume has unique exploration abilities while you are out and about. You might need to cover your head from failing debris with your knight shield, or light up the darkness with your light-saber! Maybe you just want to walk around lookin’ cool in your Statue of Liberty outfit. Who knows.

It’s not to say the game doesn’t have it’s downsides though. I think my biggest gripe about it was it’s forced auto-save feature. Late for work but half way through collecting a costume? TOO BAD. WORK IS NOT FOR YOU. In order to save the game, you will have to complete a quest or event to initiate the auto-save feature. It’s like the game is telling you when you can stop playing, which wasn’t all too terrible considering I never wanted to. The quests can get repetitive, they don’t change too much whether you are in a town or the mall. Find some kids, get some candy, get some costumes, etc. It might bother some, but I had no problem with them. It was fun to me! I also found it to be too short for my liking. I’m absolutely enamored with the game, but I feel they could of added a lot more elements to it. The possibilities were there! DLC anyone? It can be Halloween all year round for me!

All in all, even with its shortcomings, Costume Quest is a down right enjoyable game. Even if you put aside all the things I listed… just look at the art style! Their faces are SO CUTE! The 15$ price tag is a little steep, but worth every penny of it to me. Although if you’re not a Halloween aficionado or don’t enjoy repetitive gameplay and wonky save systems this might be one for you to pass.

 By: Brendii Dominguez