Double Fine’s Costume Quest is a charming RPG that takes a delightful look into the minds of children. It’s a window into their vivid imaginations and the places that their dreams can take them on the night of Halloween.
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Costume Quest was an idea that Tasha Harris had prior to joining Double Fine but never had a chance to expand on whilst working for Pixar. She wanted the game to capture ‘that nostalgic feeling of these kids playing dress-up’ and mentioned it to Tim Schafer, who then chose her project as one to be developed during Amnesia Fortnight. Though Harris’ original concept wasn’t based on an RPG, the title has been influenced by games such as Dragon Quest (review coming soon) and Final Fantasy, as well as those that take place in a more modern setting such as EarthBound (review coming soon).
Double Fine’s Kickstarter campaign for Broken Age was completed prior to the creation of 1001-Up.com so we sadly didn’t get a chance to become official backers first time around. But when the Humble Double Fine Bundle was released last month, giving players the opportunity become a backer for their new project whilst also purchasing some of the developer’s finest games, we were first in line. It was a happy coincidence that Costume Quest was included in the package and so on a rainy weekend I decided to find out what it was all about.
Kids say the funniest things
Geared up for a night of enthusiastic trick-or-treating, bickering twins Wren and Reynold are none-too-pleased when their parents force them to stick together. However, their Halloween plans are soon shattered; once they’re out of the house and knocking on neighbours’ doors, a horde of monsters strikes and a horrible goblin mistakes one of the siblings for a giant sweet. He runs off towards a mysterious black gate at the edge of the suburbs and, with your kidnapped brethren whisked away, you’re off on a quest to save your twin, meet some new friends, and rid the world of candy-stealing beasts in the process (whilst avoiding being grounded for life).
Players start the game by choosing to be either Wren or Reynold, and you’re tasked with unlocking that ominous gate in order to reach your sibling. And how do you do this? By knocking on every door in the neighbourhood and asking ‘treat or treat’, of course. Sometimes grown-ups will answer and fill your bag with candy, the in-game currency, but at other times you’ll encounter monsters and will have to engage with them in combat in order to proceed.
You never know what you’re going to get when trick-or-treating
The fight scenes are fairly basic turn-based sequences, with timing-based inputs that boost the power of your attacks and reduce the force of your enemy’s blows when defending. A special meter builds up during each turn and allows you to unleash a more potent assault defined by the costumes your group is wearing. You can use your collected candy to purchase stickers from Sadie’s Battle Stamps along the way, and these will grant you special abilities during battle such as being able to dodge more effectively, poison your enemies, or stun your opponent by pelting it with rotten eggs (well, it is Halloween after all).
One of the biggest highlights in Costume Quest is the costumes and players will find a lot of delight in their discovery. Paper maché, orange paint and leaves make a perfect home-made pumpkin outfit and while the charming art-style doesn’t show the sticky tape and loose threads, you know they’re there. The battle scenes are captured with the imagination of a child and there’s real joy in watching the transition from the simplistic ‘normal world’ visuals to a more elaborate comic-book-style. Just as a kid might think their cardboard box and tinfoil get-up is realistic, enemy encounters transform your group into epic versions of whatever they’re wearing; that makeshift robot costume will change into a huge, mechanised android with a Missile Barrage special move. And watch out for the French fry outfit with its hypnotic special move.
Nobody can resist the power of French fries
The action moves from the suburbs to a shopping mall and finally to a village fair, although the mechanics remain the same. Along with the trick-or-treat surprises, sometimes Grubbins sent by the evil witch Dorsilla will leap from the shadows and force you into battle. This makes perfect sense for a game about Halloween and it’s an endearing feature initially, but it’s also where some players might struggle. Not with Costume Quest’s difficulty – the timing inputs and effectiveness of the more-expensive battle stamps mean fights are rarely strategic – but the forced battle system could cause some gamers to feel like they’re grinding, going through the motions without having to put too much effort into the outcome.
Although I did find a bit of challenge with the last boss (I think we can put that down to my poor hand-to-eye coordination more than anything else), the amusing script was enough to pull me through any monotony. It doesn’t aim to be blatantly funny – even though the Statue of Liberty’s special attack is worth a few laughs – but it’s superbly written and contains a clever observational humour that captures both the innocence and cynicism of pre-teen children. Chatting to fellow trick-or-treaters in the neighbourhood will reveal their thoughts and a lot of these will have you giggling like a kid. “Man, I hope I’m the only banana tonight,” grumbles one wearing bright yellow, “Last year? Total banana fest.”
Costume Quest effectively pays tribute to Halloween through its visuals with the settings decked out with jack-o’-lanterns, skeletons and other spooky decorations. As mentioned above, the transformation from the soft art style of quests into the more realistic (if a giant unicorn could be called ‘realistic’) battle scenes is a delight to watch; but unfortunately, poor camera angles and large display information can sometimes obscure what’s happening onscreen. In classic RPG form there’s no voice-acting and characters communicate through speech bubbles, but the background music and sound effects suitably highlight the Halloween theme.
The game reimagines the familiar festivities of that ghostly night; it’s the nostalgic pleasure that drives you to go on an adventure to knock on every last door, and the excitement of assembling a new costume and seeing how imagination can transform it. It’s enough to keep you entertained for around five hours, and some gamers might want to continue playing after the final boss has been defeated in order to collect those last few battle stamps or Creepy Treat collectable cards. And let’s face it, you’ll probably want to see that Statue of Liberty special move one last time anyway.
Halloween costumes become epic with a child’s imagination
Costume Quest’s personality and charm make up for its more repetitive moments and, if you lean more towards light-hearted games rather than gore and violence, you can’t go wrong with a bit of Double Fine’s Halloween RPG. It’s like that classic rhyme – ‘Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat’ – childish, concise, and full of bravado.
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