Chicory: A Colorful Tale

Genre: Top-Down Action-RPG

Players: 1-2 Co-Op (Local)

.

Review:

Chicory is a family-friendly Action-RPG released on PC and PlayStation 4 in 2021, and then ported to Nintendo Switch later that same year. Chicory takes place in a world of anthropomorphic animals named after foods, where one of the most celebrated figures is the magical paintbrush-using Wielder, the latest of which is the titular Chicory. Players take the role of Chicory…’s janitor, who one day is shocked to discover that all color has been drained from the world, and Chicory has evidently discarded her brush. Seeking to set things right, players pick up the brush and set out on a quest to discover just what is going on and how to make things right.

Right from the very start of this game, Chicory is absolutely full of charm. The writing is clever and adorable, the art style is colorful (naturally) and appealing, and the characters are full of personality. It’s a joy just going through this world and meeting the varied cast of characters.

This charm is partly due to the game’s lovely presentation, which uses simple hand-drawn 2D visuals, and much of the game lets players paint in the colors for these visuals as they see fit, with the game remembering exactly how you colored characters and locations. If you want, you can even use this to draw little notes to yourself on the game’s locales.

These visuals are backed by a wonderful soundtrack that has some wonderfully catchy tunes, ranging from placid, peaceful songs like Blank Canvas to catchy songs like Supper Woods and Apple Foothills, to stirring themes like Eyes in the Darkness. As wonderful as this game’s writing and art style is, its soundtrack is just as compelling.

There’s some very good gameplay to be found here too. Picture a top-down Action-RPG like traditional 2D Zelda games, complete with some truly exquisite puzzle design, map design, and a fascinating world to explore. Add to that a superfluous but nevertheless wonderful dedication to giving players a variety of art tools to really put their mark on the game’s look (albeit generally with a limited color palette). There’s always something new and interesting to see around every corner, and it’s truly compelling to explore the game’s world to see everything in it. And on top of that, the game has some surprisingly epic boss fights too!

Actually, this last part is something of a mixed bag. See, Chicory is mostly a pretty relaxed game without much in the way of battles or normal enemies to fight. The one exception here is the aforementioned boss battles. While these battles are quite excellent, they differ so wildly in tone from the rest of the game that it’s jarring. I can’t help but feel like this game would have been better served by either adding in normal enemies to fight throughout your journey, or removing the boss fights entirely. Yes, even though they’re good boss fights – just because they’re great doesn’t mean they’re great for this game.

I should note that the Nintendo Switch version of the game includes optional gyroscopic motion control, and this method of control is vastly preferable to the traditional gamepad controls (which have you controlling the magic brush’s use via the right analog stick). However, even better than this are the optional touchscreen controls, which are by far the best way to play the game. In fact, these controls make the game so much better that I would venture to say that this arguably makes the Nintendo Switch version of Chicory the best version of the game…

… Well, almost. Unfortunately, the Nintendo Switch version of the game also comes with some truly nasty slowdown in some parts of the game, at times getting to be so bad that the game briefly seems to glitch out. A part of me wants to write this off as possibly even intentional, as these “glitchy” effects seemed to come at times that were fitting (the intense boss battles), but I don’t think they actually were intentional, and they break the immersion enough that it hurts the gameplay.

On balance, I suspect this leaves Chicory on Nintendo Switch about on par with other versions of the game, which is to say… still really, really good. It’s not quite a Zelda replacement, what with its general lack of content. But if you’re wanting a mostly more slow-paced and puzzle-focused Zelda-style game with tons of charm, character, and a focus on art and creativity, Chicory is a game that absolutely should not be missed.

tl;dr – Chicory is a family-friendly Top-Down Action-RPG in the style of old-school Zelda games, albeit with more of a focus on puzzles, exploration, and characters than on combat. Chicory is absolutely charming and full of personality, with a delightful presentation, a lovely soundtrack, and some creative gameplay elements. The Nintendo Switch version even has some outstanding optional gyroscopic motion controls (though it’s a tradeoff that also comes with some nasty slowdown at times). There are some gameplay elements here that don’t quite mesh together well, but overall this is an outstanding game that should be considered a Must-Play for anyone who would enjoy a relaxed adventure.

Grade: A-

^{You can support eShopperReviews on Patreon! Please click HERE to become a Sponsor!}

^{This month’s sponsors are Andy Miller, Exlene, Johannes, u/RamboFox, Ilya Zverev, Connor Armstrong, Eli Goodman, K.H. Kristoffer Wulff, and Stov. Thank you for helping to keep the reviews coming!}