Castle on the Coast

Genre: 3D Platformer

Players: 1-2 Co-Op (Local)

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Review:

Castle on the Coast is a 3D Platformer released in 2021 on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. In this game, players take the role of an anthropomorphic giraffe named George (apparently inspired by a children’s hospital mascot) and find themselves in a magical castle filled with young magicians coping with the disappearance of their elders, and contending with friction between the group and two of the eldest among them.

The story here isn’t really all that important. It seems like a flimsy excuse for a game set in a magic castle and the castle’s surroundings. Oddly enough, I think the writing and voice acting for the various characters in this game is pretty good overall, so it seems odd to me that they couldn’t come up with a better plot. However, this is a Platformer so it’s hardly what matters.

As for the rest of the presentation, Castle in the Coast uses simple 3D visuals that are a bit outdated, and feel just a tad like they hearken back to the early days of 3D graphics on consoles like Nintendo 64. This game’s world is bigger than that and its visuals are more detailed, but they give off that impression nevertheless. The game’s somewhat cartoony characters and colorful, imaginative visuals are excellent here as well, though the framerate does dip at times on Nintendo Switch. These visuals are backed by a decent but somewhat subdued fantasy soundtrack that works well enough for the game but doesn’t leave a lasting impression.

When it comes to the gameplay, Castle on the Coast is really uneven. Your character’s movement feels sluggish and floaty, but it’s not bad, and in fact your character’s move set gives players a great deal of freedom of maneuverability – you can triple-jump to a mid-air jump to a wall run to a wall jump to a mid-air spin to a dive in a way that really makes you feel like you could get just about anywhere if you strung together your moves right.

The level design often feels like a jumbled mess, but it’s also consistently visually stimulating, always giving you the feeling like you’re exploring new and interesting areas, even if you can’t quite process the labyrinthine way you got to where you are, and the main thing driving you forward is a glowy area you know you’re heading toward.

This game has collect-a-thon elements like you often see in classic 3D Platformers, with shining stars, suns, moons, and so on to collect to unlock doors, but there are also pink and purple blocks containing flower petals that don’t really seem to do anything. There’s a bit of a Pavlovian instinct to collect these, but every now and then, you can’t help but wonder why you’re collecting them when it has seemingly no effect on the gameplay, other than perhaps indicating where you’ve been and where you still need to explore.

There’s an interesting asymmetrical co-op mode where the second player takes the role of a helper character that can travel nearby George or hop on his back to enhance his abilities, which is a fun and somewhat unique take on multiplayer, though one that won’t appeal to everyone.

Some elements just don’t work well at all. Combat is done through a Crash Bandicoot-esque spin move, but striking enemies never feels impactful, and the game seems to realize this is a weak point and tends to emphasize platforming instead. However, you do still have a few boss fights, and these are consistently clunky and unsatisfying. Thankfully, these moments are few in number.

Basically, throughout this game, it has an overall unpolished feel to it. Yet despite this, it’s still surprisingly enjoyable, and remains consistently engaging for the game’s entire 3-4 hour run through. This is disappointingly short, especially when this game introduces some interesting mechanics in some of its areas that it never returns to.

Still, I know there are some who would argue that being left wanting more is a good thing, and Castle on the Coast does manage to do that. And it’s hard to fault a game for being short when it’s priced accordingly, and the $15 price seems about right for this. I still think this game could do with a lot more polish, and it definitely has its issues, but if you’re a fan of 3D Platformers, I think you’ll probably enjoy it.

tl;dr – Castle on the Coast is a family-friendly 3D Platformer where you play as an anthropomorphic giraffe exploring the titular magic castle. This is a pretty short game, and it’s terribly unpolished, yet despite its issues it’s still really enjoyable to play with a fun character move set and some enjoyable level design. The result is a game that more than makes up for its flaws, and is well worth playing for Platformer fans.

Grade: B

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