Chicory: A Colorful Tale | |
---|---|
Developer(s) | Wishes Unlimited |
Publisher(s) | Finji |
Designer(s) | Greg Lobanov |
Artist(s) |
|
Composer(s) | Lena Raine |
Engine | GameMaker Studio 2 |
Platform(s) | |
Release |
|
Genre(s) | Adventure |
Mode(s) | Single-player, Cooperative |
Chicory: A Colorful Tale is an adventure video game by indie developer Greg Lobanov and published by Finji. It was released for Microsoft Windows, macOS, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5 in June 2021, for Nintendo Switch in December 2021, and for Xbox One and Xbox Series X and Series S in May 2023. The game features an anthropomorphic dog with a magical paintbrush, which is used to color the game world. Chicory: A Colorful Tale received "universal acclaim" from critics, who were impressed by its innovative gameplay and emotional, uplifting themes.
Chicory: A Colorful Tale, or Chicory, is an adventure role-playing video game where characters are small anthropomorphic animals. The player takes the role of an anthropomorphic dog named after the player's favorite food, or the default name "Pizza" if the player does not choose a favorite food. [1] The world they explore is black and white, but can be painted using The Brush, a large paintbrush. The paintbrush can also be used to solve environmental puzzles. [2] Over the course of the game the player gains new abilities such as the ability to jump and an ability to swim through the paint with later unlocks allowing the player to swim up walls and up waterfalls.
Boss fights contain the games' only combat mechanics with the player dodging projectiles in a bullet hell state while using the brush to damage the boss in arenas with dark-negative color filters. The game also has an option to skip boss fights entirely. [3]
The Picnic Province is a land devoid of color. It is the responsibility of the wielder of the magic Brush to bring color to the world. Ages ago, the Brush was cut from the branch of a magical brush tree. The Brush has been passed down from teacher to apprentice for generations.
Pizza is a janitor for the current wielder, Chicory. One day, while Pizza is cleaning Chicory’s Tower, all color is suddenly drained from the world. Pizza finds the Brush discarded by Chicory’s bedroom door and takes it for their own. Wandering into Supper Woods, Pizza encounters Blackberry, a former wielder and Chicory’s teacher. Blackberry leads them to a corrupted tree deep in the woods. They are attacked by a mysterious entity within the tree, which Pizza fights off with the Brush. Returning to the Wielder Tower, Pizza finds Chicory in a depressive state. She refuses to take back the Brush, giving it to Pizza, who excitedly assures Chicory they will fight the corruptions and fill the world with color again.
After fighting another corruption, Pizza finds Chicory in an improved mood outside the Tower. She directs Pizza to the next corruption in Gulp Swamp. In the swamp, an apparition of Chicory insults Pizza’s abilities as a wielder. Blackberry tells Pizza to confront Chicory, suspecting she is linked to the corruptions in some way. At the Tower, Chicory reveals that she is the source of the corruptions – they are a manifestation of her worst thoughts and fears. Stating she doesn’t care who the wielder is, Chicory kicks Pizza out of the Tower.
A delegation from the bug kingdom leads Pizza to the underground city of Feast, where they must remove yet another corrupted tree. Within, Pizza fights an apparition of themselves, revealing that Chicory isn’t the only one linked to the corruptions and thus can’t be the source. Back at the Wielder Tower, Pizza finds Chicory’s room swallowed by darkness. Chicory lashes out, claiming that everything is her fault and begging Pizza to abandon her. After Pizza calms her down, Chicory deduces that the Brush must be the true source of the corruptions, as it is the only element the two of them have in common. She agrees to formally take Pizza as her apprentice and to guide them through the four wielder trials.
During one of the trials, Chicory elaborates on her relationship with Blackberry. Blackberry’s perfectionism put an immense strain on Chicory, who buried her troubles to hide any sign of weakness. Sensing something was wrong, Blackberry refused to formally pass the Brush onto Chicory at the final trial. Chicory fled with the Brush anyways. After this incident, the corrupted trees began to appear. After completing the trials, Pizza returns to the Wielder Tower to fight the final corruption. Chicory suggests they should destroy the Brush afterwards, as its ability to manifest a wielder’s thoughts and feelings causes the corruptions to appear. Entering the corrupted tree on the roof of the Tower, Pizza is confronted by the apparition again, who takes the Brush away and knocks them out of the tree.
Returning to the base of the Tower, Pizza finds Chicory who explains why she gave them the Brush – she wanted to be free of the institution of the wielders and the burden of their legacy. Pizza, having taken the Brush of their own volition, was proof the institution was unnecessary. Lamenting the loss of the Brush, Pizza wills a new brush tree into existence. Pizza reenters the corrupted tree but struggles to fight the entity within. Chicory arrives, having also grown her own brush. Together, they destroy the original Brush, causing the corruptions to disappear. They agree to teach others to grow their own brushes so that color may be free to all.
Originally under the title Drawdog, [4] Chicory was unveiled via a Kickstarter on August 15, 2019, with a planned 202X release date. [1] [5] The project was started by indie developer Greg Lobanov, who previously worked on Wandersong and was funded within a day. Chicory was showcased at PAX West 2019, and was met with positive reception from RPGamer. [6] The game started development when Lobanov wanted to make an art game that focused on how art interacts with the world. [7]
In an interview, the game's composer Lena Raine wrote that she wanted to create a contrast between the music of the natural world and the darkness. Raine said that various instruments were used in order to create the tone, “It’s almost like the distortion of the natural, so you’ll notice that I use a lot of synths and also acoustic instruments run through guitar pedals and amps and all sorts of literal distortion to create a sound that’s an amplified and chaotic version of reality." [8]
The character of Chicory reportedly suffered difficulties in characterization during development with some playtesters thinking she was the villain in early builds of the game. The character drew from lead artist Alexis Dean-Jones's experiences with obsessive–compulsive disorder in real-life. [7]
The release date of Chicory—June 10, 2021—was announced in May 2021. [9] The game was released on June 10, 2021, for Mac OS, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5. [10] On December 15, 2021, the game was released for the Nintendo Switch. [11] The title was later ported to Xbox One, and Xbox Series X and Series S on May 30, 2023. [12]
Following the release of the game, Lobanov released a tweet that showed an animated gif of a two legged fox-like creature which stated that he was making another game with the same developers of Chicory, stating he would share more details about the game later in 2022. [13] The game was later revealed to be Beastieball. [14]
In 2023, the Wishes Unlimited production logo was added to the game was added to opening to the game following the development studios formation that same year, with the company now being credited as the game's developer alongside the names of the main individuals involved in creating the game that was there when the game launched.
Aggregator | Score |
---|---|
Metacritic | PC: 90/100 [15] PS5: 87/100 [16] NS: 90/100 [17] |
Publication | Score |
---|---|
Destructoid | 9.5/10 [18] |
Edge | 9/10 |
Game Informer | 8.75/10 [19] |
GameSpot | 9/10 [20] |
IGN | 9/10 [21] |
Jeuxvideo.com | 17/20 [22] |
According to the review aggregator Metacritic, Chicory: A Colorful Tale received "universal acclaim" for Microsoft Windows and Nintendo Switch and "generally favorable reviews" for PlayStation 5. [15] [16] [17]
In a positive review for Destructoid , Zoey Handley praised the relatable nature of the story. "if you are the creative type, if you've dealt with self-doubt, the well-intentioned sting of criticism, the frustration of hard work going nowhere, directionlessness in a world that exploits the imaginative... then there is potential that Chicory: A Colorful Tale is going to hit hard." [23] IGN 's Rebekah Valentine also enjoyed the cast of characters in Chicory, "there are also supporting characters with brief, sharp at times, but always kind commentary on topics like grief, workaholism, and the struggles of reckoning with sexuality and identity. It is at all times sensitive and empathetic, but doesn't sugar-coat or present a cheesy solution that magically erases the problem." [24] GameSpot 's Alessandro Barbosa liked the title's fusion of puzzles and story, writing that, "Satisfying puzzles and cathartic painting mechanics support Chicory: A Colorful Tale's strikingly relatable story about self-doubt". [3]
Destructoid would later name Chicory the best PC game of 2021 [25] and the best overall game of 2021. [26] Giant Bomb awarded Chicory its "Chillest Game", "Best Soundtrack", and "Best Overall Game of the Year" awards. [27]
Year | Award | Category | Result | REF |
---|---|---|---|---|
2021 | Golden Joystick Awards | Best Storytelling | Nominated | [28] |
Best Indie | Nominated | |||
The Game Awards 2021 | Games for Impact | Nominated | [29] | |
2022 | 18th British Academy Games Awards | Games Beyond Entertainment | Nominated | [30] |
Family | Won | |||
EE Game of the Year | Nominated | |||
Independent Games Festival Awards | Seamus McNally Grand Prize | Nominated | [31] | |
SXSW Gaming Awards | Indie Game of the Year | Nominated | [32] | |
Matthew Crump Cultural Innovation Award | Nominated | |||
New York Game Awards | Big Apple Award for Best Game of the Year: | Nominated | [33] | |
Off Broadway Award for Best Indie Game | Nominated | [33] | ||
Statue of Liberty Award for Best World: | Nominated | [33] | ||
Tin Pan Alley Award for Best Music in a Game | Nominated | [33] | ||
Central Park Children's Zoo Award for Best Kids Game | Nominated | [33] | ||
22nd Game Developers Choice Awards | Best Social Impact Award | Nominated | [34] | |
Innovation Award | Honorable mention | [35] | ||
Game of the Year | Honorable mention | [35] | ||
Pégases Awards | Best Foreign Independent Video Game | Won | [36] |
BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger is a fighting game developed by Arc System Works in 2008. The game's name is a combination of the words "blaze" and "blue" when the title is rendered in rōmaji, and of the words "brave" and "blue" when rendered in katakana. As Japanese people usually follow the katakana rendering, the Japanese prononciation is made similar to the word "bray", entirely omitting the "z" sound. Originally released for the arcades, it was also released for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Microsoft Windows. A port for the PlayStation Portable, titled BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger Portable, was released in 2010. It was the first title in the BlazBlue game series and extended franchise.
Destructoid is a website that was founded as a video game-focused blog in March 2006 by Yanier Gonzalez, a Cuban-American cartoonist and author. Enthusiast Gaming acquired the website in 2017, and sold it to Gamurs Group in 2022.
Darksiders II is an action role-playing hack and slash video game developed by Vigil Games and published by THQ. It is the sequel to Darksiders and was released in August 2012 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and as a launch title for Wii U upon the console's North American and PAL regions release in November of the same year. The story follows the efforts of player character Death to clear the name of his brother, War, who stands accused of wiping out humanity. On a total budget of $50 million, it was one of the most expensive video games to develop of all time.
Terraria is a 2011 action-adventure sandbox game developed by Re-Logic. The game was first released for Windows and has since been ported to other PC and console platforms. The game features exploration, crafting, building, painting, and combat with a variety of creatures in a procedurally generated 2D world. Terraria received generally positive reviews and sold over 44 million copies by 2022, making it one of the best-selling video games.
Fable: The Journey is an action role-playing on rails video game, the fifth in the Fable series. It was developed by Lionhead Studios and published by Microsoft Studios for Xbox 360, as a Kinect title. First announced at the 2011 Electronic Entertainment Expo, the game is a standalone title, separate from the main series. Unlike previous games, Fable: The Journey was developed using Unreal Engine 3.
The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing is an action role-playing video game developed and published by NeocoreGames. It was released on 22 May 2013. Based on the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker, the game focuses on the trials of young Van Helsing, son of the legendary vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing from the book. The game is set in a gothic-noir 19th-century Eastern Europe and contains "intentionally anachronistic humor and gadgetry". A sequel, The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing II, was released on 22 May 2014. A second sequel, The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing III, was released on 22 May 2015.
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is a 2013 adventure game developed by Starbreeze Studios and published by 505 Games for Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Nintendo Switch, and Amazon Luna. The narrative takes place in a fantasy world filled with fictitious creatures such as orcs and trolls, where two young brothers set out on a journey to find a cure for their father's illness. The game is often mentioned as an example of artistry in video games due to its heavy narrative. It received positive reviews from critics and had sold over 800,000 units by January 2015.
Massive Chalice is a turn-based tactics video game for Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux and Xbox One by Double Fine Productions, which was funded through Kickstarter. The project leader of the game was Brad Muir, who was previously the project leader of Iron Brigade.
One Piece: Burning Blood is a fighting video game developed by Spike Chunsoft and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. Based on the One Piece franchise, it was released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Xbox One, and Windows. It is the first One Piece video game to be released on an Xbox video game console. It was released in Japan on April 21, 2016, in North America on May 31, 2016, and in Europe on June 3, 2016. The Windows version was released in North America on September 1, 2016, and in Europe on September 2, 2016. The game was not released for Xbox One in Japan.
Super Lucky's Tale is a 3D platform game developed by Playful Studios and published by Microsoft Studios for Windows and Xbox One. It is the sequel to Lucky's Tale, a virtual reality 3D platformer for the Oculus Rift. The game was released as a launch title for the Xbox One X on November 7, 2017. The game received an overall mixed reception from critics. It is followed by an expanded version of the game titled New Super Lucky's Tale, which saw releases for various platforms between 2019 and 2020.
Katana Zero is a 2019 platform game created by the indie developer Justin Stander. Set in a dystopian metropolis, the neo-noir storyline follows Subject Zero, a katana-wielding assassin with amnesia who can slow down time and predict the future. Zero unravels his past while completing assassination contracts. Katana Zero features side-scrolling hack-and-slash gameplay in which the player attempts to kill all enemies in a level without being hit, using Zero's abilities to manipulate time, dodge attacks, and take advantage of environmental hazards. In-between levels, the story is told in sequences where the player converses with non-player characters through dialogue trees.
Warhammer: Vermintide 2 is a first-person action video game developed and published by Fatshark. It is the sequel to 2015's Warhammer: End Times – Vermintide. Vermintide 2 was released for Windows on 8 March 2018. It was released for Xbox One on 11 July 2018, free for members of the Xbox Game Pass. It was released for the PlayStation 4 on 18 December 2018. It also released for Xbox Series X/S on 3 December 2020. A spiritual successor, Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, was released in 2022.
Concrete Genie is an action-adventure video game developed by Pixelopus and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 4. The game was announced at Sony's PlayStation Media Showcase at Paris Games Week 2017 on October 30, 2017, and was released on October 8, 2019. It received generally favourable reviews from critics. The game is also the final game released by Pixelopus before their closure in June 2023.
Wandersong is a puzzle adventure video game developed by American-Canadian indie developer Greg Lobanov. A music-themed game, it follows The Bard, a wandering singer, as they go on a quest to gather pieces of a song that will save their world from destruction. In the game, the player uses The Bard's singing to affect the environment, solve puzzles, and defend against enemies. Wandersong was released on macOS, Microsoft Windows, and Nintendo Switch in September 2018, PlayStation 4 in January 2019, and Xbox One in December 2019.
Samurai Shodown is a 2019 fighting game developed and published by SNK for arcades, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Stadia, Xbox Series X and Series S, Android and iOS via Netflix Games, and Windows as an entry in the Samurai Shodown series, as well as a reboot to the series.
Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid is a fighting game developed by San Francisco-based game developer nWay, featuring characters from the Power Rangers franchise. It was released digitally for Nintendo Switch and Xbox One on March 26, 2019, for PlayStation 4 on April 2, 2019, for Microsoft Windows on September 24, 2019, and for Stadia on June 1, 2020. Limited Run Games released a standard physical version on the Switch and PlayStation 4 alongside a more expensive Mega Edition, which included a SteelBook case, 18" X 24" poster, and 5 coins in addition to the game. Pre-orders went up for sale in June 2019 with the game delivered in November 2019. In October 2020, Maximum Games published the "Collector's Edition" which included the character Lauren Shiba, both physically and digitally. A third version the Super Edition containing all previous downloadable content was released digitally in May 2021 and physically in August 2021.
Tales of Arise is an action role-playing game developed and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. The seventeenth main entry in the Tales series, it was originally planned to release in 2020 but was delayed to September 2021 due to internal quality issues and the ability to launch the game on more platforms. It's also the first game of the series with a worldwide simultaneous launch. The game follows a man and a woman from the opposing worlds of Dahna and Rena and their journey to end the Renans' oppression of the Dahnan people.
Remnant: From the Ashes is an action role-playing video game developed by Gunfire Games and published by Perfect World Entertainment. The game was released for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One in August 2019, followed by a Nintendo Switch port released in March 2023. It received generally positive reviews from critics and sold over 3 million units by December 2021. A sequel, Remnant 2, was released in July 2023.
The Pathless is an action-adventure video game developed by Giant Squid and published by Annapurna Interactive. The game was released for iOS and macOS via Apple Arcade, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and Windows in November 2020, and was later ported to the Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S in February 2023.
The Gunk is an action-adventure video game developed by Image & Form and published by Thunderful Publishing. The game was released on December 16, 2021 for Windows, Xbox One and Xbox Series X and Series S.
Schon seit gestern könnt ihr nämlich auf PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, PCs und Mac den Pinsel schwingen.[Because already since yesterday [June 10, 2021], you can swing the brush on Playstation 5, Playstation 4, PC and Mac.]