Hop On Papo

Papo & Yo has a messaging problem. Its allegorical story is clear from the beginning, but gets muddled in the middle, before becoming laboriously overwrought in the end. Its tale of familial strife and abuse is sympathetic, yet tedious. But the good news is, aside from all that, Papo & Yo is a surprisingly competent and creative game.

The game is organized into a handful of discrete sections, each focusing on a central piece of level design. One section has broken terrain revolving around a central platform; another partitions the level into regions of a soccer field. Each section does an impressive job of integrating puzzles directly into the level, like one where a tower has to be repositioned into a bridge, across which are more blocks to further lengthen said bridge.

And all of these game elements are thoroughly soaked in a surreal aesthetic, with a thematically-consistent, yet continually-surprising style. Buildings walk around on stilts. Water tanks sprout wings and fly away! Architecture slides and rotates around to rearrange the level like it's no big deal. The overall design is satisfying not just for its whimsy, but for how cohesively implemented it is.

The controls are ... okay. Collision with the environment feels stiff, and the camera is sometimes slightly out of whack. Animations and models are a bit underwhelming too, with the exception of the "monster," which has a surprisingly high level of detail. The music, though -- the music is pretty excellent. Not necessarily something I'd listen to outside of the game, but the folksy, ethnic sounds fit the game's pseudo-fantastical favela aesthetic perfectly.

Papo & Yo is pretty short - about three hours, for me - and could even stand to lose about half an hour from the beginning and ending. But it's otherwise a dense, thematic, well-crafted puzzle adventure that's not quite like anything else out there. (Sure, there are some distinct similarities to Majin. But it's different enough.)

Better than: A Story About My Uncle, Journey
Not as good as: Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom
And there's a jetpack!: because, of course, why not.

Progress: Complete.