What's-going-on-vania

Wuppo isn't a "bad" game, exactly, but it's weird in ways that I found more off-putting than charming.

Not just because you jump with the left-bumper, or because you spend currency by equipping it like an item, or because the map is forced to share screen real estate with a pause menu. More because the game's story is told with cartoonish nonsense - it introduces the world through a history of races with names like "Blusser" and "Splenkhakker" - and because, although the game clearly displays your objective, what that objective means is often elusive.

Like, my mission for most of the game thus far was to get back to the "Wumhouse" that I started in. But how? Well, I guess by scouring the accessible map and looking for un-followed routes, or using items with interactive elements until something new opens up. Wuppo doesn't just obscure the path forward with a lack of bright-and-shining objective markers, but also with shades of adventure game (il)logic.

And my problem with Wuppo isn't necessarily that it asks me to understand and execute on its weirdness; it's that I don't know why I should. Mechanically, it's a platform-y exploration game that's pretty unremarkable outside of those weird design choices. And narratively, the premise is that you were kicked out of a hotel for making a mess. What, uh ... what is the point of this game?

I feel like I could "get" Wuppo if I kept trying, but it's not giving me a very good reason to do so.

Better than: Forma.8
Not as good as: Headlander
Very distinct from, but ultimately as uncompelling as: Strider (2014)

Progress: Got back to the hotel, then got lost and gave up.