I GET IT

I like small Zelda inspired experiences. Turnip Boy was a couple of hours at most and was a comedic fantasy adventure telling a very dark story. It has its absurd moments but played them only when it felt appropriate and at the end of the experience after returning to this game after playing Turnip Boy Robs A Bank it makes me wonder why the sequel went the way it did both in story and gameplay.

At the base level, Turnip Boy is a Zelda like that revolves around fetch quests, but with a minimal arsenal Turnip Boy does some really great puzzles which leads to great dungeon design. Combat is not the greatest by any means, but it works just fine when the game feels more interested in challenging the players’ brain than reflexes (but it does do both during boss fights).

PLATFORMS: SWITCH, PC, XB1, PS4, iOS, ANDROID
PRICE: $14.99
PRICE I’D PAY: $14.99

It also felt like a real world with lore that could be explored further in a sequel which hasn’t happened in the way I would have expected (not yet anyways) but I also would have expected another Zelda like game with new concepts for puzzles.

One of the final areas of the game was so well done in its storytelling it actually creeped me out because it’s something I feel has rarely been done in games in general and it only works because Turnip Boy is a cute little turnip with a big smile on his face. The simplistic pixel art style is accented by plenty of detail like clouds overhead in the overworld, or the darkness in the decrepit buildings that operate like dungeons, while close ups in conversations use lovely crisp vector based renders. That constant shifting between tones is what really made Turnip Boy feel special to me.

Obviously that feeling is accentuated by the soundtrack by James Currier and Ryan Borbone. They really capture the goofy tone Turnip Boy leads you in with (I mean, the name sold me and I’m sure I’m not alone) with tracks like the Veggieville theme but then stuff like Snack Break with it’s drums really feel like an adventuring track. It varies in style and mood throughout sort of like real life does, which again made this feel like more of a world than just a setting for gameplay.

I hope Turnip Boy returns to this format because I think this is a better canvas for the ideas the developers have character wise, but I also think it allowed them to be more creative with gameplay than Turnip Boy Robs A Bank (which the review for should be up alongside this one). I think Turnip Boy is worth people’s time, it just comes down to dollar per hour value because I think I finished most of what this game had to offer in about 3-4 hours and while I think $15 is worth that, other people don’t.

Review copy purchased by reviewer.