Game Review: Costume Quest

Genre

Role-playing adventure game

Platforms

Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox Live Arcade, OS X, Linux, iOS

Story

It’s Halloween night and fraternal twins, Reynold and Wren, are forced by their parents to go trick-or-treating together and make new friends. As the siblings get started on their night of fun, one of them (depending on which character you choose to play as) gets kidnapped by a monster! Now it’s your job to fight the monsters, rescue your twin, and save Halloween!

Gameplay/Mechanics

Costume Quest has many different fun elements to it! It incorporates the fun of exploration in adventure games, has unique character building and equipment collecting like in a role-playing game, and has quite a few puzzles to solve.

In Costume Quest you must go trick-or-treating to defeat monsters, collect candy (a currency that is used for interactions in the game), craft new costumes, and get hints to where the monsters took the character’s sibling.

To fight off the monsters in the game, you are able to enter a combat mode in which characters are equipped with giant super-powered versions of whatever costumes they’re wearing. Combat is turn-based, and, while seeming simple at first, is fast-paced and requires some planning to beat tougher enemies.

Gameplay is quite easy to get the hang of but can be challenging if you don’t manage it right. It’s fun and simplistic, and even though it can become stale after a point it’s still quite enjoyable.

Music/Graphics

Costume Quest’s soundtrack (available to listen to for free here) is fun and bright, while also incorporating a cartoon-ish Halloween feel that really immerses the player.

The graphics are also similarly simple and cartoony, giving a simultaneously fun and spooky feel that goes well with gameplay.

Morals/Appropriateness

The game is rated for Everyone 10+ by the ESRB for “Cartoon Violence” (giant robots and monsters punching each other) and a small quip about smoking (ex. “Oh, why did I have to pick today to quit smoking?”). The game is definitely nothing to worry about from a moral standpoint unless you dislike a more secular Halloween themed game. Fun and appropriate for the whole family.

Community/Multiplayer

None.

Addiction Danger

The game, while entertaining, can become tedious and stale after being played for large amounts of time and is best played in short sessions. No real addiction danger here.

Problems/Ending Comments

Well, even though I’m a bit late, I’d thought I’d review this Halloween game since it’s a fun game in any season. I hope you enjoyed the review and check out Costume Quest and it’s recently released sequel Costume Quest 2 which were both developed by indie-gaming studio Double Fine Productions.

You can purchase Costume Quest and other Double Fine titles here.

ESRB Rating: Everyone 10+

My Rating: 9/10

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Copyright 2014 Quinn Mitchell