Crystal Picnic is a colorful role-playing game brimming with witty, humorous dialogue and charming music and visuals that takes you on a journey to find crystals that were stolen by a legion of ants.
[h1]Characters[/h1]
In your pursuit to hunt down the ants for the purloined crystals, you take on the role of several anthropomorphic animals. The game begins with two characters, Egbert the duck and Frogbert the frog, but others join you later on in the adventure. Each character has unique personalities, aspirations, and reasons for helping out. The character dialogue and writing are very well executed, and each character has a unique group of soundbites that plays during conversations. Conversations between characters are almost always very witty and humorous, which keeps things interesting. You definitely will not be bored by the colorful cast of characters.
[h1]Gameplay[/h1]
Crystal Picnic plays in a traditional top-down perspective during exploration and character encounters, but switches to a unique action platformer perspective during battle sequences. During exploration sequences, you roam through villages, castles, forests, and different countryside vistas. You can chat, trade, and play games with the many characters that dot the landscapes during exploration, as well as interact with environmental objects, like bushes. During battles, you use sticks, stinky socks, and other so-called weapons to fend off against wolves, ants, pooping birds, and other enemies, all the while performing platforming feats. The battle sequences are unlike those I have experienced in other games, and always pose a challenge.
[h1]Visuals[/h1]
I love the game's art style. I had recently come off the high of finishing the original Paper Mario a couple of years ago when I first stumbled upon a trailer for this game. The art style reminded me a lot of Paper Mario's, which was very attractive to me at the time, and is what ultimately lead me to getting the game. The art is just so colorful and lighthearted. I love it!
[h1]Audio[/h1]
The game has a pretty nice soundtrack. Each piece is appropriate and well-suited to its perspective area. I especially like the title screen music. The sound effects are satisfying, what with some items' "swoosh" sounds, and the menus' "swish" sounds; the sound effects fit nicely and add to the experience, but they aren't anything to write home about.
[h1]Enemies and Bosses[/h1]
One of my personal favorite parts of the game are the various boss battles. Bosses range from giant, nearly Bane-like ants, to crazed royals, to sentient trees. There is a creative variety in the types of bosses, as well as how they play. No two boss battles play out the same way, so you always have to be on your toes if you do not want to die. Beyond fun bosses, there are recurring enemies, like pooping birds, different kinds of ants, wolves, and more. Each enemy has its own set of attacks and movement patterns. Learning how each enemy behaves can be tricky, but definitely helps in the long run.
[h1]Final Thoughts[/h1]
Crystal Picnic is a casual role-playing game, and a bit of a short one at that. My first play-through took about 4 hours, which is short compared to Nooskewl's other RPG (Monster RPG 2), where I spent 8 hours. Even so, I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of my time playing. If you are a fan of more lighthearted and sarcastic role-playing games, like the Mario & Luigi series, but want something that plays more like the old-school stuff, this game is for you. It is definitely worth the price tag, and is fun to go back to every now and again.
