Have you ever thought about what a game based on Kiki's Delivery Service might be like? Well look no further!
Mika and The Witch's Mountain is a charming sandbox styled adventure game where you, Mika, get to fly around on your magic broom, and help the citizens of the island. The game features unique platforming elements, and provides you with a wide verity of challenges as you guide Mika through her new daily life. It's an interesting concept, clearly inspired by an all time classic, but it is also much more
The Story of a Young Witch in Training:
The game begins with a colorful animated cutscene introducing us to the world, and our main character Mika. Mika is a young wannabe Witch who has come to the Witch's Mountain by recommendation of her mother, and hopes to be taken in as the next Witch in training. She approaches her soon to be master Olagari with a hopeful sparkle in her eyes, but is met with a harsh reality. Olagari doesn't do things on recommendations, and she doesn't think Mika is ready to be a Witch. So she does the only thing she feels is right, and proceeds to throw Mika off a cliff.
Thankfully Mika survives the fall, as Witches should be able to fly on their brooms, but after crashing into the ground she's faced with an unfortunate truth. Her broom wasn't as lucky as her. Now, without a broom, Mika is forced to make her way to the nearby town on foot, where she eventually runs into a woman by the name of Allegra. Thankfully Allegra can repair Mika's broom for her, but it is going to cost money that Mika does not have. So to remedy the situation she sets out into town, and looks for her very first job; taking on the role of a delivery girl.
After joining up with her new boss Greff, Mika is tasked with delivery a package to a nearby sailor. Using her broken broom she quickly completes the job (assuming you, the player, didn't get lost), and is given another task to complete. This time the sailor wants Mika to deliver something to his son, who is currently out on a fishing boat. Upon making this delivery the son tells Mika about how his dad is no longer able to go out fishing with him, and asks her to help catch a fish. This fish is eventually then brought back to the old man, who rewards Mika by asking her to take back the original package that started this all. Apparently, he didn't order it.
Upon returning to Greff, Mika lets him know that the package was a mistake, but Greff passes the entire thing off as a test for Mika. He then informs her that she has now been officially hired, and may begin her work as a full time delivery person tomorrow. Now, with money on tow, Mika returns to Allegra, pays for a slightly upgraded broom, and begins her new life. But what Mika doesn't realize is, there's more to this island that meets the eye, and her life is about to be changed forever.
From this point on, the story of Mika and The Witch's Mountain is mainly told through Mika's everyday life as a delivery girl. The packages being delivered help piece together the narrative, while actually delivering said packages will bring the islanders to open up to you more. It is through these dialogues that the island's lore is constructed, and we get to learn about the different relationships and dreams the inhabitants carry with them. Mika herself has a lot to learn about who she truly is, and what she wants in life, but it's through interacting with others that she slowly begins to understand this. At multiple points in the story Mika is presented options to side with the people she's met while working, or to hold onto her original goal and side with Olagari. It's up to the player to decide what to do, but the "correct choice" is pretty obvious. Of course it might be more obvious to older players vs younger players, but that's all a part of growing up.
Exploring the Island:
The biggest aspect of the entire game is exploring the island. The island isn't huge by any means, but it's not a simple straight path from point A to point B. Initially Mika's broom can only hover above the ground and "jump" up to a slightly higher elevation, so this limits where you can or cannot go. As the broom is always "falling" to the ground, going off of ledges will see Mika slowly float downward rather than having her fly through the sky. This is actually where the main platform elements come into play, because you have to figure out the best way to actually get somewhere.
While you may see a camp ground sitting on top of a cliff in the distance, you can't simply just fly up there. Instead Mika will need to get to another higher location, and possibly use air currents to a lift. These air currents are placed in a way that they themselves can be a puzzle, but once you figure out the best way to do things, it really isn't that confusing. In fact, that's actually a big part of the game itself.
The more familiar you personally get with the island, the easier your trips around it will become. There is an outer main path to take, but the inner-workings of the island have some very helpful shortcuts as well. It's just getting to these shortcuts also relies on you knowing how to access them, as it's not as simple as going towards the center of the map. Again cliffs will block Mika's way, and you will need to find the best way to get up them. Eventually Mika's broom will be upgraded with additional abilities, such as the ability to "jump" upwards in midair, but such skills need to be worked for.
Special shortcut items are also hidden throughout the island, but they too are a bit of a puzzle to figure out. Not only do you need to discover the items, but you also have to transport them to the shortcut locations. These shortcuts are blasts of air to give you additional lifts, and do their job of making traveling a bit faster. They are very useful early on, but as delivers become more complex, they can be the key to Mika's success.
Deliveries:
Once you are familiar with the island, the core gameplay is the delivery system. Mika will be given a set of delivers she must complete within a day, and it is the player's job to ensure she's able to do just that. Initial brooms can only hold one or two packages at a time, but later brooms allow Mika to carry more items at once. The thing is all items picked up, including shortcut items, count as deliveries, so these extra spots are eventually needed. No matter how many items she can hold at once however, her job remains the same; Mika must deliver the package in one piece.
When given a package, Greff (or whoever else gives it to you) will state the requirements. Items like Ice Cream will melt in 40 or so seconds, so Mika has to deliver it as fast as possible. Paper items do not do well in water, so Mika must not fly above water when delivering them. While this is pretty easy to do early on, eventually deliveries will ask you to take said items to a water filled location, and it becomes a challenge to actually do so. Usually these deliveries will require making use of gusts of wind, but sometimes it requires a bit more creativity. Thankfully there is always a way to complete Mika's goal, but it takes some thought from the player.
Besides timed requirements and avoiding water, packages also have set durability. They can be damaged by crashing Mika into walls or other objects, or by dropping them. One area of the island actually has strong gusts of winds that force you across it, so this becomes a "danger" area of sorts as well. Damaged packages will give you a lower delivery rating, while perfect packages will give you a higher one. It's required to get so many "perfect" deliveries to advance on with the story, but thankfully deliveries can be restarted if you fail. It's true the game can be a bit challenging with the requirements, but it is also never unfair and gives you plenty of chances to redeem yourself.
Standard deliveries aren't the only type Mika will have to contest with, as the game does like to change things up from time to time. Early on the game teaches you how to collect fish in a fish bowl, and later on the same technique can be used to do things like, say, put out fires. These types of deliveries are more involved than simply picking up an item and taking it somewhere, and they help keep the gameplay fresh. Just when you think you're about to repeat the same thing over again, the game throws in a curve-ball to throw you off. It helps keep things interesting, and keeps you from fully settling into a pattern... But even this isn't the only surprise the game has in store.
Side Deliveries:
Greff makes it clear to Mika that only official deliveries will go towards her salary, but Mika being a nice person wants to do more to help. Side Deliveries are hidden throughout the island, and mostly come in the form of some sort of missing object. Typically the item found will give you a hint on who it belongs to, but other times it is a bit more cryptic. For example, there's one item that clearly belongs in one location, yet who you drop it off at is actually located elsewhere. This means you have to explore to find the true answer to these deliveries, and it also relies on your knowledge of the island and the characters living on it.
Other Side Deliveries include fully hidden ones which are unlocked by entering in passwords at the mailbox in town. These deliveries need to be unlocked first by finding the code, and then you need to figure out where they need to be delivered to. It adds a bit more challenge to the game, but like all of the Side Deliveries, they are not required to beat the main story.
A Short yet Fun Journey:
Mika and The Witch's Mountain is a very short game. A single playthrough while completing most of the Side Deliveries clocked in around 6 hours. During that time however I got used to exploring the island, discovered many hidden secrets, and simply had a fun time. There were a few hang-ups here and there where the goal wasn't completely clear, but most of the time all I had to do is open up the map to see where I needed to go next. The controls take a bit to get used to at first, but once you master flying on your broom, and using the abilities unlocked later on, it's not as bad as it might seem. The most confusing part was convincing myself not to hit the "drop item" button, which sent my Side Deliveries plummeting to the Earth. Other than that, the controls eventually clicked with me and felt nice and smooth.
Gameplay wise, there was simply something addicting about dropping items off person to person. Flying across the island was fun, and I enjoyed seeing the character's reactions to the items being delivered. I enjoyed learning about who these characters are, and the overall cozy feel the game has going for it. The cell shaded graphics are really nice, and the overall presentation and sound design gave me The Legend of Zelda Wind Waker vibes. There was something just comforting about the whole experience, and it was a little sad when I finished the story. Thankfully beating the game isn't actually the "end," as there are plenty of hidden items to find across the island, costumes to unlock, and new Side Deliveries to take on for post game. Because of this, Mika and The Witch's Mountain is a game that I, as well as everyone else who plays it, can return to whenever the mood strikes me, and there will still be plenty to do. The game also has planned future content updates, so this truly isn't the end.
With all of that being said, the game isn't perfect by any means, but it's issues did not stop my enjoyment. Playing on Steam brought me about five crashes during my playtime, but thankfully the auto save system prevented me from loosing too much progress. The most annoying crash was when I was carrying three Side Delivery items with me, and when I was forced to reload I no longer had them. I had to recall where I found each one, re-pick them up, and then complete my original quest. These are issues that can be solved with future updates however, and it's not something that will happen to everyone. The game is also one you could possibly burn yourself out on if you try to do everything in one go, but if you space the extra content and collectibles out, you'll find it a much more enjoyable experience.
Overall, this is a game that's perfect to jump in and out of whenever you feel the itch to return to it, and it's a fun and charming experience from start to finish. Again it's not a long game, but it also doesn't have to be. What matters most is that it is an enjoyable experience, and well worth it's lower price tag.
I personally recommend it, and those who are interested can Purchase the game today on Steam.
I also want to give a special thanks to the developers of the game Chibig for providing me with a review copy. I really appreciate it, and I'm really glad I got to experience it.
Disclosure: I received a free review copy of this product from https://www.keymailer.co
Post a Comment