Wuppo 

 Can you name a game for which you fell in love at first sight? For  astonishing artwork, for touching melody or for engaging gameplay? Developed by Dutch indie developer Knuist & Perzik and published by Soedesco, in Wuppo you play as an exiled wun in his search for a new home. You’ll make new friends, discover strange creatures and engage in many battles while exploring the world and unfolding more about its history. Discover more about this magical game in our review.

THE GOOD

• Your adventure in Wuppo starts when our wun, Scallywag, for the 100th time, spills ice-cream on the floor of the building where he lives, the Wunhouse. The manager of the place, having told us to be careful not to do that gets angry and, helped by guys from security, toss Scallywag from the window, exiling him from the Wunhouse forever! Now we must find him a new place to live, while exploring the world and learning more about the ancient conflict that’s molded it. Travel through the world, discover strange new races and go far beyond any wun has been before in his search for a new home.
• I cannot start this review about Wuppo without mentioning its artwork. At first sight, you may think it has been made by kids and it’s exactly in here that lies the beauty of Wuppo: colorful levels, cute enemies and characters that, although simple, have funny expressions according to what’s going on. It’s amusing, it’s lovely and can be enjoyed by players of all ages.
• Music in Wuppo is a show apart: the game has an orchestrated soundtrack like few I’ve heard before in a game. It’s a work I’m sure even Nobuo Uematsu-san, composer from many Final Fantasy games, would be happy to hear. It transmits the perfect feeling for every stage that you play. Be it a cheap chat between characters in an elevator or a battle against a boss, the music is spot on for every moment. Sound effects are also great and help build the great atmosphere for the game!
• Wuppo is a metroidvania like game: you must explore the world, looking for characters and items that will grant you access to new areas. You will visit cities, forests, caves, ruins and many magical places in search for key items or attending tasks for NPCs during your gameplay. You can buy new items and weapons or upgrade old ones to aid you in battles against challenging bosses. Weapons include a gun that shoots paint on enemies and a water bucket for your Wun to spit on enemies, something totally not harmful for your kids. And talking about bosses…
• Bosses in Wuppo are really challenging (depending on what difficulty level you’re playing) and are eager to put your skills to test! Try to understand the attack and movement patterns of bosses and you’ll succeed in your battles. After finishing the game, you unlock the Boss Run mode, in which you can fight against all bosses from the game in one place. Can you beat’em all at once?

MIXED FEELINGS

• Even though metroidvania games are all about exploring and finding the right key, weapon or ability to proceed, in Wuppo I found myself wandering with no clue where to go often. The game offers a tip of what to do next, but how and where to do it is all up to you. Maybe the younger gamers will have some trouble with it.

THE BAD

• Sometimes when I got knocked down, the game insisted in respawning me in a checkpoint that was more distant than the last save point (or bucket) I used. I couldn’t understand why and opted to load my last save instead of using the checkpoint in these cases.
• My only real complain about the game is how we change our equipment and manage our inventory, especially in the heat of the battle. The game offers 6 shortcut buttons (d-pad, X and Y), but most of the times, I couldn’t change the items unless I was still. And to be still in a boss battle is something you don’t want or won’t have an opportunity to be in.

Magical! That’s how I’ll define our adventure in Wuppo. Knuist & Perzik did an awesome job creating a world that could easily figure in a Walt Disney’s cartoon, to be fearless enjoyed by kids to adults. Its music and artwork will really suck you into this adventure that looks simple, but will be deeper than you could expect. Those who enjoy the exploration of metroidvania games will have a great time with our little friend. Grab a copy as soon as you can. I promise you’ll fall in love for this little jewel!

Dev: Knuist & Perzik Publisher: SOEDESCO Played on: Xbox One LifeisXbox received a digital review code, provided by SOEDESCO.