New Super Lucky's Tale

NOTE: For a full retrospective, it is recommended that you go back to my 2017 version review to ascertain the full context. The discussion will judge the game by itself, unassumptuous of the history of Playful and its potential associates. Context: ㅤㅤA part of me wonders if they ever made the most of their freedom with the development of this game, because I thought there was more to talk about here than with the 2017 version if you had unveiled its layers as I did. ㅤㅤEven though my second time around had me remember what I had forgotten, I knew for a fact that I had a fond time my first time with the timed-exclusive Switch version around a few years ago. But after a second playthrough, I have started noticing some strange design choices and narrative directives… Gameplay: ㅤㅤI will keep it brief this time because discussions and praises were already made, and I want to save character space for the uncharted story aspects. All I ask is take my word for it. ㅤㅤThis is considered a faithful remake, more efficient, and removes most design choices plagued by VR-design leftovers, but it is still not flawless. For positives, most of what you do carries expressiveness and life in each world and level, no matter where you go. Each has unique visuals and assets not pertaining to normal gameplay, even some small animations like a modern passion indie. Difficulty for casuals and achievers decreased thanks to better controls and hitboxes. ㅤㅤThe costume system is a welcome feature, even if some costumes deviate a bit too much from Lucky’s default outfit. That is to say, there were still gripes with it… First off, where was Lucky’s new Guardian Order outfit? I get the ending does not do that either, but at least a Lyra outfit would have been an adequate effort, no? Playful had already made the hot dog joke in the 2017 version, so why not something cooler this time? And secondly, this is not a real “complete edition” because the "Spiffy Space Helmet" and the "Out-There Outerwear" pre-order exclusives from Switch’s timed exclusive version are absent. Normally, (most) other ports of old games with downloadable content are made available to all players, and there should be no excuse for its absence, even if it is nearly insignificant on par with the scope of the game. ㅤㅤAnother attention to detail that was strangely lacking was the bosses. Putting aside Lady Meow and Jinx, who do their jobs with distinctiveness, Mittens, Tess, and Buttons-Fluffinstuff’s boss fights relatively share the same layout besides having new attacks and a different code of paint. What is even stranger is that, being a genuine remake, I would have thought that the DLCs—Gilly Island and Foxington—in Super 2017 were to set expectations for what was going to be different. Actually, there was a domino effect for what is coming next. Story (my expertise!): ㅤㅤOkay, so this one will actually focus on this game’s prologue, as the normal and true endings and their lack of substance can go ♥♥♥♥ off until Playful makes another sequel, for it brings many new details and leaves out as many others, both in dialogues and visuals. So let us start with what HAPPENS… ㅤㅤFoxington was retconned to be a home now destroyed rather than a simple island, and then Jinx banishes unnamed Guardians shaped like canids and orbs across worlds which might have unofficially made him a mass murderer to some degree in this timeline. During this, we see a seemingly younger Lucky, a CH1P with shorter hair, an oddly youthful Anna Lyd, and The Kitty Litter's Mittens and Tess with odd chibi looks (oh, and Lady Meow is absent); all of this before the frame that corrects everyone’s designs onwards where Lyra apparently says that her Guardians “spent years” evading Jinx before everything that happened in Super 2017 repeats as before, now with a “Sigil” in hand and communication about Jinx’s powers is barely touched upon. ㅤㅤIt is worth noting that a dark golem mirage of Jinx appears throughout up until Hauntingham, and while the narrative takes no advantage of this, it is mildly irrelevant to the bigger issues as it already suggests Jinx’ weakened state inside the book and it is just there to tell us how Jinx feel about his “children”—apparently ignoring cat genetics logic because Buttons and Fluffins are TWINS and were “supposedly” the same size once—which is inconsistent with how Jinx is portrayed in the two special-feature promotional trailers to show how he feels towards them. ㅤㅤThe inconsistencies could not start any sooner than the prologue during your playthrough, but I will save the bombshell drop for later. Starting off, Lucky looking like an uncharacteristically scared pipsqueak makes it hard to digest how many “years” exactly passed to explain why not everyone looks the same throughout, with artstyle inconsistency complicating genuine visual cues. My theory is that Lucky could have been 5 years old to 8 years old, and that Jinx’s attack might have started in 2016, and Lucky’s adventure started in 2019. The visuals start to make more sense according to the “Significant Reference Date” trope when all other detective work fails by default. ㅤㅤThe bizarre nature of CH1P and the retconned Yeti adds to this conundrum, as they bring up a non-existent “Techtown” to explain CH1P’s origin instead of saying that he is an evolved version of the golems from Sky Castle even if it is more like a historical site for the Guardian Order despite only using the models from Foxington (good job), and the Yetis were changed from “Christmas-loving laidbacks with unmeasured might” to “peace-converted monks rekindling their wrestling spirit peacefully”. I would think the New Super’s story was about worlds that forsake their attached past until a drastic event rekindles them with reinterpretation (the golems being inspired to redevelop, wormals’ exposure to Tess’ technology, yetis finding love for wrestling again, etc.). However, this unfortunately does not feel consistent throughout the game. ㅤㅤIt would not be the worst thing in the world if not for the lack of information regarding these details, and players could only do so much to parse what is going on without consulting its unreliable FANDOM wiki. We get no kind of glossary system to explain away these glaring oversights, and instead we get these randomly-generated facts from Greg the Mailgolem that gives you hardly any time to read what the game apparently wants you to know about the rebooted world because they are locked behind loading screens that are quick to finish, and even then I have a lingering suspicion that the game does not tell you ALL possible random texts by the time you finish the game. And some of this information is locked away in missable dialogue as well if you do not practice backtracking for characters. ㅤㅤThe most damning thing about all of this is the supposed “faithful remake” direction overall. While New Super’s story was told through 2D cutscenes and perhaps some dialogue during actual gameplay, it just seems to repeat Super 2017’s story beats through its reimagined assets for a more dynamic system. While it IS true that there were significant changes, when you actually boil it down, it hardly deviates from what happens in the old version even for the new story’s sake anyway. That is why some aspects of the story seem forgettable at worst, and why there is this Illumination-Mario-esk oddity where we see a trepidatious Lucky in the 2D prologue rather than the carefree Lucky that we always know which the latter version is STILL in New Super and every other cutscenes that come after (big whoop). Verdict: ㅤㅤDespite the New Story’s surprisingly baffling shortcomings, it has absolutely no bearing on the gameplay (ironically), and people sang praise for it being Super '17, but 10x better. While it may not guarantee a lengthy or memorable time for even yours truly to adequately review, this game is most definitely a pleasant experience that you should get around to playing.

this game really reminded me of the good old days when platformers were still popular. the controls were very precise, lucky is a cute character to play as, and the levels weren't too difficult—they were more on the casual side. i highly recommend it!