A masterclass in action design, Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo delivers an unforgettable experience from start to finish.
96
Verdict
99%
Steam
92
IGDB
Verdict score based on confidence-adjusted Steam reviews?
Overwhelmingly Positive on Steam (99% positive from 1.5K reviews)
Critically acclaimed (92/100 critic average)
Compelling narrative and story
Rich open world to explore
No significant drawbacks reported
Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo is a 2025 platform-adventure game developed by Pocket Trap and published by PM Studios. It was released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S in May. The player takes on the role of Pippit, a member of the powerful Pipistrello family. After his aunt faces an attack by business rivals of the family, her soul is fragmented and trapped in mega-batteries to be used by their businesses. Pippit sets out with the last fragment in a cursed yoyo to recover the mega-batteries and reassemble her soul. The gameplay is reminiscent of Game Boy Advance games, notably from The Legend of Zelda.
Runs well on modern hardware.
Last updated 1d ago
I actually like this game, but it seriously fatigued me the longer I played. My biggest problem is that the world is simply too big and the game often does a poor job telling you where to go. Objectives are sometimes only explained through dialogue, and afterward you can easily end up wandering around a huge map trying to figure out the correct path. One section had me searching for a way into a construction site, only to eventually discover that I had to travel all the way to another corner of the map, talk to an NPC, enter the sewers, and come up somewhere else just to continue. Moments like this happen too often and make progression unnecessarily confusing. The gameplay also starts becoming repetitive: enter a room, fight enemies, solve a puzzle, fight more enemies, do some platforming, and repeat. There is also too much backtracking and collectible hunting, like needing more and more heart pieces just for a single health upgrade. Platforming can become frustrating when failing sends you several screens back, and the upgrade system can be annoying because taking an upgrade puts you into debt and temporarily weakens things like your health or damage until you repay it. As the game continues, enemies and challenges keep piling up, and instead of feeling like I was making progress, I started feeling exhausted. I genuinely like game, but I think it would have been a much better experience with a smaller world, clearer objectives, less backtracking, and a more focused, linear structure.
yoyo mechanics are unique, puzzles are fun, combat is dull, style is weird.
Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo is an absolutely amazing throwback to the adventure games you’d find on the GameBoy Advance. You play as Pippit, a yoyo enthusiast and nephew to an infamous energy tycoon, who is thrust into adventure after his aunt’s soul is stolen and split between four business rivals. The story is fun, with well written characters and just the right mix of comedy and anti-capitalism, but the gameplay is truly where this game shines. Every move and ability you acquire is based on your yoyo, giving the game a strong central theme to all that you do. The yoyo is your primary weapon, puzzle solving implement, and traversal tool. Combat feels right at home on the GBA, for better or worse, but the ability to ricochet your yoyo off angled surfaces add some welcome complexity to the frenetic battles. The puzzles hit a nice medium between accessible and challenging, giving you a sense of accomplishment for solving them without requiring excessive trial-and-error or pin-point accuracy. And, just like the GBA greats it emulates, there’s plenty of extra content, bonus challenges, and secret areas to find on your own. Exploration is heavily rewarded, so if you wish to head off the beaten path you can expect to find something worth your while. Combine all this with a fantastic and colourful pixel art style, and a terrific and catchy soundtrack, you have an amazing package that succeeds as a throw back to handheld gaming of old, as well as standing on its own as a fantastic gaming experience. And that’s not even getting into stuff like its unique upgrade system, where you go into temporary debt in order to progress down the skill tree, or the extensive badge system for equipping passive perks. Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo is terrific, and you should absolutely play it if you enjoy quality top-down adventures where exploration is both encouraged and rewarded.
Reviews sourced from Steam. All reviews belong to their respective authors.
Data sourced from RAWG, Steam, IGDB, CheapShark, Wikipedia, HLTB, and GX Corner. Sources: rawg, steam, cheapshark, igdb, wikipedia.
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