Costume Quest

in library

4/5

( 59 Reviews )

59 Reviews

English & 4 more

Posted on: July 13, 2019

chlop

Verified owner

Games: 2575 Reviews: 106

A DoubleFine game

Costume Quest is exactly like every other DoubleFine production - it's a very visually appealing game with an interesting idea behind it, but with a serious lack of effort put into its gameplay. The story behind the game is that your sibling is kidnapped during Halloween, and you're tasked with getting him or her back, while still collecting candy from the houses in your neighborhood. But once you get past your neighborhood, you get to do the exact same things again, only in a different location. Finishing the second location, you get to do the exact same things in a third location as well. There are collectibles and some RPG elements, but they all seem tacked on, and don't add much to the game. It seems that this game's shtick is that you can collect costumes, with each costume giving you different fighting abilities for when you encounter a monster. Sadly, despite this ability, fights are extremely repetitive, and are as exciting as watching paint dry. You're stuck hitting the monsters with your weaker attacks until your stronger attack gets charged and can be used to inflict slightly more damage than usual. The only strategy needed is to attack the monster with the lowest HP to get rid of it quickly, and face less enemies, or attack the monster able to heal the other monsters around it. You can use the candy you collect to buy badges that add extra traits or abilities to your character, but they only offer general explanations as to what they do, so you never know which ones are the best to use. Frankly, for most of the fights, it doesn't matter which ones you use, especially considering that once you lose a fight you can restart it over and over again, until you win. You also level up, but without much effort on your part. Some costumes have abilities you can use outside of fights, but only a handful, and there are only a few instances in which you'll need to use them. It won't be rewarding, since you'll be pretty much forced to use them at those points.

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Posted on: December 28, 2016

narr

Verified owner

Games: 266 Reviews: 11

Charming and nothing more.

The only thing this game has really going for it is that it is charming. The core mechanic, the turn-based battles are repetitive and boring. You quickly find a combination of costumes and 'battle stamps' (items that can boost your characters stats or let you stun enemies etc.) that works well and from there on there is no incentive to ever change them again. There is no variation in the fights that matters and the quick time events that let your attacks hit harder or parry enemy attacks just grows extremly boring. After finishing the original campaign I didn't have the motivation to try the included DLC - but as far as I know it doesn't change the turn based battles, so I wouldn't expect it to be any more fun.

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Posted on: November 13, 2012

predcon

Games: 451 Reviews: 6

Short and sweet, with a creamy filling.

Costume Quest (not to be confused with 'Costume Party' by Hamumu) is a bit like an Active Time Battle version of games like Kid Chameleon or HEDZ. Different costumes give different powers, strengths and weaknesses. These costumes also have special 'overworld' abilities. For example, the Robot costume allows for speedy travel and use of ramp jumps via 'rocket skates', and the Spaceman costume allows for traversing dark areas through the use of the costume's toy light saber. Some costumes are given to the player during the course of the plot, and others are assembled from pieces collected during sidequests, or from candy trades with other kids. You can also collect stickers and 'equip' them for added abilities. Battles, as I said, are turn-based using a system similar to Square's ATB. A player's turn in battle is based on the character's speed, oft determined by the costume worn. The efficacy of attacks and blocks is determined by your ability to press the action button at just the right moment, with 'Perfect' hits being critical hits, and so on. The environments are typical of a suburban Halloween night. You start in a regular neighborhood, and progress through the town's mall where some concerned adults are hosting an 'indoor' trick-or-treating experience to keep kids safe and off the streets. Later on you'll enter the dimension of Repugia, a land populated by goblins who are enjoying their own festivities, replete with carnival rides and games. It's a game with all the charm you might expect from Tim Schafer, and then some.

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Posted on: December 6, 2014

ValderisVandala

Verified owner

Games: 1402 Reviews: 114

Great idea, poor execution.

Costume Quest is basically South Park The Stuck of Truth, only not as coherently written, or as funny, the combat is annoying and repetitive, the environments are poorly constructed, etc. A real shame to, I like the idea behind costume quest a lot better. Combat is very frustrating. It is identical to South Park's combat, with a single exception, the button you have to push in order to have your attack and blocks work well changes with every use. It's bad enough that you have to time these things, but to also have to do it with the right button out of 4 that keeps changing is just so annoying. Plus the encounters are very repetitive, and don't make any sense within even the game's story anyway. But it doesn't matter, about 90% of this game is walking around on a map filled with obstructions and shit that gets in the way of your view, with poor controls hitting garbage for candy. Every time you hit something you get like 2 candy, the cheapest item for sale was something like 150 candy, you get the idea. Not that doing any of this is rewarding or useful. The story also makes no sense as far as I can tell. Apparently kids just have the power to transform into super-powered creatures in this world, and nobody seems to care, its not really interesting or engaging. There isn't much content in this game, very few costume chooses that all need to be unlocked, there is some useless shit to find and a mini-game you can play. Its all just not that good, plus South Park does everything this game does and does it better. A real shame, I love the idea of a game where kids can put on costumes and change into monsters on Halloween night to fight and have a grand ol' time, but this just doesn't work and isn't any fun.

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Posted on: October 20, 2019

j0ekerr

Verified owner

Games: 493 Reviews: 10

Charming story, dull gameplay.

Let me start that I love Halloween and everything around it, I find it almost unbearabaly cute and charming. So when I saw this Halloween centered game, all I could say was; 'sign me up!' The game oozes charm everywhere, from its simplistic but colourful graphics and design, to its story and characters. However that's where the good things end. The gameplay itself is boring and repetitive. This game was made during the heydayof Quick Time Events, and it shows. The combat mechanics are tedious, without strategy or enemy variance and just a mindless repetition of QTEs. There is a very slight tactical aspect, involving when to use your super-move or what stamps to use on each character to get a bonus effect, but overall, it is not enough to offset the tedium from the mind-numbing QTE-filled fights. It's a shame really that the fights are so dull, a simple pokemon-like combat system could have gone a long way towards giving this game's combat the depth it lacks. As a side note, the combat system resembles a dumbed down mobile gacha game to an uncanny deegree. In fact the potential for monetization via gacha mechanics is so obvious it hurts, but I diggress. Its short length is a blessing rather than a curse. The XP grind is a chore, but the drip-feeding of new costumes and objectives helped give a sense of progression. Meaning that it doesn't overstay its welcome. Would I still recommend it? Yes, its cuteness and charm alone are reasons enough to play it, but wait for a sale. Outside of it, I can't in good conscience recommend it.

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