Little Misfortune

I have seen a lot of people online saying how they liked Fran Bow but didn’t like Little Misfortune due to the lack of puzzles. I can understand that because I have the opposite reaction for the same reasons. Fran Bow was a puzzle game that had a fantastic narrative while Little Misfortune is just a narrative game without the puzzles. I disliked the puzzles in Fran Bow so Little Misfortune was basically giving me what I enjoyed from Fran Bow and leaving out what I didn’t. The art style is great and carries onto the credits which is a unique one. The voice acting is fantastic. Both Misfortune and The Voice. There are moments which are sad, funny and in between and they nail all of them. Misfortune has a interesting accent and way of speaking which is a mix of child and adult. There are a lot of points which are pretty macabre, to the point where I surprised the developers took it as far as they did but was glad they did. The nightclub full of hamsters comes to mind. I don’t think the game would have grabbed a hold of me the way it did if they had of held back. The music was also very interesting as it made me think of an Eastern European disco and a cyberpunk synth type of vibe. There isn’t much in terms of “game play” here. Most of the game is you making choices and interacting with the environment to proceed. I don’t say this as a slight against the game because the story was great. Had the story been bad then the game would have fallen apart because there was nothing else to hold it together but luckily it was good. In regards to choices when The Voice says that there are no good or bad choices, just consequences, they mean it, the Voice will find a way to turn your choice bad regardless and I have to say that was a sadly realistic take on things from the developers. I was left with some questions such as just how Morgo was defeated; who was responsible for what happened to Misfortune; but overall enjoyed myself.

The game was so linear that it would of be fine if it was only a video. Replay value feels like a slogg since the other choices barely left an impact. I was hoping the game would more charm and humor, but I only chuckled a few times. Expect to play only for 2 - 3 hrs.

Going into this game, I heard that it was a dark comedy game. I suppose that some people with gallows humor will find this to be a laugh riot, and don't get me wrong, I thought some parts were really funny! My point is that this game ended up way more than a comedy game. If you're looking for a comedy game, you'll probably like Little Misfortune, but it will also pull at your heartstrings easily just as often. I'm 100% blown away with this deeply emotional, but also silly oddball of a game. P.S. My playtime ended up about 3 hours after I did a leisurely stroll through the game clicking on everything. Felt very worth the price though.

If you ever played Fran Bow you might be disappointed with this game. It feels like a prequel rather than sequel to it's previous game compared to many concepts that are present in this game. This game had a potential but lacked in executing the same. I understand that it's light heart'ed but looking at previous game they should be careful with it's execution since bar and expectation might be higher than originally anticipated. If you never played Fran Bow before, it's perfectly fine to play this first and Fran Bow afterwards. Whichever you prefer you should know that game mechanics are completely different, flow of the game, story explanation, clues and overall pace of the game. Some idea parts cross connect but other than that they are completely different games. This game standing alone on it's own gets 5 star from me, but compared to previous game it would be unfair from me to give lover rating other than to advise to properly manage game expectations .

While Little Misfortune is short and limited in gameplay, it has plenty of funny moments that make it worth playing. It is very charming and, at times, incredibly sinister. Kind of like my childhood.