I’m about to say it. Wait for it…oozing with charm. There, I said it, and it’s a phrase that seems to be commonly used in regards to most of the recent Xbox Live Arcade releases. Double Fine’s foray into the world of XBLA, Costume Quest is no exception to the phrase. The Halloween-themed title follows a brother and sister duo, Reynold and Wren, as they venture into their neighborhood on Halloween in search of a heap of candy. Unbeknownst to the squabbling pair, one of them is about to be mistaken for a piece of candy by a group of goblins. Whichever sibling you decide to take the role of, is tasked with building costumes in an effort to save the other to avoid a severe grounding by their mom ‘n pop. The various costumes such as a robot, knight, pumpkin and a variety of others can be used in and outside of combat as a means of progression. The robot suit can be used to jump off of ramps to normally inaccessible areas which in turn can lead to finding blueprints or components of a new costume. Since the game is an overly simple turn-based RPG, each costume will give you different attacks and a super power within combat. The gameplay within combat consists of attacking or aiding your party, using simple, well-timed button presses to maximize the impact of your actions. It’s far from deep, and slowly becomes a bit repetitious over the course of the 5-hour romp, but every battle is over almost as quickly as it began straying away from becoming a nuisance. The only real strategy involved is which costumes your party has equipped, whether all are offensive costumes or a mix of offense and defense.
You can equip each character with the collectable Battle Stamps, which will impart a boost in some aspect during battle. Back to the oozing part, while Costume Quest isn’t the deepest RPG you’ll ever play, it contains a great deal of charm, especially with the kids and their costume transformations at the beginning of each battle. The unique environments, of which there are only a few, are filled with fantastic character design and a heap of witty dialogue. As always, Double Fine has created a little world that is exceptionally designed. The only downer is the lack of voiced dialogue, but it brings back memories RPG classics. During my playthrough as Reynold, I couldn’t help but find enjoyment out of such a simple and utterly charming game. It doesn’t have outlandish guns and dismemberment, but it wields cuteness by the boatloads. Sure, there are a plenty of issues seeded throughout the game especially with a lack of depth, but reliving Halloween and hunting for the game’s currency, candy drained any negativity seeded in my thoughts. While Costume Quest isn’t Psychonauts, it certainly has some of same elements that made Psychonauts such a great experience. If you need a distraction from all the testosterone currently being pumped out in disc form, Costume Quest’s charm will make you wish you were hitting the streets in your snazziest cardboard-robot costume come the 31st.
