The title of this game sent me into a delusional contemplation of some sort of hybrid between Frogger and Peggle, which seems about as appealing as the monkey frogs from Beerfest.
Luckily, I got no such thing.
The first thing I noticed about Froggle was just how charming the game is, aesthetically and otherwise. That really is the word for it. It has lots of charm. From attention to detail to button tutorial signs that are actually interwoven into the narrative to references to Frogger to just the cute aesthetic of a little frog dealing with the tedium of daily life...except he's a frog. It's flippin adorable!
I will say that for all its charm, the game isn't really exceptionally put together. Within the first minute of having control over my character, I managed to get stuck under a bench, unable to move. Thankfully, I was able to complete the task at hand nonetheless, but still, it's worth noting that it doesn't take a whole lot of effort to break this game, especially considering pressing "enter" can make the game crash, even though there are multiple times in which the game tells you to press enter! Like...what?
okay, I can shake that one off. Let me get focused here...okay. Let's talk about the mechanics...
Here's the best way to describe this game in my opinion: take Just Cause 2, strip it of every element except the grappling hook, design the entire game around the grappling hook, make the grappling hook about a million times more volatile, and make the game about frogs.
All things considered, the mechanics actually hold up extraordinarily well. The frog-tongue grappling hook makes moving around the (very well designed) overworld quite enjoyable. Yes, controlling the tongue can get a bit difficult at times, but it never got frustrating. I think this is mainly due to the fact that you can keep your tongue outstretched while still moving around to find a suitable surface while in midair. While not the most realistic design choice, it certainly keeps the game from getting frustrating. The main mechanic is simple and explored to the fullest without getting repetitive. That is the hallmark of a well designed game.
The narrative is the glue that holds it all together. It's a simple tale of frustration at the DMV...er...I mean DFL...from the accounts of both the employee and the victim...er...I mean, customer. Even though this story hits a bit close to home for a 17 year old who just failed his road test because the ignoramus in the passenger seat doesn't know that you have to be in the left lane before you make a left hand turn I mean seriously what is this world coming to whenwehaveapublicdepartmentwherethepeoplewhoworkthereHAVENOIDEAWHATTHEY'REDOINGAND
*cough*...sorry about that...
Nevertheless, the story is, at the risk of severely overusing this word, charming. Between it, the fun and intuitive mechanics and the pleasing visual style, this game seems to be in perfect shape to earn my seal of approval
...until...
Remember earlier in this review how I said the game crashes easily? Good. Now, remember a good long time ago when this blog was just getting started and I would constantly complain about games lacking save features?
Well, guess who's back!
Froggle isn't a very long game, and can be blown through in less than an hour, so I normally wouldn't mind that it doesn't have a save feature. The narrative length and style is somewhat similar, after all, to Starfox 64, one of my favorite games of all time. The difference is that Starfox 64 doesn't crash...ever. Froggle crashed within the first 15 minutes of my playthrough. That caused me to unjustly lose not quite enough progress to justify ragequitting, but just enough to make my experience tedious and frustrating. Fix your game so that it doesn't crash or put in a damn save feature, dammit!
*sigh* okay...I've gotten quite worked up this time around, haven't I? Well, before I sign off, I should talk about the bonus games. Froggle Soccer is a fun little variation of gameplay mechanics that would require you to think strategically about how to use them to your advantage if the game wasn't easily broken by standing in the goalpost and licking all the balls that come your way...don't think too much about what I just said.
Seedler Soccer, the other bonus game, is essentially a 2.5D version of Slime Soccer, which has brought me a good amount of amusement as well as boredom from being sent to detention for playing it during school hours...It's a solely 2-player experience, which is good because now I have another way to amuse both myself and a friend during debate tournaments when I have my computer on me but lack internet. The physics are a bit off in this bonus game, but I still had fun with it and it's not even part of the main game, so no harm done.
Alright, that's all for now. Until next time, stay swingin'
Links
Long tongue, long review: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=1502
