Playstation 4 Review Code Provided by Finish Line Games.
Last month, I reviewed Modus Games’ boulder rolling extravaganza, Rock of Ages 3: Make & Break and had an absolute blast with it. When I saw that they were releasing another game that allows the player to roll around as a spherical object, I knew I had to be the one to try it. This game, developed by Finish Line Games, is a different take on how to roll yourself to the finish line. I can happily say after playing it, that I had a great time yet again, rollin’ around.
Story
The story starts as a nameless skull washes up on an unknown island. A deity named Terry finds this skull and decides to bring it back to life using his magic clay. Once back to “life”, Terry decides to name you Skully, and explains the predicament he is in. He and his three siblings are fighting over an ancient power that can be used to change the world. As he and his family are now quarreling, the island has been thrown into disarray. From there you and he take leave to find each of his siblings and try to bring balance back to the island.
The story is done with a lot of attention to family dynamics, and how we deal with the relationships we have with our loved ones. Although these characters are all deities, they still manage to keep the overall themes humanized and it became very relatable. All of the characters have clear motivations, and arcs that come to a close by the end of the tale.
Gameplay
The game has various different gameplay types to allow an ever-changing pace, which felt very well done as a whole. Mainly, you’ll be rolling around the island on little courses, avoiding obstacles and collecting yellow flowers to unlock concept art. These courses were my favorite as rolling Skully along them was fun to do, especially once I was used to managing his weight. It all culminated into what felt like an enjoyable juggling act as I tried to collect every pesky flower.
Each level has checkpoints at the beginning of the next stage of progression. The checkpoints are disguised as magic clay pits and will be your respawn point after you die. As you lose health playing as Skully, the inner clay part of him will start to deteriorate. These pits not only serve as a respawn or checkpoint but have a couple of other uses to them as well. You can heal Skully and add that missing clay back to his being after losing health. These are also the same places where you can take on some other forms to help in solving the puzzles ahead.
While rolling around courses plays a big part in the game, the levels actually have more than just one way they utilize problems for the player to overcome. Half of the time, you’ll take different forms for Skully to inhabit in order to get past the bigger obstacles ahead. There are three forms for him to take, each with a few different powers that can be used at your disposal to get through the levels. As you progress through the game, these forms will be granted new powers with new components added to the puzzles to pass through.
When taking these forms, you’ll be able to place them wherever you’d like them and pull Skully out of them. This is integral to the puzzles at times, as you may need the powers of multiple forms to pull it off correctly. The developers allow you to have up to three of these characters created at any given time. When you’re finished with them, you can end their existence at the nearest tar pit. When bringing them to life, it’s important to think through which three you need in that instant. There were so many times I had forgotten to get rid of one of them to fill a spot, which led me to start it over because of my oversight.
A really great thing that the developers did was the choice to have the levels evolve as you play them. What I mean is that a level could start with a rolling segment, and then change to a more platforming heavy sequence with puzzle-solving elements. It had a nice amount of difficulty to its levels, that really made me stop and think about how it could be done. Every level is a mixed bag and in fact, puzzles can be solved with more than one specific approach. Many times I said to myself, “I know they want me to do this, but I wonder what would happen if I tried this instead” and arrive at an outcome that made me feel accomplished.
Visuals
The developers did a great job artistically with its visuals, as even though the graphics themselves weren’t groundbreaking, they felt right for what was trying to be done. Character models are done well on most, but the ones that stuck out were Skully and his many forms. As they’re made with clay, they all had this sticky and wet finish to them.
Each area that you get to navigate around, have different elemental aspects which match the powers of the sibling we meet at the end of them. It helped establish a connection to the deity before getting to meet them in their grand entrance. Most of the cutscenes take place between the deities, and although aren’t fully animated, feel serviceable to show a coherent scene.
Audio
The sound design is done very well in all parts of the game, especially for actions. Skully makes a really nice clunking noise when hitting rock surfaces, and other background sounds do a pleasant job at creating a nice soundscape for the world. The music fits each of its locations, with tropical music being played when on beach located levels and more intense tracks being played when in magma filled ones. The voice actors did a great job in their roles, and Skully’s other forms each have their own grunts to distinguish them from each other.
Replayability
The factor of picking up the game again after finishing it comes down to your enjoyment of it. The only real reason to play it again would be if you missed the collectible flowers that unlock concept art. Besides that, I don’t personally see a big reason someone returns to it once beaten.
What Could’ve Been Done Better
As far as my issues go with the game, there aren’t many that impacted my experience in the long run. There was an instance towards the beginning of the game where the audio disappeared during a character talking, but that never happened again. I believe there could’ve been a bigger variety of enemies, as there are only two in the game. This would help in making some of the more empty spots of levels a little harder. There are some puzzles that require you to use multiple Skully forms to complete them, and I feel like those could’ve been sprinkled in more as well, making them more complex. Instead of just unlocking concept art, it would’ve been cool to be able to possibly change Skully’s appearance a bit.
Verdict
Skully’s unique approach to puzzle-solving manages to keep the experience fresh from level to level. I appreciated the amount of freedom the game allowed when solving the puzzles it threw at me. The game fills a void for people that enjoy platforming games and physics-based games by joining them together. I’m very happy that I was able to play it, as the final product surpassed my expectations.
