Endacopia

Just straight-up one of the best point-and-click games ever made. Andy must've internalized everything people complain about with these games, because everything reacts to you and there's always multiple apparent threads to follow that are very clearly signalled after poking around enough (and it makes sure you have to poke around). Much like with the ENA game, I don't know Andyland's work outside of Picayune Dreams (which is so unlike this, it's crazy). I ain't here to be his wrestling promoter. We're running a puff-piece of straight-up passion here, folks. Will say I'm a fan off the sheer quantity of gags, character and detail packed into every screen. It feels like there's endless charming little snippets that'd be hard to document. New NPCs'll just appear out of nowhere after cycling rooms enough. Having just made a game, I find the quantity and breadth of work he puts into the minutiae incredibly impressive. This is what a cohesive, realized, multimedia vision looks like, and a perfect example of why I love this medium as an art form. Also captures the feeling of a playable YouTube Animation way more than the mixed bag of clear strengths and weaknesses in different forms that something like the unity-ness of ENA had. Lot of competence on display. Definitely most apparently inspired by Moon in how it's laid out and the layered idiosyncrasy. Love me any Love-de-Lic-inspired indie game (I'm thinkin' Great God Grove, 24 Killers, Before the Green Moon) each of which fill out the legacy of their predecessor through unique genre fusions and how identity is bestowed to every bite of it. Leads to a lot of hitting and missing, but the sincerity in constantly trying to make the player laugh or shocked is still very charming. Still feels like a genre with a lot left to explore with, even with a few years of these types of games under my belt. More evergreen than the trends of PSX Horror and Platformer games, at least. Something understated and really cool is that there's so much potential for item interplay between the main three areas. However, it's not utilized to finish the game, as clearing an area, without telling you, wipes your inventory and locks it off. I mean, yeah sure, reason to do a second playthrough on top of the other endings. I'm just personally averse to replaying games that have you redo 90% of the content without change before it lets you do something different and rectify your lack of game knowledge. Maybe in horror or action games with emergent scenarios, but with a puzzle game, you kinda end up going through the motions again until you're back where you were, leaving with a watered-down taste in your mouth. I don't know. To each their own. I'd just recommend not fighting the area bosses 'til you've reached all three (which I'm sure the guides are already telling people to do). Only other critique (cus I guess I've regressed back to compliment-sandwich reviewing) is that I just don't get the fighting mode. Perhaps because I'm terrible at it and Mellow is all about Peace and Love, but getting blows or blocks to connect feels like a crapshoot that could've used more Punch-Out and less Wii Sports boxing. Lucky for haters like me, the game somehow let me get away with picking only 2 of the games alleged 15 (where???) fights, so I can't complain too much. Peanuts, however! Surprisingly fantastic music for how simple it is! Fantastic logic and pacing! Such a breadth of multi-media gags that something will charm you. Lot of comedic overlap with, like, Amazing Digital Circus for fans of that. You guys'll love the hot clown girl (but too bad, i already claimed her, she's mine!) Who else will lose their marbles at this... All the people who keep making Animal Crossing-style horror games will go feral! Yuppie Psycho fans will go bonkers! People who like all of LucasArt's ♥♥♥♥♥♥ games (except you, Mister Fandango, my honey boo darling) will go nuts! All the.... ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ games in the first half I mentioned... whatever! It's good! Feels like it'll be a big hitter in outsider indie spheres until it inevitably seeps into end-of-year YouTube lists about "The Best 10 Games of 2026 YOU HAVEN'T PLAYED". Get in ahead of the noise. This bangs.