Gura Quest for Bread is, as far as I'm aware, the first proper Hololive 3D platformer here on Steam, and while it is quite short, it tries to at least do the most out of it, even though it fails at times.
[h2] A charming first impression[/h2]
Easily my favorite are the graphics. Sure, they ain't much, but they exude a lot of charm and remind me of early fan art, making the characters so much more expressive while being very aware of the game's scale and doing the most out of it. It's very easy on the eyes, and it never felt like something was blending in.
Its story is also pretty well-written. Is it crazy? Nah, but it captures the spirit and dynamic real good. The writing does a good job at including references to other things, ensuring that even if you don't know these Vtubers, you can at least understand the meaning without it being just "Hey, reference."
[h2] Short, but barely sweet[/h2]
The moveset and platforming themselves are good enough too.
You got your double jump, a roll, a dive, and most important of all, a homing attack.
The last one will be used very often, and in combination with the dash, the game at times can get a bit speedier, especially during the end of the game.
Of course, the level design needs to make use of your abilities, and this is already where I find some problems. Mori's and the final level show off well enough what the platforming can be at a tutorial and slightly more difficult level, though the middle part is where it kinda lost me. Kiara's island level may be the shortest, but it feels way too long anyway. A big issue is how platforming is barely a thing in this one and is painfully easy compared to the previous area. Gura's walking speed is also just too slow to not make it feel like a slog.
This unfortunately leads to this game not using its limited time well. 2 hours, to me, is plenty enough to make a good impression as long as you use them well, and with the middle part struggling, it felt really awkward to learn that the area right after is the finale. It was too easy and too lacking in its level design, leading to it not really elevating the difficulty for the finale to make it feel like one. If the game were any longer, this would've been absolutely fine, but due to how short it is, it sticks out like a sore thumb.
[h2] Enemies are no match to the might of the Y-axis[/h2]
Bosses got the same issue as well. Mori and the final boss are well-designed and have multiple phases that elevate the gameplay, while the middle boss has nothing to really make it memorable or interesting gimmick-wise.
To fight a boss, there must be some sort of combat, and yes, there is actually proper fighting in this game.
Gura uses her trident, a default combo, homing attack, and a sort of strong shark attack you need to fill a bar for. There's even a different attack you do if you exit a roll.
However, the AI of most enemies is too dumb to fully make use of it. The roll is very inconsistent, and it's way easier to jump and or dive instead, since most foes don't do vertical attacks. Sure, I could use the roll to feel more challenged, but it's significantly worse in most scenarios. Bosses are the exception here, and especially the final one shows how the combat itself can be good if used right.
[h2] Incosistencies, polish and other issues [/h2]
The camera itself can be good, but when targeting an enemy, it can mess up your controls. The second boss, the drill one, had me dive right into a bunch of bombs multiple times simply because the camera kept messing up my directions when the boss flies over the arena.
There's also a section where Bubba is a gimmick and you roll him around. This would be good, but when you mount him, the camera defaults to the last direction you looked at before doing so, meaning you constantly fight with the camera over what you can see.
While I did say the graphics were good, the presentation is still far from great. A lot of key moments are missing sound effects, which makes it very odd why some moments got sound effects, whereas others don't.
This lack of consistency is also present with its collision. Some decoration elements do have it; some don't. This can be fine when it's something like grass, but then you've got two plants that look like they could have the same box, but you can walk through one, while you can't through the other.
Two issues I can't really look past though are the lag and a missing option.
Every time the game does something absolutely new, like a certain attack or a new object, the game freezes for a sec.
There's also no restart or restart from checkpoint button for normal moments. So when I got softlocked due to the chickens' bad AI, I had to reload the game, which is fine, but still, why is there no regular restart button in the pause menu?
[h2] Overall, Gawr Gura Quest for Bread is...[/h2]
...a neat game. I admit, I do cut it some slack for 3D being much harder to pull off, but I do think for a 2-hour game it doesn't use its limited time as well as it could have. 6/10
