NOTE: For a full retrospective, look at my New Super review—2019 or 2020, it does not really matter. Within this review, I disclaim to know Playful Studios, its members, nor its collaborators. This is from someone who enjoyed the series very much and with awareness that its quality should not be taken seriously unless certain aspects warrant it.
Context:
ㅤㅤIt just so happens that there was a Microsoft contract mandating a deadline for this game, which is how it ended up with the quality that it has, how it somehow feels more surreal than Lucky’s Tale VR in a bad way. The ambition found faintly could only bear fruit in Playful’s second go-around when not shackled by contracts.
ㅤㅤThis is my first time playing the 2017 version, as I have played the 2019 version on the timed-exclusive Switch version some years ago…without the pre-order bonus I get…lucky…with, unfortunately, but that will be discussed in the other review. My objective was to give a perspective on how I feel about these games after playing them and regaining my memories of the 2019 version, because I apparently only remember the most basic gameplay and story aspects.
Gameplay:
ㅤㅤ…Although its gameplay style makes that deadline seem more feasible, if a bit rough. As a game, despite what other people might say about it, it does an adequate job of controlling Lucky, if a bit funky. In fact, those who have played the 2016/2021 Rift/Oculus/SteamVR game as I have would feel right at home, more or less. There are no particular bugs or glitches when considering its state. Now, as an inherent design choice, playing a bogged-down version of the original VR game should not be so bad on paper, as it could have given us an ample snack of a game, all things considered.
ㅤㅤThe actual problem comes with the game’s exclusive achievements. In actuality, despite what people think, I welcome the challenge the achievements bring in a game that, at least in spirit, does not demand much from you. However, it neglects the controls’ lack of polish, making beating Lady Meowmalade and WrestleMania hitless (NOT merely deathless) a TRIAL, not to mention some of the unintentionally-malicious design found in the latter. Yet, Lady Meow, by design, is just as bad, if not worse. Also, from my experience, you could 100% this game in 15 hours (at least 10 if it were not for the flimsy controls and how levels punish your failures) if it were not for the atrocious “I’m a Completionist” achievement requiring you to collect 100k coins—which is kept in a tally without having to be on your person, thankfully—that inflates the playtime around two times that. Of course, some people who had sought out this game were expecting something more chill, so perhaps playing with controls that do not feel so fluid may obstruct their enjoyment easily anyway.
ㅤㅤWhile on the topic, there is something fun that I would want to discuss as part of the rare people who know this: Lucky has an air-tech with his tail swipes, which was nerfed in the New Super version. This functions kind of like how “Parkour Outfits” came to be in another game, Balan Wonderworld, in how you can use it to, at least in my case, stray from the beaten path or survive layed-out death pits. As an attack, it is absolutely sluggish against enemies despite being optimal for Round 4 of WrestleMania with the molten-boulder enemy that spawns a homing fireball IMMEDIATELY upon death and hits Lucky if you defeat it through stomping—that would be one of the infamous parts I was talking about before.
ㅤㅤI should get this out of the way before moving on, but this was not the bubbly and lively 2020 version, so even if you have not played it beforehand, the spoils from the gaming landscape could make the average gamer feel underwhelmed with the 2017 version in comparison. Although the level design should not be part of the problem, as I feel it was adequate enough even without the spectacle. If anything, I thought the Gilly Island and Foxington DLCs set the standard for what to expect in the 2019 Remake…for a time.
ㅤㅤAlso, this game is not particularly optimized, at least with the likes of me, despite what I heard otherwise. If you are struggling with playability from your computer more than the game, I strongly advise you to look for the NVIDIA Control Panel (or whatever similar application that runs this game on your part); go to “Manage 3D settings”, and then tweak the “Max Frame Rate” to 30 FPS at the Global Settings tab. Apparently, mine was set at 75 FPS by default, while my computer cannot handle some games at 60 FPS without chugging!
ㅤㅤIt is not as ass as some games in certain aspects that I have experienced in my youthful lifetime, but this is still a “special” kind of ass.
Audio:
ㅤㅤThis will be the only time I will talk about it in this retrospective.
ㅤㅤThe music in both versions sounded wonderful, although not masterpieces. What I would like to point out is how buggy it is on a couple of occasions. There was a level that I bugged out of its music, which I do not remember which one and how I did it. Then there is the clothes shop, which I think is supposed to have the same music playing from New Super, but I believe it was poorly implemented as it never played for me in all of the times I visited; I was only met with off-putting silence.
Story (my expertise!):
ㅤㅤAs much as I am embarrassed to admit that I only learned during writing mid-review that this was going to be the “Lucky’s Tale 2” in VR before Playful pivoted towards a home console release mid-development, this proved to me most useful in explaining the hands-off feel of the story and, despite the absence of Piggy, how it flows seamlessly as the sequel of the original Lucky’s Tale VR game of the first timeline before New Super...as a prelude for things to come.
ㅤㅤOff-rip, while the plot is nothing remarkable, Lyra crash-landing on a plane with a magical book when Lucky is just chilling, and fishing home alone seems like the appropriate “fate’s circumstance” of sending a boy into magical worlds that the evil Kitty Litter wants to conquer, only after he saved his pet Piggy in independence, while dismissing his strange absence from the story. This might suggest that Lucky might be older than he looks, but…God knows. This will make all sense in the New Super review when we get there. Before then, I should throw it out there that how they handled the Guardians in 2017 was interesting, even if we do not get to know much about them, through suggestions that they were evolutions of their species—aimless golems, redneck worms, and laidback yetis.
ㅤㅤWhile I can say the afterthought that were the Guardians is less severe when you take in the aforesaid details into consideration despite having to be interpreted by the player through some research, it does not excuse Lady Meowmalade’s awkwardly unfought status in the main game and the result of rushed-development guilt that is Gilly Island which has been all made nullified and redundant after the release of New Super Lucky’s Tale. It is not like the game ever elaborates on the specifics either, which only gets worse in the 2019 version, where its WHOLE JOB was to explain every old and new detail that it brought into New Super’s story that kind of did and also did not, but once again, that will be a story for another review. However, the 2017 version interestingly had a bit more dialogue with The Kitty Litter in gameplay than the 2019 version...besides their boss, Jinx, who was now given as much dialogue as The Kitty Litter in the latter through more...bizarre means.
Verdict:
ㅤㅤI pretty much came to play the 2017 version for the achievements, but it was not a terrible time. So, won’t you if you are able to control the game’s jankiness and design choices; it is more than feasible. However, for the sake of your sanity, perhaps you should play the 2019/2020 version first so you may not stain your enjoyment of the series, especially with how much more polish the New version has.
