Stacking Review
Stacking is probably one of the most left field games I’ve played so far this year. When I first got word that Double Fine was working on a game that involved Russian folding dolls, I have to admit I was intrigued. Now that it’s finally out, I have very mixed feelings about it. Even though it’s extremely charming and fairly novel, I can’t help but think of it as ‘just okay’.
Would it be wrong to just think of a game as ‘okay’? In my mind, yes. On the other hand, I’m a huge Double Fine fan and so far I have really come to enjoy their games. Psychonauts was awesome, Brutal Legend was funny and Costume Quest, as reviewed in Entertainium, was disgustingly cute. So when I end up thinking Stacking as just ‘okay’, it’s a weird feeling.
You must be thinking, when is he actually going to start talking about the game? Well, you’re in luck, I got that out of my chest, so let’s get on with Stacking. This is an adventure game that revolves about the combination of unique character skills through a fairly unique gameplay twist – stacking dolls up. The hero of the game, Charlie, is the world’s smallest doll and thanks to that, he has the power to stack over bigger dolls and use their abilities to his advantage.
The premise is pretty straightforward, but presented in a very charming way. The world is filled with living, breathing stacking dolls and during a pseudo 1920s period, an evil industrial baron is kidnapping kids in order to make them his slaves. It’s a dark subject matter presented in a very neat way through silent movie-esque panels. The story moves along slowly thanks to this due to how dialogue is plastered in separate panels and there’s absolutely no voice acting. But even with a snail’s pace, gameplay is Stacking‘s strong point.
Every level has a set of challenges that can be completed in a variety of ways, by using the various dolls’ abilities singularly or in tandem. Puzzles are mostly easy to figure out but towards the end of the game, things get a little hairy and thankfully, Stacking presents a cool little hint system that like the Professor Layton games, they go from little tips to just telling you exactly what to do. There’s no way you’ll get stuck in this game other than stupidly stoically avoiding this system.
Each of the levels has its own personality and for most of the game you’ll be in a different place. There’s a main world hub that is constant in-between stages, a train station that is a level to be beat in itself. Every time you’ll make your way to other worlds, you’ll have to deal with little puzzles that make their way to the station. These are minor conundrums that pretty much are used to bring new dolls in.
Some of the dolls move on from world to world and get new skills. Doll skills are sometimes just gimmicks, like a little girl who blows bubbles, while others are pretty much vital to finishing a stage thanks to their need in a specific puzzle. I found myself going straight to the dolls I needed for the current puzzle and my interest for the silly antics ran out early in the game. Regardless, much of the humor in Stacking is made through these abilities. The writing isn’t nearly as witty as past Double Fine game, and that’s probably one of the things that is most disappointing about this game.
I can’t say I’m disappointed by Stacking in terms of how it is played but more of how it plays out. It’s ridiculously and needlessly slow. Little of what you do in quests actually change the world and in Stacking‘s case, it’s just a missed chance for being a radically unique experience. Gameplay is slow and the story is pretty much presented at a snail’s pace. Some players would be fine with this, but sadly, I look for something more in a novel game like this and Stacking comes up short in the long run.
Sure, going for easy achievements/trophies is probably reason enough for most people to stick with Stacking in the short long run, but other than discovering the alternative puzzle solutions and finding the rarer dolls, there’s not much else to look forward to in this game. I’m not arguing for the quantity over quality party of thinking and in this game’s case, there are some issues that get into the way of quality.
Sadly, like I started this review out, I can’t get past the feeling of Stacking just being ‘okay’. It could’ve been much more. You can find more to enjoy than I did in this game, the setting and presentation might capture you. If that’s what happens with you, enjoy it while it lasts.
hi all, I’m new on here and glad to be a part of the group!
[...] publications fell in love with the cutesy art style and lite puzzle-oriented gameplay. I for one didn’t like it as much but when I heard about its upcoming downloadable content, I decided to give it another [...]