Papo & Yo Review

Papo & Yo: An Emotional Yet Intriguingly-Imaginative Adventure!

Papo & Yo is a bravely produced game with a strong and emotional message to express, deeply integrated into a child’s imagined world of escape and adventure. The game is not intended to be taken too seriously while you are playing it, but the emotions and fears of Quico, the child who’s role you assume, become ever more clear and imposing, creeping into the world he has created in his imagination. It is made clear from the off that the child has some reason to fear his father, and as you play you come closer to realising what the reason for this is. The face of the world of play however is far friendlier than this background reality and provides an unique and fascinating experience…

To make a game which is based inside the imagination of a child is a bold move to attempt to make. A child’s imagination, as we all know having been there once, can be extremely powerful and can create almost anything that the child in question wishes it to. The representation of that phenomenon in this game is nothing short of fantastic! Initially you are placed simply into a favela-type area with little knowledge of what is going on and with no direct instruction as to what to do. As you move along on instinct however, you quickly learn of the influence which you hold over this world, and your power to manipulate it to help you progress. From moving boxes to moving buildings, you are reminded that anything is possible in the imagination of a child. As you move through this world you also meet other characters. First, a small girl who to some extent leads the way as you try to catch up with her, intrigued by her presence. Then a toy robot, owned by the boy in real life but in this world possessing the power to fly you around the world and assist you. Then you meet Monster, initially a seemingly friendly character, but later one who’s metaphorical presence becomes only too clear…

As well as the mind-blowing design of the game, the gameplay itself allows you to manipulate this clever world in an almost perfectly flowing way which ensures that you are never left without something interesting to do or a puzzle to solve. The game is both very simple to control but at the same time has a lot of aspect which can be controlled. You’re interaction with the world itself is the key to the interesting gameplay. The game is as much about the world you are in as the character you are playing as, which creates a somewhat different perspective to see things from than what a player may be used to. There are very few controls to learn by comparison to what you can do with them, which seems to work well here both in the sense that learning to play is fast and in terms of the consistent ease and flow of the game. I suppose to summarise the gameplay you would have to say it is simple yet flowing and consistently interesting. In a word, it is extraordinary.

So the game has a clever and interesting story and plays wonderfully, but on top of this it also looks beautiful. The game is vibrant for the most part, but manages to use lighting to great effect in relation to the main character’s emotions. The graphics appear well drawn and thought out, and where imperfections or questions may seem to arise these could easily be dismissed by the fact this is an imagined world. The sound effects used in the game seem to complement well the imagination factor which is key to its design. Where a language barrier might have been a problem, it is cleverly remedied by the use of speech marks where necessary, or natural continuation of gameplay where the conversation is of less importance or predictable based on the situation. All in all, the graphics and sounds too have been fantastically produced and integrated.

Interestingly, Papo & Yo is a game which I picked up knowing nothing about it. I had seen a few interesting images, but further than this I did not know of the game’s nature, its story or its style. What I have found and experienced however has been a pleasure to play. It can be rare to see a game such as this where the level of thought and pure vision which has been put into its making is very clear and present indeed. The game has a lot to offer and a very small price tag under which it is offering it. This is certainly something worth trying, if not for an interest in its story then at least just to see and feel the unique style which it triumphantly flaunts.

The Good – a fascinating world, an emotional and intriguing story, comfortable gameplay and a beautiful design make this a game which is well worth playing.

The Bad – the game almost undersells itself; it has far more quality than the price tag and the low level of advertising force behind it might suggest and it may unfortunately be overlooked by many gamers who might have enjoyed it…

Disclaimer:All scores given within our reviews are based on the artist’s personal opinion; this should in no way impede your decision to purchase the game.