to a T Steam Charts & Stats

Lost my save file after 3 and a half hours, and I cba to replay the first 4 episodes

Difficult to recommend this to the people that would be the first to play this (i.e., people who know the dev and expect the same vibes as Katamari). On one side, the game is gorgeous in style and is very kid-friendly (who I assume are the target audience). On the other side though, the gameplay is very shallow and the story corresponds more to 8 small vignettes that are loosely connected. There is very little replayability after going through the 8 main episodes (where, by the way, 90% of the gameplay is just walking from A to B).

It focuses more on gameplay to tell a story than on gameplay for fun. I wish there was an "it's fine" review choice. It's clunky and never really opens up in the way I hoped it would. The credits were probably the most fun part for me.

I think if you have seen and heard the theme song for this game you'll understand if you'll enjoy it. It's not the silly control scheme game that I assumed it was, ala Octodad, but instead is a light hearted romp through a cartoon town with good morals. Not quite a series of minigames, not quite a visual novel.

Oh, Keita Takahashi, you never fail to make me smile! Every chapter of this story is loaded with little bits of absurd joy and the underlying message of being great just the way you are is really well executed in spite of the relentless silliness. The gameplay does take a backseat to the narrative, but what's there is fun and, as long as you're looking for a good time, you'll have one.

To a T was a joy to play from beginning to end. This is the kind of game that reminds you why video games are special.

This game has a very, very sweet sentiment, but... it's often just not very fun. I don't think it needed the boldness of Katamari, but the whimsy is lost on a big chunk of this game. I really love elements of it - Giraffe and her song are extremely charming to me for instance - but other elements feel wildly mundane and repetitive to where I question if the targeted younger audience would even enjoy playing it. The bigger issue that makes it hard to recommend comes from the very clunky navigation, bug issues, and optimization. I had multiple bugs that required me to quit out of the game entirely, and one instance where the game said it saved, but strangely did not save my story progress, just my money and purchases. Navigation in the game prioritizes a cinematic view over one that helps the player get a sense of direction. It was hard to know which way I was facing because the locked camera kept flipping around before crosswalks and in front of large structures. It leads to a game that's pretty to watch, but frustrating to play. Even when you're able to navigate the world, you are mostly greeted with collectable coins and shops rather than a town you can interact with and grow to love. If all the bugs and optimization were suddenly fixed overnight, I don't think that would "fix" the overall experience for me. It's a shame, I think the reason many people find themselves writing a lot about this game is that there's enough good stuff there for people to SEE the vision, but not enough to really FEEL it. Despite it's issues, I can see the love poured into the game, but the issues are still harder to ignore when it comes to games that lean on player experience.

This game is a slice-of-life, coming-of-age story that really wants us to slow down and take in the little things that make up life. The mystery of the teen's shape and what's happening serve as the hook, but the vibe is what you're meant to really engage with. If you're up for that, and enjoying the weirdness for what it is, then you might enjoy this game. The second half of the game really starts to pick up the speed of the story, but for the first part I think playing an individual episode at a time makes sure you can avoid any sort of "slow game burnout" while the characters and world are still building up.

This is the kind of game you just buy and take for what it is. The story was such a nice touch that it supplanted the wacky mechanics, which I was not expecting. I was also not expecting to care about the characters, but even the merchants had room to be actual characters instead of just NPCs. I felt let down by the performance and lack of cloud saves, but enjoyed my time playing through the story. I think it skewed for a younger audience (dog butt, I get it), but why fault it for that? The very much optional minigames (and there are a lot of them) are unhinged and brilliant madness that you will be bad at. As I mentioned in my [i]Wattam[/i] review, these Takahashi games are supposed to be a little frustrating to play and that's their gimmick: It's okay so long as you try your best because [i]you[/i] are the perfect shape.

Pure Keiko Takahashi magic in a comparatively conventional form. A perfect tool to teach young kids about impairment as well introducing adults to the social model of disability. A surprising, touching, drily hilarious game. Worth a punt for sure.