Release Date: 31/05/2019
Played On: Win
Available On: NS / OQ / PS4 / Win / XBO
Time Played: 4h 52m
Progress: Completed
Developer: Squanch Games
Publisher: Squanch Games / Gearbox Publishing
Life has been pretty good in the world of licensed games for the last decade or so, but it wasn't always that way. If you've been around long enough you might remember when the term "licensed" could be synonymous with "rushed" or just "crap". Thankfully though, these days when a licensed game is released, fans of whatever franchise is being given the treatment can look on with interest and expect something worth diving into.
From my memory, the shift came roughly around the time that Telltale released the first season of their take on The Walking Dead series. At the time it seemed like this was proof that these kind of games could actually be done well, and even surpass their subject matter and bring a new audience into the fold. This was especially true for me, as I never watched the television show, but I own all of the games and have even played most of them.
Of course, we'd all get a little burned out on the Telltale formula becoming just about the only way a licensed game could be made for a while, but the next milestone we'd hit ended up being quite significant. There may have been others before it, but South Park: The Stick of Truth, was such a breath of fresh air when we all booted it up and found out what was in store. This game managed to blend the source material perfectly with game systems and mechanics that went beyond the simple point-and-click narrative that Telltale had offered up.
Instead, with Stick of Truth we were shown that a game could still be very much a game, while remaining faithful to the television show and being just as entertaining. Of course it helped that the creators of South Park also worked on the game, but maybe that's the secret, as it wasn't just contracted out to some third party who would do their own thing.
Now these are just some examples to kind of highlight how a good licensed game is actually a relatively new thing in the gaming world, so when I play one that really works, I get excited. Suffice to say that Trover Saves the Universe is an excellent little game that will please just about any Rick & Morty fan like me. Although, it's not exactly a licensed property, as much as it's an adjacent experience to the mainline story of the television show, which would mean something if it wasn't created by Justin Roiland's own game development company.
As it happens, Roiland is one of those writers who has a certain sense of humour and style that works, so they rarely do anything different. Trover Saves the Universe actually has no direct link to Rick & Morty, so don't expect to see them show up for a joke here and there, or even any of the familiar characters from the show. This game tells its own story, in its own universe, without any need to relate itself directly to the source.
However, thanks to Roiland's unmissable style and humour, there's no doubt that this is a game has at least been heavily inspired by the Rick & Morty play-book, so your enjoyment can be predicted by how much you like the show. There's the same awkward scenarios with semi-naturalistic dialogue that always end up much wordier than it needs to be, as well all the "adult" scenarios and swears that you'd expect. In fact it feels so much like a Rick & Morty script that I have to assume that it exists in one of the dimensions that they never managed to visit in the show, which is kind of a good plot point that just about anything can be tied to.
Much like The Stick of Truth though, Trover Saves the Universe is an excellent game that suits its license one hundred percent (if it actually were an actual "licensed" game). While there may not be any recognisable characters from the show, the voice acting in unmissable and Trover speaks with the same voice and in the same way as Morty, while many others could be mistaken for Rick if you close your eyes at the right time. Part of me loves how "in universe" all of this seems, but there are some times when I wonder if the creators would ever be capable of anything else. Right now it seems like his repertoire is quite limited, but at the same time it's working exceptionally well for him so maybe it's just not the time to try something new.
Right from the start, it's clear that Trover Saves the Universe has been made with VR in mind. The player-character is confined to a chair and controls their interactions with the world via a controller that looks suspiciously like a DS4 PlayStation gamepad. I feel like this game would work well in VR, but I'm even more thrilled that it works really well on a standard setup like mine. In fact I'd love to see more developers focus on making their VR games accessible for non-VR users as well. Not only because I want to have a shot and I don't have any VR hardware, but I'd like to see them sell more copies as well.
Anyway, at the beginning of the game we meet Trover, who is a talkative blob that never shuts up, but urges us to join him on a quest to save the world. Without going into detail, we basically have to travel to different planets and lands in order to defeat a bad guy who is trying to take over and has stolen our two loveable puppies. There's some weirdness in there about putting live things in their eyes to give them more powers, but that's something you'll just have to uncover on your own.
Mechanically speaking, the game is essentially a third-person action platformer, as we are able to take control of Trover himself and use him to fight enemies and get around. Most areas you go to will have a bunch of hidden areas and collectibles, so using Trover to discover new areas and find out of reach places is essential.
Fighting enemies is as simple as hitting either a normal or heavy attack, leaving combat a simple button mashing experience that felt a bit undercooked most of the time. There are a few different enemy types that require different strategies, but it's nothing more than the generic tropes we've seen before. Does the enemy have a big shield? Better hit them with a heavy attack first then. It's really nothing to write home about, but is serviceable enough and thankfully only takes up about a third of the game.
The other two thirds are spent platforming and in conversations with other characters. While the latter is perhaps the main strength of the game, the former is frustrating at best and outright annoying every other time. I'm not the biggest fan of three-dimensional platforming in games, but Trover Saves the Universe makes things a little harder by always messing with your perspective as one of the main systems in the game.
While we're stuck in our chair, that doesn't mean we can't get around. Throughout each map there are transportation pads that we can teleport to once Trover is able to stand on them. Once on a pad, we have the option to pop into the air and see things from different levels, which is what really messed with my mind and made the platforming super annoying.
Popping into the air like that is meant to make it easier to explore, as it allows you to see things that would otherwise be obscured by obstacles or the environment. It's a neat way to add more dynamics to the fact that you're stuck in a chair, teleporting from static location to static location. However, when you see a path that leads up a hill and start platforming along with Trover, it gets really confusing if you pop up or down and change your perspective. What's more, there's little consistency between areas and one jump might be done from directly behind Trover, while the next might be from straight above and much further away.
It could just be because I'm not a fan of this kind of platforming anyway, and the exploration in each level consists of nothing more than trying to jump across various platforms to reach previously unexplored areas. I'll forgive the game a little for just being a victim of its genre, but at the same time my complaints are still valid. It takes a while to get used to the constantly shifting perspective, which might feel more natural in VR, but on my desktop PC, it became a bit of an issue.
Thankfully though, the game's ultimate saving grace is unsurprisingly its story, characters, and dialogue. There's no doubt that if you really can't stand Rick & Morty, then you're not going to like Trover Saves the Universe. Everything that might annoy someone about the television show is no different in this game, which will either make it or break it for everyone that plays.
There are countless moments when characters ask you to do something, which you then go about doing as if it were a quest, only to have them get mad at you because they didn't mean it. Or there are many scenarios that you automatically approach with typical game logic, only to have the results subvert that logic completely.
For example, early on you meet a shop keeper guy who mentions something about needing you to get rid of the annoying beasts nearby. After accepting the quest, you go to the nearby paddock and kill all the beasts, which are the only ones you can see. Upon returning to the shopkeeper, you discover that he's really mad and crying because you slaughtered his beloved pets and the beasts he was referring to were further along in the level.
Just like the show, this is a game that loves to subvert your expectations and it's clear that there's a certain level of understanding that helps the jokes land and the script to continue being funny. I can't imagine what terrible jokes may have been used if the script hadn't been scrutinised by someone who knew a thing or two about games. Much like other excellent licensed games, this one seems like the creators had a lot to do with the narrative and design, but had actual game development people working on the rest.
Thus, get ready to hear enemies bitching to each other in mumbled conversation on the other side of walls, and be ready for bad guys to swear and threaten you while you beat the snot out of them during combat. It seems like everyone in this game has a whole lot to say, which is hilarious at times for being ridiculously over the top and taken to the extent of what's reasonable to expect in a game. Let's just say that there were plenty of moments where I gleefully kept harassing another character, just to see how long it would take to exhaust their dialogue. Or I'd remain motionless in a single spot while listening to a couple of enemies chat about their domestic lives, or how much they hate their boss.
It's this kind of mundane expression that works so well with the often surreal and abstract worlds that we find ourselves in. I mean, there's a world made of flesh, and one of the key mechanics is about ripping teeth out of the flesh and throwing them at hard to reach objects and enemies. I feel like it goes without saying, but in case you've never watched an episode of Rick & Morty, this is a game that has some truly creative themes and ideas going on, even if they don't all gel together very well in the end.
Overall each world in the game feels like an idea that someone had first, then the game was built around it. While they kind of serve the plot by being locations where you have to explore and platform your way around in order to find the next breadcrumb in the trail, there's really no justification for anything you're seeing. It's only in the final stage that the setting makes sense, but up until then, the worlds feel like creative prototypes that nobody ever bothered to contextualise.
I guess that's also true for the television show, as many episodes take place in locations that are interchangeable and inexplicable, but it doesn't really matter to the plot. Most of the time the narrative in both the game and the show could be happening with any number of backdrops, which always makes me feel like an opportunity was missed.
In fact, despite Trover Saves the Universe being an excellent "licensed" game, that isn't to say that it can't be improved. Throughout the campaign I often found myself wishing that there was a little more context, much like how Psychonauts had a reason for every abstraction and creative level it served up. Instead it feels like the creative and interesting levels in Trover Saves the Universe could all be swapped out for something equally bizarre, and the story would still be served.
However, even though I didn't like the platforming, and the world building was nonsensical at best, I still enjoyed my time in this game. Just don't go in expecting anything more than what you'd get in an episode of Rick & Morty, and you'll be fine. It might not be a very long game in the grand scheme of things, but by the time I reached the credits, I'd definitely had my fill.