♥ My Calico Review! ♥

ART DESIGN

For starters, I think it's important to note how good of a niche this game has found itself in. The artstyle, in my opinion, has pretty much universal appeal: the animals dotted around the in-game island are all adorable, the NPCs have wonderfully unique designs with different styles, the island itself has separate sectors with their own individual appeal and atmospheric environments, and the character you play as has a great roster of customisation options. I never found myself bored by the visuals of Calico, from characters, to your customisable cafe, to the food you earn recipes for throughout the game.

GAMEPLAY

The gameplay itself is solid, in multiple aspects. Furnishing your cafe is extremely enjoyable, collecting different styles of furniture with freedom as to the colour palate and structuring of the lower and upper floors; a comparison I'd make, although not identical, would be to furnishing your home in Animal Crossing. Both games have that 'cute' factor in the designs and interior design freedoms that make them pop, so if you're an AC fan you may really enjoy this element of the game.

One of, if not the absolute highlight of this game, has to be the cooking minigames. Initially on launch, they were a matter of throwing different ingredients into a bowl to trigger a magical poof which would spawn your food of choice- I enjoyed it enough to commit to gathering and making all of the recipes, however there was no replay value, nor any technical depth. Since the Pawsome Edition Update, however, my thoughts on this have completely changed. Each recipe has a mostly unique structure and game attached to it, with a skill rating of bronze, silver or gold star quality to keep you on the ball; the end results of the game, obtaining fresh food to sell, feels infinitely more rewarding than it did on launch. If the idea of running around a kitchen countertop as a tiny-sized person throwing yourself into cooking ingredients sounds like your cup of tea (complete with a trampoline held up by a group of four mice, might I add)- then for this alone I'd recommend Calico to you.

The quests outside of cooking are my ultimate gripe with the game. Despite the fact they're all quite fun- I'd boil them down to mostly fetch quests, with a unique main story that had a great ending- there's simply not enough content. To my knowledge, the game is in early access, so there's always chance that the developers will be adding more length to the story and side quests. As someone that found the quests, character interactions, and unlockables a joy to complete, I'd love love love it if the developers would flesh the amount of quests out just a little bit more. What they've landed upon already in terms of game design is an absolute gem, so I truly hope that they continue to add more to the game to satiate my desire to explore every inch of Calico's gameplay and island.

SOUND DESIGN

The soundtrack of this game was absolutely awesome, really nailing the vibe of the atmosphere all around the island. Each segment of the island had its own theme, which to my recollection changes on a day/night basis; each track I found myself bopping my head to at one point or another during the game's runtime. The track for the cafe had some vocals layered over the top, which whilst in most games I find really jarring, only contributed more to the homely, comforting vibe of the cafe and game. The singer themselves is also incredibly talented, so props to them!

Each animal has excellent sound design, from when the character yanks them in the air and rotates them out of nowhere, to interactions with the toy system, to simply petting them. it adds a believably to the ecosystem and the environment that without them, may not have been present, further increasing my immersion and attachment to each animal. On the topic of the animals, too- if you like what you see in the screenshots on the store page, I can guarantee you're going to love the rest of the roster. From crows to capybaras, Calico really has it all, and I'm sure there's more to come on that front too.

CONCLUSION

In the state the game is in, I'd still overall absolutely recommend Calico- there was so much to talk about that I wasn't able to fit into this review, so please don't underestimate the depth of the existing gameplay. What's there is an absolute blast, with layered systems for multiple aspects of the cafe management and animal collection, which I found myself addicted to completing. All it needs is a little more meat on its bones to really get the most out of the formula the devs have struck, which ultimately makes for an incredibly compelling game I can't recommend enough.

This is my first steam review of this length, so I really hope it helped for you to decide on whether Calico was for you, and potentially get some insight into the game before booting it up. I enjoyed making it, so yeah, I hope you like it! ♥♥