Littlewood (Switch)

The Nintendo switch receives a new title this month with the arrival of littlewood a title that asks “just what happens when the hero saves the world?” Let’s go ahead and take a look whether the story should have ended after the final battle or if more games need a “after final boss is slain DLC”.

Littlewood as stated is set after the hero defeats the dark wizard and after he seemingly sacrificed his life to save the world fortunately however one of the hero’s companions finds you in the forest with no memory of the events before you were found. you are quickly given the task of rebuilding your life and town as the hero of Solomon together with the aid of your friends and those you meet along the way. The battle may be over but your work is far from done and boy do you have it cut out for you and to top it all of just what happened to your memories? 

Most all of the game’s story is about you rebuilding your town and developing relationships with its residents growing closer to them and bringing new people and facilities to help it take shape as you steadily learn about the past. I sincerely enjoyed the direction and idea behind Littlewood and the way it plays out. The idea of rebuilding your town instantly had its hooks in me as a fan of dark cloud (something one of the developers is rumored to enjoy) the overarching story only added to this as I constantly tried to guess what the twist would be or even if one were to come.

Visually the title reminds me of gen 3 Pokemon games with cute and well-designed 2D visuals almost reminiscent of game boy advance RPGs. Each area has its own identity and transitions between them are smooth and swift however I did notice some frame rate drops though this was a rarity only been noticeable on 2 occasions.

The games sound design was also pleasant with each of the zones you travel to having its own BGM that fit perfectly with the designs,  The sound effects were well-timed and on point for all the individual aspects that you would expect be it fishing, mining, chopping wood or Whichever activity you partake in. my one minor nuisance is I thought the footsteps were a tad to loud but not annoying enough to score it down put it down to a pet peeve of myself more than a negative faking that just turn the volume down I guess haha 

Littlewood has a lot going on in terms of gameplay with its influences such as dark cloud and animal crossing on full display in its town building and multiple gathering types as well as side quests and resident requests there really always something to be doing.

The gameplay loop is set after the final battle so the “hard work” is all done instead a new task presents itself that sees you gathering materials like wood, ores, bugs fish, and more so that you can build, cook and craft with each action having a skill level that improves each time you do almost anything because making a town is so much simpler than sticking things with the pointy end right? Well no, there’s a lot of picky residents with many demands no to mention the days in the mine or the forest, are we sure these people were with battling a dark wizard for? What I’m just saying! 

As mentioned above there is a lot of activities to do in this title from material farming to playing card games and all play a part in helping you progress your town and form relationships with the town folk TBF  I was completely hooked with every part of it as I aimed to master every skill and befriend everyone. fans of games like Animal Crossing or even games like harvest moon should enjoy the title and get used to it quickly.

The title as a whole is rather relaxed with no real sense of urgency or a specific route, making it so you can progress at your own rate and tackle areas you wish to. Be that to build a town as fancy as you like or make it basic and instead focus on making friends or do neither and strike it rich by selling things on the market or like me go all in and try to do all of everything the game has on offer and stress about house placements and who wants what fruit pie at the dinner until 4 am when you realize you need to be up for that “thing” in 2 hours but wait is that item I wanted on sale at the port? 

Overall I enjoyed this title thanks to its premise and the freedom it allowed rebuilding the town brought out the perfectionist in me causing my town to be rebuilt and rearranged more than a few times the “main story” progresses as you decide to focus on it but there’s plenty of distractions you can lose yourself to along the way. I’d recommend the title to my friends in a heartbeat its not often I see something new in gaming and this pleasantly surprised me.

5

Summary

A real little town hero 

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OGUKJay

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