A recently-released indie game is seeing critical success, consistently reaching close to the top of reviewers' ratings. The game's compelling narrative, innovative gameplay and stylish visuals have caught the eyes of reviewers across many review sites.
The critically acclaimed game, Chicory: A Colorful Tale, launched on June 10 and was published by Finji, the same publisher that handled other acclaimed titles such as Night In The Woods. Finji's publishing library tends to include games with emotional and deep stories, and Chicory appears to be no exception, including compelling gameplay and a striking visual style to back up its heart-wrenching story.
Critics praising Chicory: A Colorful Tale are having a difficult time focusing on one aspect to praise, as the game's elements build on each other in a way that creates a cohesive experience. Rebekah Valentine of IGN describes Chicory as having similar gameplay to The Legend of Zelda, except stylized as a giant coloring book and with puzzles involving painting. Valentine is not alone in this comparison, with writers from Destructoid and Hobby Consolas also recognizing the game's Legend of Zelda inspirational source.
Chicory: A Colorful Tale currently has an impressive 100% critics recommend statistic on OpenCritic, a critical review aggregation website that takes the averages of review scores on several websites and creates statistics to indicate general critical response to games. Chicory has a top critic average of 89/100, putting it in the same critical league as large Triple-A release Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart and above other major releases like Monster Hunter Rise and Returnal. The game looks to continue the trend of indie releases becoming critical darlings as Manifold Garden received similar acclaim last year.
The universal praise for Chicory: A Colorful Tale is bringing the game a lot of exposure, which is especially needed for independent releases to succeed commercially. The detailed accessibility options available in Chicory likely also contributed to its success, as Chicory is able to reach players who may be unable to play similar games due to colorblindness and other accessibility concerns. With accessibility in mind in the game's inherent design, Chicory is able to reach a wider audience than it could have otherwise.
Chicory: A Colorful Tale may not be a punishingly difficult Returnal competitor and it may not have the impressive technology of Ratchet and Clank, but it never needed to be anything other than what it is to succeed. Chicory is a game made with unique gameplay, a deeply emotional story, and fun puzzles, and proves that indie developers deserve just as much time in the spotlight as large Triple-A releases.
Chicory: A Colorful Tale is available now for PC, PS4, and PS5.
Source:Â OpenCritic
