Brick3621
(4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
12/15/2011 00:00:00
Great review. I personally thought Epic Mickey was one of the best games I've ever played, but that's only because of the story, the nostalgia, the humor, the Scenery Porn, and the open-endedness. The actual gameplay is nothing to write home about.
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Beautiful Story Presentation, Very Unpolished Gameplay
Where 'Epic Mickey' really shines is in its brilliant storytelling, presentation, characters and concepts. I'm a hardcore stickler for good storytelling, and this game definitely did right by me, especially as a big Disney/animation fan. The animation is far above video game par. The idea of making Wasteland an alternate Disneyland and the nostalgia it induces is inspired. The characters are very strong and both reintroducees, Mickey and Oswald, were handled skillfully and I was left wanting more of them. If character-driven storytelling is important to you, I would definitely say that Epic Mickey is worth your time and money.
However, I was initially very disappointed in this game. Firstly (and you saw this coming), the camera is terrible. I'm not just talking about those somewhat-bad cameras we've all had to deal with at some point. This one is terrible, and it will cause Mickey's death several times over. Acknowledging that it was deliberate, I firmly believe that the game is weaker for not allowing the player to revisit old areas, the lack of conscious saves as an option, and consequential factoring of accidents in as a 'player choice'. (Isn't going back to an old area to complete quests my choice anyway? Also, keep in mind, this also means you can't save the game at a place you like so you can show people; you have to make due with where ever you happen to be in the game at the time.) The most tragic of all of this is that the game isn't fundamentally bad and would have been much better with a few repairs. It makes me wish it was common practice to release improved versions of video games because I would buy a new copy of Epic Mickey in a split second if it meant I could play it with a working camera.
Overall, if you're only looking for game that's a lot of fun to play (verses to watch), I wouldn't recommend Epic Mickey, and that's honestly a shame. If you don't mind just being in for the story you will have fun, but it's saddening that flawed gameplay mars what could have been a truly magnificent experience on the whole. Ironically, because of these problems I worry that this game will merely be a niche classic and be left by the wayside by the mainstream itself... Unless it launches improved sequels, anyway. I'm crossing my fingers.