Merry Christmas, everyone! It's been a good long while I've played a game according to season, but I got my hands of this one on the switch last year and felt wrong playing it months later. So I set it aside, and the moment December started, this was next in line. And while I knew it wouldn't be a long game, I was more then ok with that. I knew it would be a good time: and it was... but it definitely had it's own surprises for me.
Story: What do eldritch horrors dream of, I wonder? Maybe I shouldn't but it is while one dreams that our tale begins. It is Christmas Eve and everyone's favorite sleeping deep one rests peacefully in R'lyeh. But this sleep is disturbed when a gift is delivered all the way under the oceans to the Dark Lord's abode. Eagerly, he opened it, but found something worse then coal... the gift STOLE HIS POWER! Enraged and convinced Santa has it in for him, he storms out of his home and to the surface to extract his revenge!
Thanks to meeting the jolly gift-giver's granddaughter, he is soon set straight and finds out they have a common enemy. Santa has been kidnapped by the group of villains who stole Cthulhu's powers: a super-team known as the Evil League of Christmas. And as a bonus, the man in red would be willing to restore his power if he rescues him. It's time to save Christmas (so we can doom the world)!
And everything here is a straight line from there. The overall plot will follow the pattern of hanging around Christmas Land and getting to know the people there until someone in the group gets a lead on the next villain when you will go to their dungeon to take them on and progress the main plot to the next story beat. Thankfully it's carried as much by the writing along the way as the main story line. Cthulhu Saves Christmas knows what it is and it leans fully into the comedy of it... especially with our chosen dark lord who stars in the game. Seriously half the time I was playing, I was laughing... most of the time muttering "god dammit, Cthulhu" in the same breath. As long as you are here for a fun time and not a deep one, the plot will more then hold up and keep you entertained the entire time.
8/10
Graphics: Simply put the game looks surprisingly good, stepping up it's game from the previous installation (Cthulhu Saves the World)! To put that into context, the first game looked like it would be right at home as a very early 16-bit RPG or a very late 8-bit one. This time around, this is the kind of game you might expect towards the end of the 16-bit era. For the most part, the game will show you the events from a birds-eye view in a 2D world. And that world is actually pretty varied. despite the clear holiday theme permeating most of it. From Candy land, to Santa's ransacked toyshop and beyond.
The sprite-work is also really good, fitting very well with the world itself. Just like the world, the cast of enemies you will face off with is also varied, though these do not stay "Christmassy." Sure some of it can be, but these take a delightfully darker turn as you proceed through the game... and I would hate to give away what you might see. The overall style, however, would fit in with a late 1990s console RPG, so don't expect these guys to look scary.
The same is true for our heroes. You will have four of them before the game is over, each of which has nice sprite work that fits in well with the world you are playing in, but in addition the chat windows offer character pictures when they are talking. These are bright, brilliant looking, and expressive as hell. There is nothing to complain about here. Expect to enjoy a blast from the past with a game that looks like one of the prettier "classic console era" RPGs.
8/10
Sound: Like games of the time we are emulating, there is absolutely no voice acting in this game, so do not expect any. Rather anything outside the music is going to be sound effects you might expect a 16 bit console to unleash: slashes, explosions, thuds blips, and bloops... and most of the time restricted to when you are in combat.
The music, however takes the lead this time, even as it carries the same classical feel as the rest of the game. Expect epic battle music, the calmer tones of being in town, and everything in between. This game just exudes the classic feel. And yet, here is the one place the game cheats at all. As they would have relied on MIDI tables, no cart based console could have done so much with the musical instruments here, making this more modern then the motif should probably allow. Still, it sounds great and you will not be disappointed.
8/10
Gameplay: Honestly this was the biggest surprise the game could offer me. I went in with the expectations of a very streamlined RPG experience, and while I got that, it had a lot more to it then I expected. While wandering a dungeon, you will see a meter made of 3 panels. This is how you know how close you are to a random battle occurring so you can make sure you have the equipment you want ready: when it fills up, the battle is eminent. In addition the number of battles above it will tick down with each encounter. When it reaches zero, you are done. No more random encounters will happen. You can call on battles if you wish even after this, but the game will no longer spring any on you, allowing you to explore (or just go find your way to the end if you wish) preventing the game from slowing you down. And combat will be similar. Every battle will start you topped off so as to not need to worry about slowing down to be healed up for anything.
But once in battle things get a bit more tactical. On the right side of the screen you will see a bar showing turn order between your characters and your opponents so you can plan out your battle while your options are in the lower left. This takes the form of a 4x2 panel where each character has their own selection of actions. You can set the top row between battles in the menu system, but the bottom will consist of 3 random and a "recharge" skill. This is important because with few exceptions you will only be able to use each ability once before it's gone, requiring you to rebuild this menu with that recharge. Further adding to the balance of combat, this will randomly select the other 3 options as well. You will also be able to do the same with items and "combination moves" which make a surprisingly deep and complete combat system.
Further amplifying this will be what you do out of dungeons. Between each you will get several turns where Cthulhu must choose what to do during his downtime, allowing you explore the events of the town and in return get equipment for your party and build up "R'lyeshionships" (yes the game really calls them that) with the people there. Get far enough and those storylines will get a completion bonus to the end of your game, and they can be pretty amusing.
Combine it and the developer managed to make a decently deep engine but still keep the game moving at a pace most turn based RPGs could only dream of. Well done!
8/10
Bugs: As one should expect for a game on a system where work-arounds are really not possible, there were no bugs in this game.
Score: I knew going in this would be a solid title. After all I had played the previous game and loved it. But I expected more of the same, and found a game improving on the old formulas in every way possible. If you are a fan of RPG games but want something bite-sized, this is a very solid choice. If you like dark humor, you are going to love it for it's writing as well. All I can really say is, enjoy!
8/10
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