Overview: 3.5/5.0
Developer: Critical Rabbit
Genre: Adventure
Release Date: June 15, 2023
Platform: Nintendo Switch, PS4/5, Xbox One/Series X/S
Price: $19.99
Fall of Porcupine is an adorable game where you play as Finley, an anthropomorphic pigeon and new doctor. It follows a structure much like Night in the Woods. Each day includes responsibilities in the hospital, represented as a series of mini-games, and a variety of opportunities to socialize with friends and co-workers. It is a mostly lovely cozy experience of puzzles and getting to know patients sprinkled with frustrating technical issues and narrative disappointment.
Where this game really excels is the atmosphere. The character art, environments, music, and dialogue all work together remarkably well to create a game world that kept me captivated in long stretches of time. Just like Night in the Woods, Fall of Porcupine manages to combine a cozy small-town charm with the tension of town factions threatening the town’s very survival. Though the game includes uncomfortable confrontations and difficult subject matter, it’s never unwelcoming to the player.
Exploring the town and engaging others in conversation is also a pleasant experience. Finley’s movement is delightful and satisfying, the town buildings are lovely to look at, and there are several paths to get to work each day. The player must choose between getting to work quickly or enjoying the walk there, but even with some reprimanding from the boss, the consequences are never too stressful. Finley’s dialogue, whether to himself or others, is both funny and relatable. At times, you can choose to listen to the stories of your patients before moving on with your rounds, and the stories are even accompanied by charming animations to keep your interest.
Finley’s medical responsibilities are represented by a series of mini-games and puzzles. Most of these are simple, but some are not intuitive to figure out and there are no trial/tutorial opportunities, so it might take a few patients to understand what you need to do. Now, one could argue that this is a deliberate attempt to replicate the experience of being a new and unexperienced doctor, but it seems unlikely. Even if that was the intent, the result is just frustrating, particularly as you must repeat this learning curve with several different tasks. One of my favorite tasks was adjusting medications, where I could take my time and find the best combination of pills to meet the requirements. I felt that this could have been solved by a quick practice round or visual demo of how to play the mini-games.
While the game does many things very well, there are several significant flaws. There were multiple points where the game soft-locked and I was forced to quit and restart the game, losing up to ten minutes of progress. This was particularly frustrating in the middle of long dialogue sequences. Beyond technical issues, I found the pacing to be problematic. The plot builds gradually to a climactic event and then the game just… ends. There’s no time to process the events, there’s no opportunity to see any consequences — it feels like the team ran out of time to build the final chapter and instead just added some Polaroids to the credits. I was so incredibly disappointed after the rest of the game demonstrated so much potential. There are so many moments in this game that hint at a larger message, but it just doesn’t all come together the way it needs to. It’s unfortunate that the game is lacking a satisfying conclusion, because the rest of the game was so enjoyable.
Ultimately, this is a game that I would only recommend if you can overlook the destination for the journey. An update with a brief epilogue would make this game no-hesitation must-play, but the abrupt abandonment of Finley’s investment in this community is a severe detriment to the overall experience.
