Afrigather When taking part in by means of Little Kitty, Big City, it’s troublesome to keep away from drawing comparisons with Untitled Goose Game. Each see you play as a cute, mischievous animal, and each have you ever deal with a sequence of emergent duties that always come on the expense of the poor people that inhabit the encompassing space.
With Little Kitty, Massive Metropolis, nonetheless, developer Double Dagger Studio has taken the chance to attract inspiration from the sport’s feisty feline protagonist and make the expertise a bit extra whimsical, a bit extra stylised, and a bit extra bold. The top result’s a real pleasure to behold and play, however one which’s additionally held again from true greatness by its repetitive construction.
The overall gist is that you just play as an unnamed cat who, after falling from a ledge following what appeared like probably the most pleasant nap, should discover its manner again dwelling. The issue, nonetheless, is that house is all the best way up in an condo constructing in the midst of a bustling metropolis. So, armed with nothing however the fur on its again, the cat should set off on an journey to seek out its manner again to security and luxury.
Now, regardless of the title, we’d say that the town wherein you play is actually something however ‘huge’. To be clear, this isn’t a nasty factor. For individuals who could be accustomed to the Yakuza (sorry, Like A Dragon) franchise, whose personal recurring Kamurochō space is pleasantly compact, the atmosphere right here will really feel fairly comparable, putting way more emphasis on density relatively than sheer measurement.
What this implies is you can barely transfer two toes with out stumbling throughout one thing that could be price a re-assessment. This could possibly be a brand new character, a ledge resulting in a secret space, a crawl area, an merchandise, or perhaps a place wherein to twist up and take a nap. There’s a lot to see and so many fascinating creatures to fulfill, it’s finally a disgrace that almost all of the gameplay is relegated to fundamental fetch quests.
That’s finally what Little Kitty, Massive Metropolis is all about: accumulating stuff. Nearly instantly, you’re tasked with finding 25 ‘shinies’ with a view to retrieve a reward from a crow. From there, extra fetch quests are added to the combo, so that you’ll be trying to find feathers, tennis balls, canine bones, smartphones, and extra. Little rewards and new mechanics are blended in to coax you ahead, resembling a stunning little photograph mode, the flexibility to grab bread from unsuspecting people, and a climbing mechanic, however we do want there was a tad extra selection with the general gameplay.
One collectible kind that we did get pleasure from was the plethora of hats you can put on in your travels. These embrace a workman’s onerous hat, a ladybug hat, a corn hood, a banana hat, and a lot extra. You will discover these in typically hard-to-reach spots on the map, otherwise you’re given entry when you full sure duties. It’s properly definitely worth the effort and time to find all of them simply to see how they give the impression of being in your character.
Fortunately, to make up for a few of the gameplay’s repetition, controlling your ‘Little Kitty’ is an absolute pleasure, and that is largely all the way down to Double Dagger’s unbelievable animation. When you’ve ever had the pleasure of welcoming a cat into your loved ones, then you definitely’ll be blown away at simply how sensible the in-game protagonist is. Each little contact, together with the little pitter-patter of its toes, the best way it stretches and wriggles its manner beneath gaps, and the lovable “brrrp” it emits when leaping onto platforms, is all spot on. If this doesn’t endear you to the limitless attraction of cats and kittens, then nothing will.
That stated, motion isn’t all the time good. Leaping particularly could be a bit fiddly at occasions which, given the truth that cats are sometimes agile and swish, can show significantly irritating. You may shortly faucet ‘B’ to execute a brief hop, or you’ll be able to maintain it down and use an on-screen information to purpose your bounce precisely.
That is nice in concept, however even while you line up your bounce to perfection, the often dodgy physics can typically ship you flying off-course. It doesn’t occur too usually, however while you’ve efficiently navigated a number of gaps solely to tumble again all the way down to the bottom on the final hurdle, it’ll make you want {that a} bit extra polish had been utilized to this specific mechanic.
By way of visuals and efficiency, Little Kitty, Massive Metropolis isn’t the form of recreation to push the Change to its absolute limits, and for probably the most half, it appears to be like and runs simply nice. The body fee can drop every so often, significantly while you pan the digicam across the busy streets, nevertheless it’s in any other case largely secure. We have been conscious of some bugs after we went hands-on with the sport again at Summer time Sport Fest 2023, however evidently these, too, have been stamped out properly. All in all, it is a nice sufficient expertise that will not have you ever regretting your determination to play on Change relatively than elsewhere.
Conclusion
Little Kitty, Massive Metropolis is an lovable journey that may nearly definitely flip you right into a cat lover, in the event you’re not one already. It oozes attraction and the sensible cat animations are merely unimaginable, though for as enjoyable as it’s to wander in regards to the metropolis, the sport leans closely on fetch quests and gathering up collectibles, which might result in repetition. When you’re somebody who thrives on that form of gameplay, nonetheless, then you definitely’ll have an absolute blast with this one.
