Corporal Buggy Bear

Corporal Buggy Bear is an RMXP game made by Mewd. It stars Corporal Buggy Bear (if you couldn't already tell from the title) who has been sent by the king to put an end to a peasent rebellion. While the game is simple, short, and generally exceedingly strange, it is also damn funny, and a blast to play. This may be my favorite game I have played so far on this site so I hope you are ready for a mostly glowing review.

Story: 2.5/5
This game is not very big on story. Each part of the game has a very straightforward and simple objective and the game seems to move from plot point to plot point with ery little rhyme or reason. This, however, is part of the game's style and the story follows a chain of events that at least follows a strange sort of logic. What is evident is that there are no problems with the story that are clearly caused by mistakes in the writing. (plot holes, unforeshadowed surprises, cliches and othern such things) You will not find an epic tale in the traditional RPG sense here but the story does not take away from the expereince at all.

Characters: 4/5
The characters in this game are fairly simple and it is ery easy to understand what they are all about from the get-go. Though there isn't much complexity to be found in the game's characters they all have a sense of livliness to them and they are very much both likable and memorable. This game in its simplicity is able to ahcieve somthing with its characters that many more serious games that have characters and story writing as thier focus seem to have alot of trouble with. You get a strong sense of this game's characters and they all seem to avoid feeling cliche. Even very minor characters in this game stand out.

Writing: 5/5
Now this is where this game truly shines. This is meant to be a funny game, and indeed it is. The humor in this game is witty, spot-on, often unique, and sometimes gut bustingly hilarious. The ame has an unusual sense of humor and just about every interaction, with objects or characters, will have somthing to smile at. A good number of sections and cutscenes in this game did atually make me laugh out loud, and I normally consider myself to be a ery reserved person. This is probably the funniest RM game I have ever played, and it is humor without trying to troll. On the rare occasions that the game is not being funny, the writing is still very polished. Mewd obviously knows what he is doing and has an innate sense of finding the right words. He also has very good comedic instinct (his major jokes are set up and pulled off brilliantly) which is pretty difficult to develop. so this game isn't the most serious in the world, it will still keep you playing and checking out everything you can to find out what it will say next, which is the whole purpose of writing in any project.

Mapping and Graphics: 3.5/5
The mapping and sprites here are bog standard XP RTP. The maps aren't terribly exciting and they sometimes seem very "bare bones" but there are no mistakes to be seen. Mewd shows eery sign of being a competent mapper who is working with the limitations of using just the default stuff and doing a rather fine job with it. The mapping is at certain points fairly impressie and he does do some unique things with what he has so you certainly won't be disappointed. It helps that the locations you will be going to aren't just your standard elemental temples that you've seen in every RPG you have ever played, and that Mewd has enchanced some areas with evented special effects that achieve a strong mood. (He did an especially excellent job with the cellar in the house with the man lyin on top of it.)

Mapping is only half of what I arbitrailly threw into this category. The game's cutscenes are all excellently evented and flow togather with a nice deree of naturalness and smoothness. mewd does not shy away from complex movements when it comes to these scenes which is always a plus. He uses his special effect animations that occur during the cutscenes very skillfully as well. You never mind being taken away from the game for cutscenes here because they are always entertaining.

Gameplay: 4/5
There are no battles in this game. You neer enter the "battle mode" once. that alone makes this game unique when it comes to gameplay. Here, gameplay is a series of clever puzzles and very well evented minigames. Mewd is a top notch eventer. The minigames are complex, sophisticated (from a game making standpoint) and are actually fun to play and only moderately difficult. A couple are perhaps a bit tougher then they maybe should have been (I am looking at you turnip souffle!) but they are thankfully optional. The puzzles range from unique to common but are presented in such a way that they are enjoyable. They are generally very well envented which is key for a ame like this. basically playing this game is actually FUN. you remember what fun is don't you? It is sometimes hard to remember when we spend so much time playing amatuer RPGs. The main point of gameplay if for the player to walk away from the game feeling like they had fun playing it. That will happen here.

Music and Sound: 2.5/5
The music is, with one exception, XP RTP. Fortunately XP's RTP is certainly not bad, and Mewd uses it well. Any game could use custom music but in this case, the RTP seemed to fit. The music was neer annoying or rating so at least there is that. This game does what alot of games do not and that is make heay use of sound effects. This game also uses sound effects better than alot of games do so it gets points for that.

The Bottom Line:
This is a fun game that has alot of charm and an hilarious and clever sense of humor. This game is simply hilarious for all the right reasons and it is really fun and refreshingly original and unique. My biggest gripe is that the game is so short (only about 4 hours if you don't stop to smell the roses) but if the biggest complaint that players have is that they wanted more then you are in a very good place. I seriously think I had about as much fun playing this for 4 hours as I did playing Hero's Realm for 30+ or however lon that game is. Do not let the RTP screenshots and the goofy title fool you: this is a game by a talented game maker. It is a great experience and it is somthing I think everyone should play at least once.