I love it when a video game has a good story; getting immersed in well-done storytelling is something I never tire of. Sometimes it takes a while for a story to click with me, but when it does, I immediately jump onboard. When I began my journey with Apopia: Sugar Coated Tale, I never expected to get so drawn in – I’m so glad I was. While a short adventure, Apopia: Sugar Coated Tale delivered an experience that very few games can, resonating with me and leaving a lasting impression.
Last month, I previewed the first three chapters of Apopia. When I was finished, I was very interested in seeing how the rest of the adventure would unfold. Now that I fully experienced this game, my high expectations were proven right, as Apopia left me pleasantly surprised. There are a few hiccups along the way, but the story more than makes up for it.
A Blizzard of Story
Apopia begins with Mai, falling into the sugar-filled kingdom of Yogurt while exploring a mountain with her mother. Mai teams up with a mysterious cat named Nico and a few other citizens to escape and reunite with her family. At first, I wasn’t too interested in the plot, but that was until the game started teasing an emotional story for Mai. Inside Mai’s mind are two versions of her mother, one red and violent, the other blue and nurturing. As the game progresses, you learn that both sides paint a complex picture, with Mai struggling between the two. The game takes a dark turn, and this twist was what really hooked me. By the time the credits rolled, I was surprised by how Apopia’s story resonated with me.
Apopia has a dark side beneath the sugar-filled land; the characters have all gone through tragic or traumatic moments in their lives that have shaped them into who they are now. Nowhere can it be seen better than with Moly, one of the most well-developed characters of Apopia. She begins as someone who wants to help Mai get home and get rid of the ruler of Yogurt, named Boss, so Moly can reclaim the throne that was taken from her long ago. When the pacing began to pick up, I assumed she would not be too pivotal to the plot, but I’m glad she was. Her relationship to the final boss and final dark world is so important to not only the world of Apopia but also the heart of the game’s message. Without her, the game would’ve still been good, but with her, it is great.
While I really loved those two characters, almost everyone else felt underdeveloped. Characters like the three swordsman had glimmers of interesting storytelling, but none that really showed up during the main story. The same goes for the black guard; they were all so close to being interesting, but left the story before they managed to leave any impression on me. Nico was another such case. When you meet him at the beginning of the adventure, he has a shadow of mystery. As you go further into the game, you learn more about his past and even play as him. I really enjoyed his character and empathized with him, but by the time I started to understand him better, he left the story, and the final part of the game began.
Overall, Apopia: Sugar Coated Tale has a strong narrative that took a while to hook me, but once it did, it never let go. Some characters are underdeveloped, but the strong development of Mai and Moly made up for it with how their stories resonated with me.
Switching Things Up
The gameplay of Apopia is simple: you explore the world of Yogurt while solving puzzles to advance the story. There are times when it changes into different genres; one moment it’s a dating sim, the next a dungeon crawler. These moments keep Apopia from getting repetitive and keep me interested, with Chapter 3 being a highlight of the adventure. In between the main puzzles, small bite-sized trials keep the momentum going, so no moment is spent in downtime. Unfortunately, this caused some backtracking, making certain sections tedious, but at least most were over quickly.
An aspect of the game teased early on is the existence of dark worlds, with Mai able to enter them. These areas represent a character’s subconscious, with Mai able to find memories or clues important to the plot. Each dark world has a wildly different art style, each being based on the character’s personality. The deeper you explore each character, the more their past comes to light. A few offer tragic pasts that make you empathize with them. Mai can access dark worlds and affect the overworld with her Mai Trick ability. With this shes able to turn off lasers, influence robots, and learn what an opponent is thinking. It’s a very useful tool that constantly keeps Mai and her friends one step ahead of their enemies.
Areas of Improvement
There are only a few issues I have with Apopia: Sugar Coated Tale. For starters, the controls can be a bit off, especially in one segment involving Nico and another character chasing a robot. The controls felt slippery, causing me to fail a few times. There were other places that I felt could’ve done with some tweaking, but they were few and far between. I struggled a bit with a later dark world as well. To advance, I needed to press the correct musical notes after hearing a specific melody. Unfortunately, the song’s audio was faint, and even after raising the volume, it took longer than expected to advance.
I only experienced one major bug throughout my time with the game, which happened early on, thankfully. I found myself out of bounds, unable to reenter, causing me to restart the game from the beginning after attempting to reenter for 30 minutes. While it detracted from my overall fun, it wasn’t a dealbreaker. I was able to return to where I was after a few hours, and luckily, there wasn’t any major issue like this again. I’m also expecting this will be addressed in a patch sometime after launch.
Sugary Sweet
I enjoyed my time with Apopia; the story was fantastic, with the gameplay struggling on a few occasions. Mai and Moly were among the best parts of the game, but other characters needed more time to stand out and receive the development they needed. As a world, Yogurt was a dreamland of interesting characters and fun puzzles.
Moments of backtracking should’ve been cut down, but most segments ended before they became a problem. Apopia: Sugar Coated Tale, while short, is packed to the brim with charm, passion, and heart. This is an adventure I will be thinking about for quite a while.
Disclaimer: Happinet provided a PC (Steam) copy of Apopia: Sugar Coated Tale for review purposes.
