Video Game Blog 029: Stick Figure Cowboys

I’ve talked in here before about how much I love RPGs. That especially goes for off-the-wall RPGs. You know the type… Earthbound, Deathspank, Citizens of Earth, Super Mario RPG, Paper Mario… these are among my favorite RPGs due to their humor, wackiness, and light-heartedness. And now I have a new game for the list… West of Loathing!

He’s literally about to fall off a turnip truck. (Credit: Asymmetric Publications)

I never would have heard of this game if I hadn’t, on a whim, watched a YouTube video about Indie games on the Switch. One of the games featured was Shadows Over Loathing, the steampunk/Lovecraft-themed sequel to this game. I immediately loved the aesthetic of the game and when I went to the eShop to check it out, I realized there was a prior game in the series. I bought them both, along with the DLC for the West of Loathing. (Yes, I buy DLC before I’ve played a game. I know when I’m going to like something.)

Hehe Doody. (Credit: Asymmetric Publications)

West of Loathing was released in 2017 by Asymmetric Publications for Windows and later ported to the Nintendo Switch. That was the version I played. It is a game set in the world of Kingdom of Loathing, a long-running browser game with similar gameplay as this.

Watching me play, Cocoashade wanted to play too, so we ended up playing our games in tandem, sharing puzzle solutions and giving each other hints. It made the game feel cooperative even though it’s single player.

The vicious cows attack! (Credit: Asymmetric Publications)

There are three classes to play as. Cow Puncher (which is what I did my first play-through as) who specializes in melee attacks. They have various combat-focus skills. The Snake Oiler focuses more on charisma and finding creative solutions to conflict. They also farm poisons to create potions. The Beanslinger is basically the magic-user of the world, but also a cook. They create food for various effects and use magic. (This was my “evil” playthrough as I did all the negative options and cursed myself.)

As with all good RPGs, this game has a complex battle system. You can choose between your melee attack or guns, with either being a good solution depending on the enemy. There are a variety of skills you can learn that take up Action Points. You can also use items in battle to effect your enemies, yourself, or your pardner.

The pardner is a companion that you can recruit in the first town, but you’re limited to one. Once you choose one, the others are locked out for the playthrough. There is an extra pardner for the DLC and a special one you can recruit later in the game by fulfilling a side quest. Each base pardner grants you different advantages in the game and opens up a new quest line specific to them.

On occasion you can bypass battle altogether by selecting dialog options depending on your stats.

Some of my stats. There really is a lot to this game. (Credit: Asymmetric Publications)

I won’t go into detail on the mechanics of the game… since it’s an RPG they’re somewhat complicated, but easy to learn. I’ll just say you have a multitude of stats and the class you chose helps decide which stats are most important.

There is armor (hats, boots, etc.) to help bolster your stats. An important mechanic is the food and drink system, which can be consumed to grant (or take away) bonuses for the day. The game works on a Day system where a new day starts after you’ve slept in your bed or been knocked out. The number of food items you can consume is based on your stomach capacity, the number of drinks based on your liver. The spleen is what handles how many potions you can use.

There are also treasures or items (such as books) that give you permanent new stats. A good example of this is Goblintongue, which allows you to converse with the goblins of the game. Many of the stats can be increased (like stomach, liver and spleen) by spending experience points. EXP is granted from battle or doing many other actions in the game.

A small portion of my inventory. (Credit: Asymmetric Publications)

The currency of the game is meat. Literal piles of meat. The inventory is very extensive, consisting of your food items, drinks, potions, all the different forms of armor and weapons, combat items, quest items, sellable items, and more. Your little stick figure carts around an insane amount of stuff and you can sell the items you don’t want for meat.

There are shops in the game, along with a useful travelling merchant you have to seek out each day on the map. By completing side quests you can build and staff new shops in the hub town of Dirtwater.

Cecil takin’ care of bidness. (Credit: Asymmetric Publications)

Where the game really shines is in the writing. The writing and story are intelligent, clever, and hilarious. I laughed out loud at multiple points in the game. Without spoiling much, I will say there is a great running gag in the game about your character’s unhealthy obsession with digging around in dirty spitoons for treasure. If you keep up with this activity, it pays off in a big way before the game ends.

I never regretted learning Goblintongue. (Credit: Asymmetric Publications)

As stated before, there are other ways to deal with conflicts than battle. You can actually play much of the game without fighting if you make your choices in a more peaceful way. One side quest involves hunting down criminals. You can outthink them to capture them alive and they stay in the jail cells for the rest of the game. If you decide to instead dispense frontier justice, their remains (or ghosts) will be all that is in the cells.

Your stats can effect your dialog choices. For instance you can lie, intimidate, or charm people to get what you want. Much of what you do in the game grants you EXP, so you don’t necessarily have to fight to advance.

This game is clever. (Credit: Asymmetric Publications)

The game is filled with funny moments either driven by the characters, the situations, or the absurdity of the world you find yourself in. The game is very self-aware and doesn’t take itself (or the player) very seriously. A lot of the humor is in the crudity and simplicity of the art style.

My Beanslinger goes mining. (Credit: Asymmetric Publications)

The game contains a main story and dozens of side quests. The DLC, Reckoning at Gun Manor has its own story involving a haunted house, a mysterious legacy, and ghosts. To go along with what I said earlier about playing peacefully, you can either fight the ghosts or put them to rest. Whichever you choose impacts the ending of the DLC. The DLC adds a whole new area, new items, and additional bonuses. (Along with the best gun in the game.)

In the main game, the paths you take can branch depending on your class and the way you play the game, but you do end up at the same place by the end. I won’t give away the story, but I’ll say it involves demonic cows, threatening clowns, a shady necromancer, and an ancient advanced civilization.

At the end of the game you’re judged on how you played, which side quests you completed, and how well you achieved the objective you chose at the start of the game. There are multiple scenes at the ending that can play or be omitted based on these factors, lending great replayability to the game.

The complete map. (Credit: Asymmetric Publications)

The game is filled with dozens of locations that you have to discover on the map by walking from place to place, talking with people, getting tips from your pardner, and scanning the horizon from watch towers. There is also a “wander” option on the map that allows you to randomly find locations and events. I highly recommend using this option over and over in new areas to experience all you can.

One thing an advanced civilization knows is coffee. (Credit: Asymmetric Publications)

The downsides of the game would be the repetitive music, the difficulty of some of the puzzles, and the learning curve as you begin to play. The game does throw a lot at you at once with bare explanations, so it can take some trial and error to figure out what you’re doing. Other than those things, I found little to complain about.

It’s a rare game that compels me to immediately play three times through in a row. This game joins the ranks of Kingdom Hearts, Silent Hill, and Until Dawn in that. I just had to try each class and pardner, make different choices and try new things. (I will say that taking Doc Alice was a mistake while doing the Necromancer quest. Oops.) There is just so much going on in the game that I never got bored playing through over and over.

Mmm nuggets… (Credit: Asymmetric Publications)

Although this game deals with some dark subjects, it takes great joy in itself and revels in its own absurdity. The humor is keen, the gameplay fun, and there are always more surprises and things to discover. Some of the puzzles are extremely difficult, others take a few moments of pondering. Along with the main quest, there are side quests, random events, optional side areas, and the DLC content to explore. West of Loathing has an impressive amount of content, lots of laughs, and is overall a fun experience that I highly recommend. Once Cocoa and I play the sequel, I’ll do a post on that one too. I’m really looking forward to it… I just need the time to devote to it, since I know I’ll probably want to play it three times as well.

I was blown away by this game. The depth of the gameplay, the puzzles, the story, and the humor. The DLC added so much more to the game and was absolutely worth the price. I can’t oversell this game. I’m so glad I found it and got to share the experience with Cocoa.

The exciting climax! (Credit: Asymmetric Publications)

Thank you for reading my review of West of Loathing. I really can’t recommend this game highly enough. I f you like RPGs and humor, you’ll more than likely enjoy this game. Give it a try! Anyway, thanks again, I appreciate you all, and I’ll see you soon for more games!

Bye everyone! (Credit: Asymmetric Publications)