Chicory: A Colorful Tale

I think this game is really special. I don't know if it clicks with everyone, but for those that it does, it really clicks. (Including me.) The story, characters and world are all interesting, familiar, and strong. There are emotional moments where the dialogue is legitimately hard to read. The music and sound design are really good. The puzzles and gameplay and the customizeable nature of literally everything are really fun.

I think some people might look at this and just write it off as "cozy drawing game" That's stupid, it's so much more, for all the reasons I just listed. This is a project of love, passion, and joyful creation. I think it may live inside my mind for a while like all media I really like does. I may try and 100% it.

To summarize, I think It's very good.

sometimes u gotta take a break from the anxiety depression and art to play a game thats also anxiety depression and art

A profound game an experience that is well worth your time.
It's a really simple adventure game that's stuffed to the brim with personality, that is both charming and heartfelt, with a plot that heavily resonates with young adults. Best part is? It's all told through art and its hardships.
As someone who does enjoy art but hardly is motivated to do it, and moreso AFRAID of doing it, this was a great game to tell a story that really did resonate with me. Doubting if what I do is right, but the game's message is that, it is.
And the real art isn't in what we make, but in the intent, and the intent of making the world a better place, that is what makes a great person. An artist. A GREAT artist.

this game is great for those who want something out of life but feel like they'll never be enough and thus never deserve to be happy.

Genuinely one of the best games I have ever played.

I loved:
- The environment design, each of the many different areas had their own color palettes, music, plants/buildings/etc designs, and they all felt like real places I would visit, from the beach town to the river
- The music! Again each area had its own tune that worked really well as an exploration backing track, I never felt like any of the songs were repetitive and it made going back through each area more fun
- The massive amount of collectibles. As a completionist it was super fun to look for hidden niches in the environments and super satisfying to finally get all the items (and it helped that there was a completion counter built into the game, as well as many hints for the amount of items left)
- The storyline- I went into this expecting a game like TOEM where the game is mostly focused on exploration, but I was pleasantly surprised with a deep story about depression, not feeling "good enough", and other relatable topics that were really meaningful to me
- the NPCs: I also liked how the NPC conversations tied into the main story, showing that everyone has their own problems and ways of dealing with their lives. It was like having a real conversation with real people rather than just silly dialogue (although there was plenty of that)
- How personalized this game is. I felt so relaxed while coloring everything in according to the color schemes I wanted, and I also really enjoyed the amount of outfits I could dress my character in. I actually did not use a lot of the customization options (like the decors/brush styles) but I appreciated that they were there
- Ease of exploration/backtracking: Because of how much backtracking is necessary to collect optional items, I liked how easy it was to go backwards through the environmental puzzle of each area, as well as the fast travel/swim options
- Puzzle difficulty/mechanic variety: I felt that the puzzle design for this game was really well done, I enjoyed learning new mechanics and seeing how they appeared in each new area. I never got bored or too frustrated, although I had to use a guide once or twice for the really hidden puzzles. I also liked how the progression mechanics would make it easier to explore and backtrack, like giving you shortcuts or making you faster

Didn't love (aka me nitpicking lol)
- Drawing 'hitboxes' for some color-able objects: Sometimes I would not be able to color in an object how I wanted it because the object on top of it was covering it. But this is definitely outweighed by the ability to color in each object with just one click
- The in-game map: There were WAY too many areas that showed up as "out of bounds" on the map despite the map itself having boundaries. I guess the devs wanted it to be a rectangle but it was such a useful way of tracking progression and I hated that so many areas just. were not on the map at all. There could even have been a separate underground map for every cave area. Since I was trying to 100% the game I found that most of the items I was missing were on' "out of bounds" areas and it was hard to backtrack to those areas because unlike the main map, I had no idea if I had visited a certain place (which I could normally track by coloring in my visited areas)
- No brush style tracker: Since there were multiple NPCs who tracked or even showed on the map the amount of collectibles you were missing, I was surprised that there was no NPC tracker for brush styles. Even though there were only 25, I had to use a guide to find my last two missing ones because there was no way to tell in-game which ones I was missing (like clothing), which area they were in (like the lost cats), or even if I had any at all
- Game did not save my colorations: This is my biggest complaint. Sometimes, I would go into a screen, color all the trees green, and leave. and then when I would come back, one or two of the trees would be a different color. This happened consistently many times, no matter how many times I colored in an object it would revert back to a different color. This was very unsatisfying as I wanted certain objects to be certain colors according to my color palette.
- Game crashed sometimes: This may have been a computer issue but sometimes the game would just freeze and I would have to restart my computer (I had no other programs open). But it always autosaved even if I did not save and quit so that was really good

Overall , this game is a 10/10, if you enjoyed TOEM (guy who has only played TOEM) or enjoy games with lots of exploration, meaningful storyline that goes along with gameplay, and lots of collectibles, you should absolutely play Chicory: a Colorful Tale. I will be thinking about this game for a very long time

Seriously underrated and overlooked!
Chicory is a game based around the main mechanic of colouring. It's sort of like a metroidvania, as you go from screen to screen exploring and finding secrets which can give you cool cosmetics or new ways to colour and fill in your world. There are loads of cute and whacky characters to meet which makes it really immersive and full of life. You eventually gain new creative abilities to do with your brush which completely transform the game in new fun ways and unlock new areas you couldn't access before due to lack of tools. There are just so many fun and cool ways to interact with the world and I love that you get to pick how everything looks too. It's a perfect little playground for you to unwind in and create your own pieces of art in a cute cozy world. The story of the game is really good and deals with a lot of problems that people face daily and could definitely help a lot of people who might relate to this sort of thing, especially artists and creative people.
So many positive things I could say about the game but I'd be here all day and practically spoil the whole game by the time I'm finished. It deserves so much more attention!
Rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ / 5

Such a cute and colorful game! You can tell the developers had a vision and they really landed it. Don't let any thoughts about being bad at art deter you from this game, this game is for anyone with a spark of creativity and a love of color! The story is fantastic, the characters are great, and really there is nothing to hate. Get this game, is is seriously underrated.