3D puzzle platformer fans can delight in the new PC release for Sackboy: A Big Adventure. Sumo Digital and Xdev Software GmbH have officially stolen everyone’s hearts yet again by bringing this sweet little game to PC.
At first glance, gamers might just think that Sackboy: A Big Adventure is a spin-off of LittleBigPlanet, and while it technically is, it’s very different from the original games that inspired it. For starters, it drops the level-editor and community-sharing aspects that were a part of LittleBigPlanet. Play along as the “Iconic PlayStation hero Sackboy bursts back into breathtaking action with a huge, fun and frantic 3D multiplayer platforming adventure – and a whole new edgy sackitude!”
Story
I don’t think anything quite describes the story quite as well as what PlayStation.com says about the adorable game:
“The dastardly Vex (a near-mythical being born of chaos and fear, no less) kidnaps Sackboy’s friends and forces them to build his Topsy Turver. This most deadly diabolical device will transform Craftworld from a fantastical land of pure imagination and innocent dreams…into a torrid, barren eyesore of nightmares. Ooh the fiend! But legend tells of a prophecy from deep within the ancient order of the Knitted Knights, Craftworld’s legendary protectors. For only the brave, fearless, chivalrous and, yes, gallant can save the day in an almost too dramatic for-words race against time stuffed with danger and peril. So much peril. Set off alone or with your bravest friends on a whirlwind of capers across the snowiest mountains, the leafiest jungles, the wettest underwater realms and the, uh, spaciest of space colonies. Take down Vex. Save the sack folk. Save the day. It’s time to fulfil your destiny, Sackboy. From woolly wonderkid and hessian hero… rise our Knitted Knight.”
As described above, Sackboy: A Big Adventure follows a relatively simple but gripping story about Sackboy needing to save all of Craftworld and the Imagispheres from the evil Vex. While a little generic (they go on an adventure to save the world trope), the story is gripping and ADORABLE and makes the child-like wonder and story oh-so-endearing. The whole game is just non-stop fun platforming goodness with a cute story thrown in to boot, making your way through the adorable feel-good stages made from cardboard cut-outs, household objects and other crafting things like leather, felt and drawing pins.
Sackboy: A Big Adventure Gameplay
This 3D platformer has some of the cutest and most creative level designs, that have a focus on co-op play, with three friends able to join you in your gallant journey, but doesn’t punish you for not playing with friends. My only gripe with Sackboy: A Big Adventure is that the controls can be a little imprecise on PC. It’s clearly a game that plays a lot better on a controller, with its interact and combat buttons being scattered around the keyboard, seemingly at random, but that is a problem that is very easily fixed with some customizing of key bindings. Some players might mistake the sweet simplicity of the game as a lack of depth, but the gameplay is so smooth that it’s a pleasure to run through the levels grabbing point bubbles, beating up baddies, and breaking everything to find collectables, x2 point boosters and unlocking secrets to find all the Dreamer Orbs.
Unlike other platformers, Sackboy: A Big Adventure is only occasionally frustrating, having to deal with some unreliable camera angles that can cause you to lose a life every now and again and a little bit of an imprecise jumping mechanic that can make it a bit unpredictable where you are going to land. These are really small issues, though, and the cuteness of the game, the smoothness of the gameplay, and the overall fun of it just makes it impossible not to enjoy.
The game does scale up in its difficulty a little bit, but it is really generous with giving back lost lives and has a frequent and cute checkpoint system that makes dying less of a problem unless you are trying to get 100% each level. In order to fully complete each level, you will have to find all the cosmetic items offered in each level, complete the whole level without dying, and find enough points for a gold medal (usually within the 3000 to 5000 range, depending on the length of the level itself) and collect all of the Dreamer Orbs hidden in the level. The Dreamer Orbs are also a really nice mechanic that gates off more difficult levels, but you don’t need many to progress, so you can easily continue without feeling the need to totally 100% every single one (unless you are me and keep trying each level until you get it…oops). There are also fun minigames in Sackboy: A Big Adventure that unlocks Dreamer Orbs, from a whack-a-mole-type mini-game to feeding a monster until he spits out the orb. Very cute.
That being said, the levels are pretty easy to finish, which made the game feel super duper accessible and like something that platformer gamers of any level could easily enjoy and relish. The time trials add a sense of urgency, but I never found myself truly struggling with anything other than timing my jumps properly, so I felt really motivated the whole way through and like I was skilled enough to finish it without having played many platformer games in the past.
Customization
One thing that requires mentioning is Zom-Zom’s store, where you can buy and equip items to customize your little hero in more ways than can be mentioned. From sack textures for the body, different styled eyes, themed mouths, masks and headwear, jackets, pants, shoes, tails, and gloves, all the way to fully designed outfits. I can imagine with you and three other friends running around in the levels in Sackboy: A Big Adventure it might get a little confusing to tell who is who, so customizing your character to a particular colour or your particular brand of cuteness is ideal. I would actually recommend not buying any items for the first few levels because if you are really breaking and interacting with the whole level, you unlock a ton of items just from playing the game, but definitely visit Zom-Zom’s tent to put your collected items to use.
If you see something that you like in Zom-Zom’s but don’t have enough bells to buy it, keep your eyes peeled for the purple genie-lamp that spawns on your world map, it’s a sweet little collection mini-game hosted by the man himself, and gives you a nice amount of gold bells. Also, there are little balloons that respawn that have a bell in each, so don’t forget to interact with everything you can on the world map and the levels.
Final Thoughts on Sackboy: A Big Adventure PC
I love this game. Sackboy: A Big Adventure has adorable level themes from a yeti-filled ice temple and pink meadows to futuristic rocket labs that are all connected by their stylistic elements that gel into an interesting and frankly electric but wonderfully cohesive game. The best part is that the game can crown a winner, so replaying levels with your friends to see who would be the winner would be a lot of fun, in my opinion.
The replayability of this game is unbelievable. There is so much motivation to replay the game and try to unlock as much as possible, but it keeps the game from feeling too repetitive.
The game has an INCREDIBLE selection of music. It was one of the first things I noticed and loved about this game. Each level has its own theme, and the music changes to match. Not only does it feature an original score, but it also has clever remixes and reworks of lovable and recognizable classics.
All in all, I would recommend Sackboy: A Big Adventure on PC to everyone, from experienced platformer players as well as beginners. I think that the game would be playable for younger ages as well. There isn’t a ton of reading, and once you get a handle on the controls, the rest of the game is very accessible and easy to learn. This game really makes wanting to play it to completion a pleasure and anything but a chore.
