Save me Mr Tako might seem to look like an Kirby game from the outside and I admit, within the first hours of the game you might be tempted to assume, that this is yet another retro-styled indie plattformer which simply resembles and mimics the classic of its time, rejoicing its simplicity without bringing anything new to the table,

The more I was glad, that my curiosity brought me to one of the most remarkable and heartwarming stories I've ever experienced since Undertale.
Although it's first and foremost a plattformer, the game will surprise you with an extremely strong narrative that I never would have expected in such a game, for a plattformer this is pretty unusual.


There is more than meets the eye, Tako's Adventure is splitted into several chapters, without taking too much away, while his journey begins fairly innocent and straightforward the premise will slowly change, once you reach the capital of Sarona, up to this point the game will slowly change into a political thriller introducing a plethora of characters, all with their own backstory.
What I really liked about it, is that it doesn't shoves you the motivations of its characters into your face, it's up to you to find out, there is a lot of hidden background optionally hidden in the game that provides further context, slowly you will obtain a bigger picture and how all of the stories are connected to each other.
I've put FF6 as an example because it's setting reminds me a lot on it, once you reach "Ydor", you will see what I mean.

All I can say is that it's pretty exciting and eventful, there is lot going on during the course of its 30-40 hours of playtime.

"WAIT ALMOST 40 Hours for an Gameboy styled plattformer...!?"

Well at least if you explore everything thoroughly, which brings me to the second part of this unholy alliance


Ganbare Goemon is a series of japanese games that combine action plattforming with an non-linear exploration aspect, usually the gameplay loop can be divided into 3 sections:

Level:
Yeah not much to say about that, there is an overworld and within this overworld are several levels to select

Towns:
My favourite aspect of these games, asides from challenging levels there will be always a town in an area with NPC's you can interact to and side activites like minigames which reward you for exploring. It's important to notice that you can visit towns any time on the world map.

Dungeons:
So asides from the normal plattforming levels there are much larger ones you can compare with "dungeons" these are levels on an much larger scale which follow a classic build-up of tension. Usually these areas serve a greater purpose and mark the finale of the recent story arc.
Surviving in these with your limited lifes can be taxing but at the same time very satisfying which makes you more curious what the next area has in stock.

So yeah Tako follows a pretty similiar approach with the difference that the overworld looks a bit like the one in Kirbys Adventure. There are a handful of areas that are connected to each other in several ways, entrances on the world either bring you to a level, a town or a dungeon OR are an entrance to another area. It doesn't follow the typical plattformer approach in that case it feels more like an Adventure or RPG, it helps you getting a feeling for the "world" it doesn't feel so arbitrarily.
Overall the levels are connected to the world itself, there is no general rule, quickly you will find out that you won't visit "worlds" in a classical sense, it's neither completely linear nor predictable, levels are tied stronger to the narrative than the narrative is tied to the levels.


You play an Octopus, that means you can't defend yourself in a classical sense, well at least not until much later. Tako can shoot Ink out of his mouth, this ink won't harm any enemies instead it freezes them, inked enemies are not longer harmful (asides from a few enemy types.) instead you can use them as a platform which Tako can use to jump on, or exploiting them as an barrier. What I liked about the jump mechanic is that Tako is able to climb edges if you hold the direction button at the edge of an plattform, this is especially important because the game plays around with verticality, which is no surprise since such a feature is predestined for verticality, you can always look up or down to see what's ahead of you and plan your next move, there is something methodical to plattforming in Tako, you can't compare it directly with most other plattformers, especially since on the standard setting you're pretty much a pushover that can become quickly killed, so careful playing is the a and o.


So like mentioned, Tako is pretty much a weakling who will "die" with one hit, but don't worry there is the "Hat" feature to compensate for it. There are 50 different Hats in the game that alter Takos Ink Shot into another ability, so either it alters your shoot, so you suddenly shoot arrows, crabs or literally love or it might grant you a flight ability, dancing (which grants i-frames) or other little shenanigans. As long you wear a hat, you will not directly become defeated, instead you just lose your current hat, you can always have one in reserve.

The hat feature has a lot of potential but I have to admit that it can quickly feel like gimmicky fluff. While the hats grant you some freedom in your playstyle, there are a few pretty strong ones you most likely will use all of the time. Much later the levels become more experimental with its uses and are designed around utilizing the abilities of a single or several hats, these were usually pretty fun and I wished there were more of these kinds of levels, but on the bright side it doesn't force you into a certain playstyle.

Most hats can be found during sidequests, which are plentiful.
Generally I can say I like how the gameplay reflects the personality of the character, since Tako is supposed to be a mediator between octopuses and humans, using violence would feel wrong, this is one of the rare cases where the protagonist is mostly pacifistic.


Regardless for me to say, "Save me Mr Tako" instantly kept me interested at first sight by his old gameboy style.

But while other games just barely manage to imitate the visuals from older games, Save me Mr Tako accomplishes it's gameboy similiarity with almost 100% authenticity. Unlike other indie games like "The Messenger" for example this game really resembles the resolution of the system and its color depth.
Many similar games were developed with an retro style as a premise but without refraining from using modern technical conviences. This results at one hand in highly detailed pixel art and massive big screens, but at the other hand no longer serves the purpose of replicating the style of older games with the previous restrictions in mind.
Because of this, it is actually difficult to me, to really feel the same nostalgia than I do, when I play original old retro games.


Since steam doesn't really allow comprehensive reviews, pls look at the comments of this review if you are interested about new additions and features, I use the remaining characters to form a conclusion.


To say this game is a another cute retro styled plattformer is an understatement. I fear that this would be the conlcusion to many players at the first few hours, there is something unique which unfolds only over the course of the game. This game is basically the definition of an "Grower" and what I call "Hidden Pearl". Challenging Story & challenging gameplay with so much content, isn't something you see often these days anymore. It's already a classic to me.

[h1]Final Fantasy 6 meets Ganbare Goemon[/h1] Save me Mr Tako might seem to look like an Kirby game from the outside and I admit, within the first hours of the game you might be tempted to assume, that this is yet another retro-styled indie plattformer which simply resembles and mimics the classic of its time, rejoicing its simplicity without bringing anything new to the table, The more I was glad, that my curiosity brought me to one of the most remarkable and heartwarming stories I've ever experienced since Undertale. Although it's first and foremost a plattformer, the game will surprise you with an extremely strong narrative that I never would have expected in such a game, for a plattformer this is pretty unusual. [h1]Large Story on par with an JRPG[/h1] There is more than meets the eye, Tako's Adventure is splitted into several chapters, without taking too much away, while his journey begins fairly innocent and straightforward the premise will slowly change, once you reach the capital of Sarona, up to this point the game will slowly change into a political thriller introducing a plethora of characters, all with their own backstory. What I really liked about it, is that it doesn't shoves you the motivations of its characters into your face, it's up to you to find out, there is a lot of hidden background optionally hidden in the game that provides further context, slowly you will obtain a bigger picture and how all of the stories are connected to each other. I've put FF6 as an example because it's setting reminds me a lot on it, once you reach "Ydor", you will see what I mean. All I can say is that it's pretty exciting and eventful, there is lot going on during the course of its 30-40 hours of playtime. "WAIT ALMOST 40 Hours for an Gameboy styled plattformer...!?" Well at least if you explore everything thoroughly, which brings me to the second part of this unholy alliance [h1]Remember Goemon? He's back in Octopus form[/h1] Ganbare Goemon is a series of japanese games that combine action plattforming with an non-linear exploration aspect, usually the gameplay loop can be divided into 3 sections: Level: Yeah not much to say about that, there is an overworld and within this overworld are several levels to select Towns: My favourite aspect of these games, asides from challenging levels there will be always a town in an area with NPC's you can interact to and side activites like minigames which reward you for exploring. It's important to notice that you can visit towns any time on the world map. Dungeons: So asides from the normal plattforming levels there are much larger ones you can compare with "dungeons" these are levels on an much larger scale which follow a classic build-up of tension. Usually these areas serve a greater purpose and mark the finale of the recent story arc. Surviving in these with your limited lifes can be taxing but at the same time very satisfying which makes you more curious what the next area has in stock. So yeah Tako follows a pretty similiar approach with the difference that the overworld looks a bit like the one in Kirbys Adventure. There are a handful of areas that are connected to each other in several ways, entrances on the world either bring you to a level, a town or a dungeon OR are an entrance to another area. It doesn't follow the typical plattformer approach in that case it feels more like an Adventure or RPG, it helps you getting a feeling for the "world" it doesn't feel so arbitrarily. Overall the levels are connected to the world itself, there is no general rule, quickly you will find out that you won't visit "worlds" in a classical sense, it's neither completely linear nor predictable, levels are tied stronger to the narrative than the narrative is tied to the levels. [h1]How does it Play?[/h1] You play an Octopus, that means you can't defend yourself in a classical sense, well at least not until much later. Tako can shoot Ink out of his mouth, this ink won't harm any enemies instead it freezes them, inked enemies are not longer harmful (asides from a few enemy types.) instead you can use them as a platform which Tako can use to jump on, or exploiting them as an barrier. What I liked about the jump mechanic is that Tako is able to climb edges if you hold the direction button at the edge of an plattform, this is especially important because the game plays around with verticality, which is no surprise since such a feature is predestined for verticality, you can always look up or down to see what's ahead of you and plan your next move, there is something methodical to plattforming in Tako, you can't compare it directly with most other plattformers, especially since on the standard setting you're pretty much a pushover that can become quickly killed, so careful playing is the a and o. [h1]Fine hats make fine octopuses.[/h1] So like mentioned, Tako is pretty much a weakling who will "die" with one hit, but don't worry there is the "Hat" feature to compensate for it. There are 50 different Hats in the game that alter Takos Ink Shot into another ability, so either it alters your shoot, so you suddenly shoot arrows, crabs or literally love or it might grant you a flight ability, dancing (which grants i-frames) or other little shenanigans. As long you wear a hat, you will not directly become defeated, instead you just lose your current hat, you can always have one in reserve. The hat feature has a lot of potential but I have to admit that it can quickly feel like gimmicky fluff. While the hats grant you some freedom in your playstyle, there are a few pretty strong ones you most likely will use all of the time. Much later the levels become more experimental with its uses and are designed around utilizing the abilities of a single or several hats, these were usually pretty fun and I wished there were more of these kinds of levels, but on the bright side it doesn't force you into a certain playstyle. Most hats can be found during sidequests, which are plentiful. Generally I can say I like how the gameplay reflects the personality of the character, since Tako is supposed to be a mediator between octopuses and humans, using violence would feel wrong, this is one of the rare cases where the protagonist is mostly pacifistic. [h1]Retro with barely any compromises[/h1] Regardless for me to say, "Save me Mr Tako" instantly kept me interested at first sight by his old gameboy style. But while other games just barely manage to imitate the visuals from older games, Save me Mr Tako accomplishes it's gameboy similiarity with almost 100% authenticity. Unlike other indie games like "The Messenger" for example this game really resembles the resolution of the system and its color depth. Many similar games were developed with an retro style as a premise but without refraining from using modern technical conviences. This results at one hand in highly detailed pixel art and massive big screens, but at the other hand no longer serves the purpose of replicating the style of older games with the previous restrictions in mind. Because of this, it is actually difficult to me, to really feel the same nostalgia than I do, when I play original old retro games. [h1]What's new to the definitive Edition?[/h1] Since steam doesn't really allow comprehensive reviews, pls look at the comments of this review if you are interested about new additions and features, I use the remaining characters to form a conclusion. [h1]Bottom line[/h1] To say this game is a another cute retro styled plattformer is an understatement. I fear that this would be the conlcusion to many players at the first few hours, there is something unique which unfolds only over the course of the game. This game is basically the definition of an "Grower" and what I call "Hidden Pearl". Challenging Story & challenging gameplay with so much content, isn't something you see often these days anymore. It's already a classic to me. [h1]9.5 / 10[/h1]