Fall of Porcupine Review On Xbox

Fall of Porcupine is a narrative-centric 2D side-scroller with some light platforming elements title.

The premise is you take control of Finely and see the work and daily life of an unhealthy healthcare-system. Experience the exciting story of Finley and his friends in a lovingly illustrated world and uncover the darkest secrets of Porcupine and its residents.

The game boasts unique stories, a varied landscape to explore with a over-arching mystery connecting all, fun mini-games and the impacts of social / structural issues surrounding the healthcare profession.

Accessibility

With regards to accessibility, there is a nice selection of options to tweak and adapt the way you play this game from subtitles options, colour modes, dyslexia mode, guidance options and the ability to turn the mini-games off from the start. There is no controller re-mapping, but generally is not required except for the mini-games.

Gameplay

Regardless of what country you are in, understanding the impact of healthcare on staff and the wider community isn’t something many people would think a game would delve into. Thankfully Critical Rabbit, have done just that with their latest game, wrapped up in a cute fluffy package. It tackles topic few are willing to speak about, and has done a large amount of research in abid to give an authentic experience. The game itself is a cozy, story-driven game about small town life and the healthcare system that impacts the lives around it.

You control Finley, a young pigeon and the newest doctor at St. Ursula's Hospital and newest resident in the town of Porcupine. Following an accident whilst searching for a patient with dementia, you have an accident which leads you to taking time off to recover. The game starts as you, a recovered patient yourself, make your way back to your duties. You are soon in the thick of it as you re-learning your duties as you tend to patients, whilst your boss, a white cheetah called Dr Krokowski, evaluates your work. You are however not a alone as there is also a fellow newbie doctor to converse with, alongside even more characters in and outside the hospital and all who take the form of various animals.

The general structure of Fall of Porcupine progress, is over the course of several days and nights, where Finley splits his time between shifts at the hospital and free time exploring the town and surrounding area with friends. Each time, you check in for a shift, you’re be given three patients in the ward that you need to tend to, which consists of a fairly wide variety of minigames. 

These can range from injecting shots, prescribing medicine, bandages and monitoring respiratory functions. Each are unique and fun to do, and often involve some form of puzzle solving or rhythm-based game, following some conversing with said patients. After all tasks are done, you are then given a grade for the three tasks each day, which translate into a final average performance, judged by the lead doctor. There seem to be no consequences of your actions here and is more a personal form of achievement than a story based one.

These tasks are enjoyable and give the game a needed break from the other main aspect of the game, which is exploration and understanding of the town and its inhabitants. Once your shift is done, you and your friends then explore the town of Porcupine and the surrounding woods with his newfound friends.These adventures include their own minigames as well, like turn based- combat or helping a coworker cook dinner, and are often more fun than those found at the hospital. As you explore the area, you can enjoy some light platforming, which helps add a bit of variety from the typical walking aspect the game promotes.

As you go about your days, you can make choices throughout the game with dialogue options and other small actions (like taking the bus or walking), that will impact what you see and visit through-out the game. Your never be able to do all, so at a minimum, you will need to play the game twice to ensure you see and experience everything Porcupine has to offer.

The inhabitants own stories and optional tasks provide a more personal experience as you get to understand the motivation of each resident. Fears, traumas and passions all bubble to the surface as you get to understand each unique person with every interaction, which then gets you emotionally invested if they end up as your patient later on. Its these very interactions that you will soon cherish make up the bulk of the gameplay, and make you appreciate what a healthcare system does for its community, something that isn’t easy to convey by any means.

Whilst all this is playing out, a every present mystery at your work continues to evolve, and get more darker as you progress, leading to a surprising conclusion which I will not mention. The games gameplay in general, is slow, methodical, and built around you ability to connect to the individuals around you. As the last chapter draws to a close, you will get invested in some of the characters motivations, be it sympathy or detest, each aspect will ensure the moment the credits come, you wont forget those you met.

With regards to bugs, there was the odd the misspelling, word bubbles the wrong size or characters flying off the screen as they attempt to follow you. None of these hindered my enjoyable experience with this game and was more often or not, barely noticeable.

Graphics

The games visuals are gorgeous and have a paintbrush style that fits the game perfectly. Thes artists here really do know their way around a colour wheel, and have used it to give life and atmosphere of all the areas in Porcupine and St. Ursula's. The soft palette of colours sing from the screen as you make your way through the game and its many seasons. The colourful weekends are visually happy, the hospital’s white walls are shown to be clean and clinical, and the dark woods moody and gloomy. 

Each stylized character looks impressive, and there was a ton of attention given to crafting Porcupine’s small-town charms for the player to explore and enjoy. The general smoothness of the game is equally well done with only the odd glitch of the character appearing behind any background element, something a patch could easily fix.

Sound

Where the graphics delight the eyes, the music caresses the ears. Mellow melodies are strummed on an acoustic guitar as you unravel the story in the modest town, occasionally accompanied by the chirps and hoots of unseen birds. When dramatic events happen within or out of the hospital, the tones do a superb job of engaging your heart strings and complement the gameplay perfectly. 

There is no voice work here, with the story being told using text in bubbles on screen. This ensures the tune and music takes centre stage and wonderfully enhances crucial moments between doctor and patient. My recommendation here, is a good quality headset to enjoy the poetic nature of this game to its fullest.

Verdict

This leads me onto the rating of the game:-
Now I rate games in order of, avoid, on sale, great purchase and must own. My rating for Fall of Porcupine is a "Great Purchase’’.

The games does have its bugs which could easily be patched out, but what is there is enjoyable, and thought provoking. A tough subject for most, the developers have gone in with a understand of what happens to a healthcare stretched or underfunded and how the this effects the community at large. A sympathetic story with heaps of heartfelt content will leave you thinking about this game, well after the credits have ended.

The game is currently priced on Xbox at £14.99 or approx. $20 and depending on skill and patience would give you about 10+ hours worth of gameplay. Due to the choices that can be made, you will need a second playthrough and this will add another 5+hours. There currently is a free prologue for the game called Fall of Porcupine: Last Days of Summer for those that want to dip their feet into it without paying anything.

For those that have family, friends or colleagues in any form of healthcare role and wish to get a valuable insight to the stress, joy and complexities they face, this will be one that hits perfectly. The developers have created something lovely that will leave you with a better understand of what working in such an industry entails and how precious they are to society overall.