celerystalker
03-19-2016, 10:05 PM
8695869686978698
Hope you're ready to taste the rainbow, because Darkened Skye for the Gamecube is an action/adventure game centered around perhaps the most dubious product placement that has ever been attempted; the entire game is built around the premise that Skittles are magical. Nobody tell Trale Lewous.
This is an odd game, both to try and start a discussion on and in and of itself. It starts with a seemingly serious premise, with the young heroine Skye, full of wanderlust, pondering the meaning of a mysterious talisman left by her mother while debating her meager existence as a shepherd in an oppressive kingdom. Out of nowhere, she finds a magical orange Skittle, meets a smart-ass gargoyle, and starts mouthing off while fighting the minions-in her own words, "I LOVE minions!" of the evil Necroth.
The actual gameplay is not bad at all for a 3D Zelda-style game, moving at a good pace, solid jumping controls... the combat's pretty bland until you get magic attacks from the Skittles, as it's at times difficult to tell whether you're hitting your opponents or not. Still, its atmosphere is on point both graphically and musically, and the character designs work pretty well for a fantasy experience of the era. Plus, the ability to save on the spot anywhere helps the game stay enjoyable even in some unfair segments.
Let's get real, though, anyone playing this is just super curious about the Skittles shit, and it doesn't disappoint. The characters go on about the magic of Skittles and the rainbow enough that it becomes obvious parody, almost as if the developers quietly resented that their game concept was being hamstrung by such a licensing agreement. They put such care into designing a world and characters, and even secured some actual quality voice acting, so it's almost as if they were told about the Skittles tie in and just said "Fuck it." Everything quickly becomes a mockery of adventure game tropes, and even outright mockery of the corporate sponsorship. Playing it again last night, I have to admit that while some of it falls flat, for video game writing and acting, it's surprisingly funny. The game knows it's a shill vessel, and just steers into the skid.
Darkened Skye is not incredible, but it is enjoyable, and you can almost feel the disbelief of the developers in the script. It has great character art, good music, and some good ideas, all chained to a thousand pounds of Skittles... and it actually plays pretty well. No one part is amazing, but the way it all comes together is bizarrely amusing.
Skittels is... really good. Played it?
Hope you're ready to taste the rainbow, because Darkened Skye for the Gamecube is an action/adventure game centered around perhaps the most dubious product placement that has ever been attempted; the entire game is built around the premise that Skittles are magical. Nobody tell Trale Lewous.
This is an odd game, both to try and start a discussion on and in and of itself. It starts with a seemingly serious premise, with the young heroine Skye, full of wanderlust, pondering the meaning of a mysterious talisman left by her mother while debating her meager existence as a shepherd in an oppressive kingdom. Out of nowhere, she finds a magical orange Skittle, meets a smart-ass gargoyle, and starts mouthing off while fighting the minions-in her own words, "I LOVE minions!" of the evil Necroth.
The actual gameplay is not bad at all for a 3D Zelda-style game, moving at a good pace, solid jumping controls... the combat's pretty bland until you get magic attacks from the Skittles, as it's at times difficult to tell whether you're hitting your opponents or not. Still, its atmosphere is on point both graphically and musically, and the character designs work pretty well for a fantasy experience of the era. Plus, the ability to save on the spot anywhere helps the game stay enjoyable even in some unfair segments.
Let's get real, though, anyone playing this is just super curious about the Skittles shit, and it doesn't disappoint. The characters go on about the magic of Skittles and the rainbow enough that it becomes obvious parody, almost as if the developers quietly resented that their game concept was being hamstrung by such a licensing agreement. They put such care into designing a world and characters, and even secured some actual quality voice acting, so it's almost as if they were told about the Skittles tie in and just said "Fuck it." Everything quickly becomes a mockery of adventure game tropes, and even outright mockery of the corporate sponsorship. Playing it again last night, I have to admit that while some of it falls flat, for video game writing and acting, it's surprisingly funny. The game knows it's a shill vessel, and just steers into the skid.
Darkened Skye is not incredible, but it is enjoyable, and you can almost feel the disbelief of the developers in the script. It has great character art, good music, and some good ideas, all chained to a thousand pounds of Skittles... and it actually plays pretty well. No one part is amazing, but the way it all comes together is bizarrely amusing.
Skittels is... really good. Played it?