One of the things that I always fight inside myself is how people view or think about me. Even though I tell myself all the time that other people’s opinions about me do not matter to me, deep down I know that there is at least part of me who thinks about that. The thoughts always range from “do I belong here?” to “do these people actually like me or are they just pretending?”, even when I know that those thoughts are ridiculous and I don’t have to worry about that, it happens anyway. This is just one of the topics that Chicory: A Colorful Tale covers about mental health. A game that looks like a cute, fun painting game on the outside, till you realize it is so much more once you get into the nitty gritty.
The beginning parts of Chicory are not the usual opening for someone who is going to become the hero/main character of the game. You start the game by telling it what your favorite food is. My favorite food is Spaghetti, so that will become the name of my hero of the story. Everyone in Chicory: A Colorful Tale is named after some type of food item, and it is the most charming thing. It really helps bring some personality to this world, which it is already overflowing with.
Spaghetti is the janitor for Chicory, who when the story starts is the “Wielder” of the brush and is supposed to be the best artist in the world and the only one who can paint in color. The world then goes through a horrific event and all the color is erased. With Chicory nowhere to be found, but the brush just sitting on the ground, so Spaghetti has to step up to the plate and figure out what is going on.
That event is the catalyst for the rest of the story and is also where we start to get some of the mental health themes to surface. When the color got taken from the world, something else also started to sprout up in its place: The Darkness. The Darkness is represented in the world by these scary, twisted trees that start appearing everywhere in the world. I don’t want to spoil too much when it comes to the boss fights, which are my favorite part of the game but you realize The Darkness feeds off of peoples insecurities about themselves and those insecurities are what influence the boss fights against The Darkness.
Mental health is something that games have never been the best at portraying. Usually games will do it in a way that play into all the stereotypes that mental health has been dealing with for five plus decades, a man or woman getting carried away in a white straight jacket while screaming and getting shoved into the back of a white van. Whether it is imposter syndrome, depression, pressure of expectations, or personal anxieties, Chicory does a great job of handling each of these topics with tact, and actually goes somewhat in depth with conversations between the characters.
I also want to shout out the accessibility options and hint system in the game. You can really tailor this game down to exactly how you want it. Do you want to get rid of the wet sounds that comes from the brush because it is unsettling to you, then you can do that! Do you want to make it where you can take 4 hits instead of 2 hits during boss fights, you can do that. It is very open ended. Same thing with the hint system, which is built into the universe by a phone booth that you use to call your parents. As someone who also will call his mother when I need help with big decisions or just someone else to bounce my thoughts off of, this hint system is very relatable.
I would also be remiss in this review if I did not mention the music in this game. Lena Raine, who also did the music in Celeste, is behind the music in Chicory and all of it is great. All the music in the boss fights just helped take those moments to the next level. One of my favorite moments with music in the game is when you set off to go to Dinners, which is supposed to be the “big city” of the game since every other place you had been to was more like a small town. It reminded me of when you go to Celedon City in Pokemon Blue/Red, and the different music kicks in, and you just feel how different this place is from everywhere you have been.
Chicory: A Colorful Tale is not going to hit everyone like it did me, which is okay. I do think this game shows why indie games are so important to the overall medium of video games, because most AAA studios would not be able to make something this personal and intimate. Hopefully developers and creators can look at Chicory: A Colorful Tale and be inspired by how they handle mental health, while still making a game full of life and fun.
Editors Note: This review is now available in VIDEO!!
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