Friends, rodents, countrymice, prick up your ears
And attend to this ditty of mine...
This isn't a review, just a bunch of stuff I adored that I'm still reeling from. Really, not only did I think the game was great in its own right, but it just laser-targeted so much of itself to my personal interests, inclinations, thoughts and beliefs as well as being a UK dweller from a celtic nation... so even considering the generally glowing reviews, I realise I might be in a particular minority in just how much it struck a chord with me.
The game is not flawless, and I did not care.
Full spoilers ahead, if you haven't completed it there is absolutely no value in you reading below the line. Just, like, go play it!
- The little "battle ready" stance hopping animations in the battles are just, GOD they're so cool and adorable.
- The characters just being incredibly likeable in general.
- The absolutely unapologetic commie politics which pops up in all kinds of places - an NPC dialogue here, an "AGAB" graffiti there - including in the actual main story and its antagonists' representations of capitalist democrats, monarchists and fascists. Along those lines...
- The fucking grey squirrel fash leader vaping was hilarious. OF COURSE HE DOES.
- Siobhan exploding the thinly-veiled counterpart to the "well, actually," bad faith alt-right Internet Debater fash out the window had me absolutely cackling with glee
- The reveal of the House of Commons with the word "HELL" emblazoned across most of the screen was fucking kino. There is no kiss chef enough for such a moment. I loved it because like, yeah, but also it made complete sense within the game's worldbuilding too.
- Using the Forbidden Magic Mace was also a great "if you know, you know" moment.
- The representation gay, bi, trans and possibly ace folks was delightful.
- The way Siobhan was ultimately left no choice but to reject their family (who clearly did not care about them having any agency) in order to put themselves above the demands of their family felt real.
- I'm a sucker for celtic nations representation too and I really want there to continue to be more Welsh characters in games. I wanna do my best to be a part of this too!
- How vividly I could hear all the characters' accents in my head, whether it's Welsh, Scottish, Irish, RP, MLE, cockney, etc etc. The way the writing communicated the accents felt clear but not overrought.
- Bruce's story of the red squirrels being pushed out by the grey squirrels up into Wales and Scotland actually reflecting the introduction of grey squirrels to the UK and how it happened historically.
- Rat-tailed Rover?? I literally just went back to the pub later in the game to listen to the song again. Then I listened to it from youtube before I was even done with the game because it was stuck in my head so much. A catchy tune indeed.
- The whole soundtrack was a success, really.
- The sexy mice mag, yet another of many "I hope this doesn't awaken anything in me..." moments spread throughout my life
- I liked the menu sound effects. They aren't overly chimey. They're slightly dulled in a charming way that fits the tone of the game.
- The way it showed how a small society of creatures subjected to human testing in a laboratory would adapt and submit was something I found fascinating, even if most of it is left to the imagination it was still very affecting
- The fact that you have all of London representing Rodentia, and that the scale means it is in fact as big as an entire country to these creatures, and the wide gaps between the locales just adds so much to the imagination of the limitless possibilties of this world, were there to be a sequel (or separate story in a different time in the same location). I'd completely understand if this is one-and-done, but there's so much potential here too.
There's probably a bunch more that I'll add if they come to mind, but alas my sieve-esque brain can only hold so much at a time.