Merrily Perilly

 Switch
Metascore
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  1. nusco
    Dec 14, 2021
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view. Merrily Perilly looks like a point-and-click adventure, but it plays like nothing of the sorts. The protagonist moves through a small map, interacting with seemingly random characters that include a gravy saleswoman, a vampire and a mermaid. When he enters the map, the poor guy is afflicted by dehydration, and this condition will kill him within a minute or two. By talking to NPCs, he can swap this affliction for other "perils", that range from poisoning to curses to a swarm of killer bees. The game is all about discovering which NPC or action will swap one of your perils for another, and then moving through a sequence of perils until you reach one of the endings. The process is probably going to take you 1-2 hours.

    PROS:

    NICE GRAPHICS: The characters are cute, and the art direction is the most consistent part of the game.

    CONS:

    MOST OF THE HUMOR LANDS FLAT: Merrily Perilly never establishes a tone. Most of the jokes feel quite random. When it delves into toilet humor, the game is extremely childish. When it goes for surreal dialogue, it becomes annoyingly hard to follow. I smiled a few times, but that was it.

    THE CORE MECHANIC IS EXTREMELY ANNOYING: The "timed hunger death" mechanic has a reputation for being among the least funny in gaming. This is a whole game built over that mechanic. The constantly ticking death clock sabotages the game's flow, forcing you to repeat the same pointless actions again and again. In a baffling design decision, the timer doesn't stop even during dialogues. That means that you have to speed-read through each sentence, because you're always aware of the clock ticking towards your death.

    THE PUZZLES ARE DEEPLY ILLOGICAL: Only three or four puzzles (like entering the barred gypsy cart) require any amount of lateral thinking. A few more are obvious (you're dying of thirst, so look for a fountain). The vast majority, however, are simply random, and don't even qualify as puzzles (you have a leech, so talk to the mermaid). The game makes a bad job of giving you hints, so it's all about randomly trying to combine each peril with each NPC, hoping for something to happen. The process quickly becomes mechanical, and leaves you with no sense of agency.

    I wanted to like Merrily Perilly. It looks like a fun diversion, and it has competent art and programming. Unfortunately, the game's design is flawed in its very foundations. It feels like a one-day Game Jam idea that was artificially inflated into a commercial game.    … Full Review »