Button City
City’s itty bitty committee proves pretty
When a game’s cast consists entirely of low-poly animals so cute that even the villain is adorable, you could be forgiven for expecting a narrative with predictable and play-it-safe beats. While this is a family-friendly adventure, it touches on some surprisingly complex subjects (albeit all too briefly). They’re playing fur keeps here.
Button City is the name of the town’s under-threat arcade (which, in a clear case of nominative determinism, is owned and run by Mr Button), and it’s here that your character soon ends up. As it’s a social hub for the local yoof, you quickly scoop up a bunch of quirky friends to hang with.
There are a few playable games in the arcade, which are part of the story and can also be played by challenging certain characters whenever you feel like it. They’re not great; the racing game is okay, the main attraction of ‘Gobabots’ is, y’know, fine, and the rhythm game we really struggled with thanks to a confusing UI.
They’re never a barrier to progress, though, and most of your time is spent wandering around and talking to people… er, animals.
PUP CULTURE
It’s funny pretty much every time it tries to be, with the humour happy to dance from the straightforward to the surreal and back again. Characterisation is sometimes better than the brief runtime of three to four hours would usually allow, with snarky, smart rabbit Chive proving to be our instant favourite. There are side-quests to enable you to explore goings on in hidden corners of the town, which are interesting but not essential.
The humour’s happy to dance from the straightforward to the surreal and back again.
We actually wish the arcade had been ignored to expand on other elements of the story. For example, there’s a respectful take on having somebody living with dementia in the house, but it’s gone almost as soon as it appears. Similarly, the ending doesn’t really deal with the serious issues that lead up to it in a satisfying manner. What’s here is good, but it could have been even better.