Introduction
A small but new adventure awaits you, the hallowmon need help and you are the only person that can help the hallowmon! This Halloween you will play as Rain and start with one hallowmon, can you gather all 10 hallowmons?
Costume Kingdom uses multiple genres and smashes them together, the game can be completed in two hours but if you take it slow and casual you might need a few more hours. Combat will take place in the same way as in Pokémon, you use one hallowmon to fight another hallowmon. All hallowmons have different elements and there is also a legendary hallowmon. Whenever you collect a new hallowmon you will also gain a new ability. Your goal in this game is to save the hallowmon and win the apex cup! I hope you love narrating because this game is heavily narrated, some might love it and others will hate it. I think the narrating is done well and it made me laugh many times. My favorite line was when another hallowmon was almost done and then the narrator said: Finish him! You will also hear random comments and the story is also read to you! I wish Final Fantasy would have a narrator.
What did I think of Costume Kingdom before playing?
Costume Kingdom looked amazing before playing, the graphics looked spooky and the combat seemed great. The trailer was awesome!
I love Halloween and there are not many Halloween related games in the world, I noticed there was combat what seemed in the popular Pokémon style.
I don’t have any problem with this at all, using game mechanics from other games is not something new. I encourage developers to use the same game mechanics and try to make it their own.
The sound was spooky and created a good spooky atmosphere, I luckily got the key for this game from the developer but otherwise, the chances were high I would have bought the game.
My wife and I decided to play this game together taking turns as we both were interested in this game.
I rate Costume Kingdom with a 7.8 before playing.
The premise of this game looks great and it looks indeed very spooky! It is clear that the game uses turn-based combat with a Pokémon style and other genres. This game seemed very fun to play near Halloween!
Story
You play as Rain and you start out with one hallowmon but in your journey, you will need to collect more. Your goal is to become stronger and win the apex cup! During your journey, you will learn of the origin of the hallowmon and the predicament that they currently find themselves in. Winning the apex cup and becoming strong enough is the only hope of saving the hallowmon but there is also another path.
You will need to make a difficult choice in the end, can you make the right choice and win the apex cup? Can you catch them all and become the strongest hallowmon trainer?
I rate the story of Costume Kingdom with a 7.0
The story reminded me a lot of Pokémon, this is okay but I had hoped for something more. The fact that the story is fully narrated and that the developer managed to make this all Halloween themed is amazing. I had to take a long look at the story to see what the rating would become. I landed on a 7.0 because of the narration and the story is fun and also uses other elements.
Gameplay
The combat in Costume Kingdom works exactly like what you would expect from a Pokémon-themed game. You use a hallowmon in the battle to beat another hallowmon. There are multiple hallowmon and they have different elements that you need to learn. The narrator explains this in the tutorial. Your hallowmon will level up to a maximum level of 20 and they will have four moves in the end. Your beginning hallowmon is strong to almost beat the entire game! When you have multiple hallowmon in your party, up to six hallowmon. They will also gain experience points when not being used in a battle. Instead of catching hallowmon you will gain them through quests and random chests hidden in the world. You will encounter random hallowmon when walking through high grass. When in battle you select a move that seems useful and hope to win the battle, your hallowmon will always go first. this means it will mostly be a damage per second race instead of using tactics. You can switch hallowmon at the aeon gate when you have more than six hallowmon. There is also a legendary hallowmon that you will gain at the end of the game.
You will need to collect currency while playing to buy new potions for in battle or other items. These currencies are candies, yum! You can find candies on the ground or when you have won a battle. You can also go trick or treating at houses, beating quests will also grant you candies. There is also a zoo where candy will generate slowly over time, if you buy more exhibits the candy will be generated faster. At the end of the game, you will end up with way too much candy! There are some more ways to earn candy, you can play platform planet where you will need to complete a course. The game has slight platforming elements, you will be able to double jump in Costume Kingdom.
Every time that you collect a new hallowmon you will gain a new ability, some are useful and others are not. One hallowmon might just give you more candy from some loot spots but another hallowmon will give you the ability to glide or even swim in the water. I am still not sure what the last ability does that you gain from collecting the legendary hallowmon.
I rate the gameplay of Costume Kingdom with a 7.2
The gameplay is indeed a lot like Pokémon but you can see that the developer tried to be different and add other genres into the game. It is sad that the game is short because with more hallowmon and more places to explore this game could have been much better! The mechanics are solid and the Halloween themed fun is high which is what Costume Kingdom tries to achieve.
Sound and Graphics
The graphics looked good but there were many clippings and technical errors that lead to some bugs. One of these graphical clippings leads to almost missing an hallowmon!
The sound is very good and it sounds very spooky, the narrating is done very well and I liked it. I do wish there were more lines as the narrator did start to repeat himself a lot after a bit of time.
I rate the sound and graphics with a 6.5
The graphics had a bit of a problem here and there which can lead to game-breaking bugs. The aeon gate also bugged a few times when interacting with it. I had the feeling that I needed to save a lot since a crash could be around the corner.
The narrating is very fun but I wish there were more lines, the sound was great for creating a Halloween themed game.
What did I think of Costume Kingdom after playing?
The game does have some problems and could have used a bit more finetuning but that is the biggest problem.
The game feels unpolished but it is still very fun, I hoped there were more hallowmon and a longer storyline.
My wife and I agree that we enjoyed the game a lot but it was way too short and it was missing other places to visit.
Some of the abilities that you unlock come way too late as by that time they are not needed anymore but they are still fun to use.
The hallowmon were missing a speed stat which decides who goes first, this made it so that you almost always win. A big problem was also that you heal after every battle, this makes the game way to easy.
I was also missing a shop to buy potions to heal up or anything else, I wish there would be a shop and a hard mode! All in all, this game is fun but there are some flaws in this game.
Costume Kingdom was exactly what I expected but there were a few problems that I encountered that bothered me.
I rate Costume Kingdom after playing with a 7.0
There are too many problems with Costume Kingdom to give the game a higher rating after playing but that does not take away how much fun I had with this game. If you are looking for a Halloween themed game this is one of the better ones, Halloween games are rare and I am glad another Halloween game has joined the ranks.
My personal rating of Costume Kingdom
I really loved this game but I had expected more hallowmon and more areas to explore. The idea of the game is wonderful and I hope that the developer will make it bigger and better! I did like the game a lot, we even managed to get a platinum trophy!
My personal rating of Costume Kingdom is an 8.0
Pros and Cons
Pros
– A new Halloween themed game.
– The hallowmon looks cute.
– You can play trick or treat.
– The story is good and it is fully narrated.
– This game is loads of fun with an easy platinum trophy for your collection!
Cons
– You can clip a little bit into the wall in the second apex cup and avoid the apex cup leader to skip the battle and break the game.
– The game is very small and can be completed within 2 hours.
– The game is very easy and needs some finetuning.
– The hallowmon are missing a speed stat which makes the battles a damage per second race.
Despite having its fair share of pros and cons this game is really good and fun, a game can have cons and still be really fun! If you are looking for a Halloween themed game, I recommend that you play this one!
The final rating for Costume Kingdom is…drumroll…
7.1
You can leave your thoughts about the game in the comment section or leave your own rating.
I hope you enjoyed reading this review, I hope to you see you in the next review!
