PixlBit | "Straddling the line between video game and interactive experience, Papo & Yo explores some very mature subject matter through an innocent façade. Through the eyes of Quico, a young South American boy, players take a journey through a unique and abstract world in order to cure companion Monster of his frog addiction. Portrayed in no uncertain terms, Monster represents Quico’s abusive alcoholic father who is a friend and tremendous burden. While Papo & Yo’s gameplay is certainly rough around the edges, its presentation, story, and delivery are unparalleled in the medium."
PSLS: "Five years ago indie studio Minority Media released Papo & Yo on the PlayStation Store. The 3D puzzle-platformer features contrasting settings of a fantasy world where monsters exist and the broken down favelas of Brazil. As the player continues solving block puzzles and attempting to keep their friendly beast of a partner away from the frogs that enrage him, they start to learn that this isn’t a story of fantasy, but of a young boy trying to find an escape from an alcoholic and abusive father."
This game and it's meaning are very deep. If you know the developers story and depending on your own childhood playing this game can be a healing or scar opening experience.
It's great that this excellent game helped you grow. I never had to deal with the things this game portrays in my home, but one a dead on analogy for one of my friends and his Dad. It was scary when he'd come home drunk at 1 or so in the morning. The guy I talked to at dinner with the nice smile and kind eyes was gone replaced by a beast of a man who was willing to scream at and hit his family for apparently no reason.
I find it odd that videogames as a medium are so disregarded as an art form/medium that can convey powerful messages. I almost feel like movies lately have lost that touch because they are just being churned out to be churned out. Meanwhile, there seems to be more videogames that have made made me go through a broad range of emotions and sometimes connect with in game characters on a more personal level. I also love how music and sounds in videogames has come so far to become very effective for setting moods and eliciting feelings as well.
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While dementia and Alzheimer’s impact the lives of millions, it’s a relatively rare subject in the escapist fantasy worlds of video games. Not surprising. Who wants to be reminded of a disease that has no known cure and that robs people of their memories and identities?
Nice review. I had the same thoughts on it.