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And downs." Critics are raving, calling "Yo-Yo" the best comeback movie since "Rocky X." It's a plucky tale of a yo-yo who lives in a large rambunctious family, the Oy-Oys.
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What worries me about its likely success is the inevitable toy movies that will follow, because I fear that would make me write a banal and obvious column, filled with things like this:īoy, what's next, a movie about a yo-yo? I can see it now! Tagline: "Life has its ups. I expect it will be duly postmodern and knowing and work on several levels, but if I wanted to spend two hours saturated in pink I'd eat some raw chicken and hug a barrel of Pepto Bismol. Perhaps in keeping with the story of Wake discovering the magical forest realm, the player isn’t given much information about the way things work, either.I don't have any opinion on the Barbie movie, or what it means if you're excited to see a Barbie movie. Although The Wild at Heart isn’t strictly speaking an RPG, some mechanical conveniences from that genre would be welcome. One minor annoyance is that the generally attractive art style doesn’t always do a great job of defining verticality and the game’s map isn’t very informative. But then, this is a fantasy world and of course, spinning a pinwheel here opens a gate over there. Generally speaking, puzzles in The Wild at Heart aren’t too challenging, though sometimes they rely on disparate actions which seemingly don’t logically connect. Different types of Spritelings are hatched and organized at Wake’s camp and they also serve usefully as fairly robust front line soldiers in combat as well, and gathering resources to hatch additional Spritelings is a recurring loop. Those puzzles that can’t be solved by Wake’s tools usually need the help of the Spritelings, small, Pikmin-like specialized creatures that Wake can command to move obstacles, clear away poisonous plants or retrieve hard-to-reach objects.
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Wake’s primary tool is an upgraded vacuum that can suck up treasure and power windmills which then open gates, or it can topple precariously perched trees which fall conveniently to become bridges. Wake is a game-playing, technically adept young man and his tinkering skills and the handheld video game console he brought with him serve him well on his quest through the woods, allowing him to convert screws, bolts and other castoff junk he finds into an upgraded “weapon.” I use heavy quotes here because although there are conflicts and combat throughout the game, it is not explicitly violent and Wake’s device is used mostly for solving puzzles and gathering loot. But the Wild at Heart is a game, not just an illustrated story, and much more of a puzzle action game than I expected from the art style and premise.
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