This unique downloadable game on Switch and PC (reviewed on Switch here) has a Wild West motif to it, but that’s not what makes it stand out.  All the graphics are black and white and look like doodles in a schoolkid’s notebook!  Even all the characters are stick people!  In the game, cows have turned into evil demonic creatures and it’s up to you to head out west and try to stop them.  Or not.  You can do pretty much whatever you want in this pseudo open world adventure RPG.

When you first start out, you’ll choose your character’s gender, name, and class job.  These include things like “Cow Puncher” (fighter) or “Beanslinger” (magician).  Then you leave your family’s farm and head out west.  You’ll start out in a small town where you can take on little quests to get used to how the game works, but once you get a horse, you can leave whenever you want for the main area.

While in town, you can talk to people and sometimes get quests and reveal new spots on the map to travel to.  You might have to find an item for someone, or defeat criminal gangs or evil cows.  Befriend and partner up with people who can aid you in fights, and equip yourself with armor and weapons like hats, guns, knives, and more.

Battles are turned-based fare and remind me of RPGs like Final Fantasy.  Take turns using guns and knives to whittle down enemy hit points, but you can do other neat things, too, like build cover to make it harder for baddies to hit you.  After winning you can gain experience points and increase your stats.  Even outside of battle, doing things like cleaning up horse poop after you get a shovel or reading books can add to your stats as well!

West of Loathing is a great game, but I had a few problems with it.  Due to the open world nature, quests and goals can sometimes be a little unclear.  That’s not necessary a bad thing, but at this point in my life I prefer my RPGs to be a bit more straightforward, so the game didn’t hold my interest as much because of that.  Another minor quibble is that the menu screen is a bit cumbersome.  But if you enjoyed games like Red Dead Redemption and like a bit of humor, you’ll definitely want to download this!

Kid Factor:

West of Loathing is rated T for Teen with ESRB descriptors of Crude Humor, Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood, Suggestive Themes, and Use of Alcohol and Tobacco.  Lots of horse poop humor but most of the jokes and suggestive themes are in text only.  You can hit stick figures with guns and knives, but they just fall over when defeated.  No worse than most kids’ schoolwork doodles I’m sure.  I didn’t see any blood, though.  There are bars and drunk stick figures about as well.  I’d say the T for Teen rating is about right, but I’d be ok with mature preteens handling this game, too.

Tags: Game Reviews