Ah, it’s Halloween and every kid in Auburn Pines is treat-or-treating. A quiet neighborhood where everyone knows each other is the perfect place to score easy sweets right? Too bad you have to take your twin with you, or else you’re grounded. What a drag!
Meet Wren and Reynold, twin siblings who love candy but, highly dislike one another. My journey with these two began in the family living room. I witnessed their mom giving out rules before they ventured outside. She seemed very optimistic, while their father didn’t have much to say behind his newspaper. It was when she said that they would be sticking together that these two began fighting. To stop the chaos, one sibling had to be put in charge. I was now playing as Mom, having to choose which sibling I would go outside as. Since she seemed confident and headstrong, I chose to be Wren. Reynold did not like that much. Thankfully, as my new little brother, he had no choice but to comply. We grabbed our costumes, and headed out of the door.
Auburn Pines is a cozy little suburban place, filled with decorative homes,
playfully dressed up children, and police if anything should go wrong. My objective is to simply knock on each neighbor’s door, and collect my candy. I walked up to my first house. I looked absolutely adorable in my cardboard robot costume, but my lame brother dressed up as a candy corn. Can you believe that he cost us a whole bag of candy? After being harshly insulted and given a piece of diabetic marzipan, my brother ran to the house next door. I hate following this dork, but something wasn’t right about this house. I watched as Reynold knocked, revealing an odd, green monster with horns. I trembled in fear as I watched him take my brother to a giant “Monster Gate”. Looks like the monsters are called Grubbins, and are out to steal all of the candy! What could possibly make this Halloween worse? Oh yeah, they DID take Reynold. Sigh, I better figure out how to open that gate, and get him back.
After Reynold or Wren (depending on who you choose to play as) is mistaken for a talking candy corn, it is the other sibling’s mission to save them. You now must trick or treat at every house for candy, in order for the area’s monster gate to open. Advancing through each level’s monster gate will lead you to your 
brother or sister, saving you from punishment. Combat is a big part of Costume Quest and as you travel, you will run into several Grubbins who love robbing houses for candy. When a fight is first initiated, your cardboard costume transforms in a giant blue mech that resembles a Transformer. Double Fine does not hold back in both its humorous dialogue, and cartoonish presentation. Launching a robot fist into a Grubbin’s face delivers a sequence of comic book effects, and looks pretty funny. Pressing the corresponding buttons prompts can either make an attack more powerful on offense, or cause an enemy attack to soften its blow. For even more punch, a peppermint candy meter is filled with each turn. Once completed, a costume’s special attack is available for use. Bombarding my opponent with numerous missiles ended our battle. Winning duels can reward XP, which is used to level up your character help in future battles. Candy is also rewarded to exchange for battle stamps.
To keep track of progress, there is the Notebook. Here, battle stamps can be equipped to a character for positive and negative combat effects. The Notebook also holds status information, level progress, and a quest log. While fighting Grubbins, you may come across collectible trading cards that unlock a special costume. All costumes collected throughout your adventure have different abilities. For example, the robot costume allows for faster travel, while the knight costume shields both you and your party. Each level is filled with all kinds of nooks and crannies, just waiting to be explored. Between playing mini-games, finding hidden candy, and talking to the locals, there is a lot of fun to be had here. At a price point of $15 for both PSN and Xbox 360, Costume Quest is a nice ride that offers something for everyone…except those looking for something more.
After going through Costume Quest’s short lived story, I found the combat to be repetitive. The auto save feature can be unforgiving. Collecting candy is always nice, but it gets to a point to where running into a monster seems almost dreadful. After an area is explored, there isn’t much left to do but move on to the next. What seemed fresh soon turns into “Oh, I’ve been here before”. To make things a little more complicated, there is no map. Quests do not appear with waypoints or anything, leaving you to guess where they are located. The camera is pretty standard, and does not allow much for much panning.Which can create a bit of frustration at times. The music is nice at first, but soon forgettable.
Final Thought:
If you’re the type of gamer that enjoys the plot, aesthetics, and are willing to forgive a few mishaps; Costume Quest is for you. If you’re looking for something with more replay value, stay far away, and trick-or-treat elsewhere.
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