Cthulhu Saves The World was a unique RPG that saw players take control of Cthulhu in a unique take on the JRPG format, and had fun at the genre’s expense in the process. Developer Zeboyd Games then released a follow-up a few years for PC entitled, Cthulhu Saves Christmas, which has now come to Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5. For those needing a Christmas adventure this year, you can do far worse than Cthulhu’s new adventure. The game begins with Cthulhu once again stripped of his powers and now must team with Santa’s granddaughter and others to rescue the kidnapped Saint Nick, restore his power, and destroy the world by plunging it into madness while engaging in a nice amount of self-aware humour.
Cthulhu Saves Christmas continues the idea of a parody RPG, but this time with much more depth to the mechanics, even if the game itself is shorter. The combat now takes a cue from Cosmic Star Heroine, where combat commands can be used once then need to be reset, while also using some mechanics of Cthulhu Saves The World, such as insanity afflictions and more. It works surprisingly well here and creates a combat system that works better than Cthulhu Saves The World and Cosmic Star Heroine by merging the best of both games. The game walks you through the initial steps via a tutorial, but it is also made the subject of self-aware humour like everything else in this game. Overall though, combat is more refined and more fulfilling here, and the system of determining when your next random battle will be and how to avoid it is very well implemented and made clear.
I must praise the writing overall in Cthulhu Saves Christmas, as it is not only incredibly well done, but better than the first game in so many ways. While some of the Christmas puns got a bit annoying after a while,, they did not ruin my overall enjoyment of the game and did start to grow on me after a few replays. The game is a funny piece of work and dares to go even further than the previous entry ever did. Cthulhu Saves Christmas also brought in ideas that were intended for Cthulhu Saves the world, such as visual novel influences and relationships, or rather I should say, r’leytionshiops. There are many scenarios to play through here, such as Cthulhu getting a job as a mall, Santa, going to movies, hanging out with others and a lot more, but he does it in his own unique way, of course, being an eldritch abomination, and that is where the charm is.
Everything from the UI, to the equipment system, is overhauled here and feels like a game with a lot more experience behind it. Zeboyd has clearly learned from their past work and knows what to do in an RPG and what not to do. The music is exquisite, and the game has a ton of options for players who want to customize the game. With likeable, if sometimes a bit annoying. characters, and combat that is rewarding, I had a blast with the game.
This version comes with some new content as well, so there is still more to experience if you already played the game. There is a New Game+ mode that you can access after beating the game that will allow you to replay the game with a few new story scenes and having the option of harder enemies (optional). These new scenes are pretty great, and you are also able to flesh out the r’leytionshiops you will miss in the first playthrough. There are also a couple of nice new things to find the second time around, and this makes the replay value go up for me since it is not just the same experience.
For those who want something offbeat to play this Christmas, you need to give this one a shot.