Flewfie’s Adventure

Developer: Cosmic Boop, Valorware | Publisher: Valorware | Release Date: 2021 | Genre: Action / Adventure / Indie | Website: Official Website | Purchase: Steam

Flewfie’s Adventure is, without a doubt, a game that wears its heart on its sleeve. There’s no edgy storyline or attempts at subverting expectations. Instead, it starts out in a world called Cutemellow, filled with characters that have names like Scientist Snail, Bunn Bunn, and Pinky Panda. Anyone who hasn’t fled already might be interested in knowing that the world of Cutemellow is in a bit of a pickle after a no-good cat, called Uzzo, stole a UFO from Scientist Snail. Unfortunately, Uzzu is using the UFO to wreak havoc, so it is up to Flewfie to give chase and save the day. Fortunately for Flewfie, Scientist Snail has another UFO on hand, and so the adventure begins.

What follows is a side-scrolling title where players guide Flewfie through a range of colorful worlds while shooting at the enemies that are making a nuisance of themselves. Although the quest begins in the sweet and colorful world of Cutemellow, Flewfie will soon venture to other exotic locales, such as Candyverse, Abandonosphere, and Crystal Plains. Each world has five levels to conquer and up to four bosses to defeat before Flewfie can move on to the next area. Players looking for an extra challenge can also get a 100% rating for each level, which involves finding coins and rescuing critters called Bundrops. Each area also features some type of side quest, and there’s even a card game called Fyued that can be played against opponents. Suffice to say that those who pass up on Flewfie’s Adventure purely based on its looks will also be missing out on a lot of content.

The actual gameplay in Flewfie’s Adventure involves piloting a UFO through levels that consists of twisting passages. Depending on the chosen difficulty, these passages tend to be full of enemies, traps, and even a few puzzles. Luckily Flewfie’s UFO is equipped with a weapon that can fire in any direction as well as a beam for picking up and moving objects. If battles become a little too heated, Flewfie can also beat a hasty retreat thanks to the rechargeable boost of the UFO. Even better, a second player can join in and help out as the whole game can be played in local co-op.

We completed the adventure on the “Normal” difficulty, and while we didn’t have any trouble doing so, the enemies certainly put up a spirited fight. Not only are your foes very cute for the most part, but some of the sprites are absolutely enormous. They also have no qualms about hurling a torrent of equally large projectiles your way, which means you need to dodge if you want to survive. There’s usually an abundance of healing items per level, and Flewfie’s UFO has a very generous health gauge, but judging by the “Normal” difficulty, the game might actually pose a challenge if played on “Hard.” Another thing that caught us by surprise is the sheer amount of bosses Flewfie has to face. Each of them is unique and beating them is quite satisfying.

When Flewfie is not busy shooting at enemies, there’s usually something that has to be grabbed by the UFO’s tractor beam and taken somewhere else to open a door. Levels are generally not too big or convoluted, but to make use of the map, Flewfie must first find it hidden away in some corner. Collecting all the coins is simply a matter of flying over them, but freeing the Bundrops is a little trickier. Flewfie must first find Glop the Puzzlemaster by locating the secret door hidden on each level. Players must then complete a puzzle or even win Glop at a game of Fyued to rescue the Bundrop. It’s usually worth the effort, though, as getting 100% for a level unlocks a special chest on the overworld map. By opening these chests, finding hidden chests on the levels, and completing sidequests, Flewfie can build up a collection of outfits, accessories, and UFO parts. In turn, these make a cosmetic difference to how Flewfie and his UFO look and come with stat boosts. Speaking of stats, Flewfie actually earns XP and levels up, which grants increased health and attack damage.

Visually, Flewfie’s Adventure features flat, Paper Mario style 2D sprites for all the characters. These fit the colorful backgrounds perfectly and make for a very eye-catching game. Each level features more shades of color than in a stack of triple-A games combined, though, which might not be to everyone’s taste. Nevertheless, it is clear to see that a lot of care went into the game, and all of the characters, along with the bosses, look like they leaped out of a Saturday morning cartoon. While the game only has five levels before the final showdown with Uzzu, each one is entirely unique, and it was always a treat to see what type of enemies we would face next. Customizing Flewfie and the UFO is also pretty neat, although each new outfit or part provides a stat boost over the previous ones, so there’s no incentive to mix and match. The visuals are backed up by a decent soundtrack with lots of variety. One might expect a game like this to have a soundtrack that is too over the top and annoying, but this is not the case with Flewfie’s Adventure. Sound effects are good, too, with our only gripe being the lack of audio feedback when Flewfie gets hit. Small numbers pop up to indicate damage, but it can be hard to keep track during frantic boss fights. Overall, the controls are very responsive, whether playing with a keyboard and mouse or using a controller.

There’s no denying that Flewfie’s Adventure won’t appeal to everyone. The whole aesthetic of the game makes it look like it is aimed at very young players, and while they will undoubtedly enjoy it, there’s enough here to keep older players entertained too. In addition, completionists will have a blast collecting all 100 Fyued cards and unlocking all the customization components. If you are allergic to anything that can be classified as cute and colorful, you can steer clear of Flewfie’s Adventure, but everyone else should definitely give this game a shot as it might surprise you.