When Monster grabs Quico in his jaws and shakes him to the side like a rag doll, it ends up being a lot more affecting than much more graphic and heavily staged moments in many other games. But this only makes Monster's frog-fueled transformation into a raging, unstoppable fiery beast all the more terrifying. The beast is initially presented as a lazy, gentle giant whose belly can be used for a trampoline-like super jump. The giant pink monster that follows Quico around through most of the game (named "Monster," appropriately enough) is also a study in contrasts. There's a sense of childlike imagination at play in the way the game adds a layer of magic into the rundown world, and it's likely to make you look at your own surroundings a little differently after you play.
This is a world where tugging a glowing thread can pull a stairway out of the side of a building, where lifting a cardboard box can cause an entire building to come unmoored from its foundations, where shacks can sprout legs and scuttle into place to provide a handy bridge. Everything in the world is suffused with an undertone of magical realism, where seemingly ordinary objects can take on new forms.
These favelas are almost a character in themselves, creating a space that is at turns imposing and surprisingly awe-inspiring. Quico escapes through a convenient wall portal that opens into some disquietingly empty slums, densely packed with realistically dingy shacks with thin plywood roofs. The game's delicate balance between childlike wonder and much darker fear is set early on, with protagonist Quico cowering in a closet as a lumbering shadow stalks in the background. Indeed, the sparse, dreamlike fable told over the course of Papo & Yo is likely to stick with you long after its short running time is complete.
Links: | MinorityWhen a game starts off with a dedication “to my mother, brother, and sisters with whom I survived my monster father,” you can be pretty sure it's not going to be your run-of-the-mill, disposable piece of thoughtless entertainment.
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