Time for an adventure. There will be knights and wizards and dragons. Well, maybe one of each. And they’ll be kinda peripheral to the serious questing for the greatest footwear that can be found, and hopefully worn. The best boots. I feel like that needs a TM symbol or something.
If it wasn’t shockingly obvious from the artwork this is a lighthearted adventure game. It’s also a good one. I spent a little over three hours completing the main quest and there is still more side content available. Literally dozens of boots to try on. Each one as discardable as the last because they are not the best ones.
I would describe the gameplay focus as exploration and light puzzle solving. At the start there is no map and wandering about discovers many items laying on the ground. Easy pickings for adventurers. Only so many will be of actual use. Such as the currency of tangerines and some natty hats. More useful things will come from elsewhere. There is a running gag on collecting typical items you would find in a more traditional adventure, weapons and artifacts, and immediately ditching them because not-boots. There is no combat in Boots Quest DX. Although there is at least one action sequence.
The main source of puzzles is naturally NPCs and their cryptic troubles. Using items in the right place and time with the right people. Some are much more obvious than others. Listening carefully to what NPCs say should be enough to tip off an action. For the main quest there is a hint giving NPC. That said there is one puzzle I’m still stumped by. It may require another discovery or conversation. Despite finishing the quest my stats say that I’ve only found 123 out of 155 things. There are even more boots!
Design wise I’m more than happy with Boots Quest DX. Exploring is fun due to the frequency of items and encounters. Traversing the land in search of new and secret areas is quick and easy, particularly when you upgrade to dashing, jumping, and wading. These abilities also act to open up new parts of the map. I like the childlike wibbly outline graphics where everything has a constant motion. The music is fitting and stylish, yodeling and all.
Overall, a success. Boots were found, worn and discarded with abandon. Hats were also enjoyed. In fact there is the spiky question as to why hats seem to be more highly valued than boots; never discarded. Hmmm. Important questions perhaps for a sequel.
Available from Steam and Itch.
mishmash 