Finally, a decent game to play on the Switch 2: The Perfect Pencil! Alright, so it’s not a Switch 2 version of the game, but it’s perfectly suitable for on-the-go/under the blanket while the rest of the family binge on Netflix, making you feel both relaxed and reflective at the same time.
Studio Cima’s psychological platformer has been on my radar for at least four years, comfortably sitting in my wishlist, collecting as much dust as my treadmill, though with unfaltering love. Though this is available on Steam, and my drug of choice, I really needed something to justify getting into bed with Nintendo again, and this is it.
You play John, a headless hero, who enters a surreal, dream-like world who will soon don an old-school CCTV camera as a proxy for his noggin, then later find a sword in the guise of a pencil to battle some of the most imaginative, even lovable, characters you’ll experience in a platformer. Yes, this is deemed a Metroidvania, but as with Nocturnal 2, my criteria for the sub-genre means that the sub-genre is overly difficult.
The Perfect Pencil isn’t overly difficult, though it is challenging. Platforming works beautifully, and there are no elements of unwanted frustration or unfair expectations of the player in that area, though combat is a mixed bag. John uses simple attacks, later upgradeable, to repel unwanted attention with a focus on evasion and timing rather than combinations.
Charged attacks naturally cause more damage, though you can also prepare a strong attack that will heal you (provided you have enough juice in the hit bank – awarded from hitting enemies) if you time it right. Said timing isn’t unfair in the slightest, and as long as you pay attention to enemy patterns, it’s manageable. Boss areas weren’t as accommodating in my experience. The actual characters were brilliant, though when first getting used to the way they attack, it can be frustrating to repeat. That’s a skill issue, mind.
In The Perfect Pencil, John will navigate each biome befriending NPCs with their niche little side quests that are mostly a game or fetch, or an opportunity to grind areas for orbs that award better attacks and some perspective (more on that in a sec). It really is a beautiful-looking game, which you can see in the screenshots and accompanying footage, yet the real standout for me is the writing.
Diving deep into your psyche, the dialogue will often be subtle and reframe contradicting terms. Sometimes it feels fruitless when responding, as the wording is just a deconstruction of the phrase before; however, you soon find yourself deep in thought and contemplating the semantics. At least, that’s what I was doing and found it witty, profound and thoroughly engaging. Though that is a highlight for my tastes, everything about The Perfect Pencil is… well, as perfect as it can be.
There’s an old school vibe without being for nostalgia purposes or borrowing on a trend like a Vampire Survivors type game, or anything else that is selling well. As indicated at the start of this review, it’s been firmly on my radar for some years, and I wasn’t remotely disappointed. That quiet during its development almost reset some of that expectation and anticipation, meaning that I was genuinely immersed in the experience by the time I got to play it, and considering this was on the hateful Switch 2, that goes to show what a great game it is.
So, The Perfect Pencil gameplay is great. Platforming was very satisfying, there were constant secret paths, shortcuts and collectable ‘lore’ to find, beautiful graphics and amusing sound production. It was a bit of a mixed bag for combat, but emphasis on that being a skill issue, but overall a wholesome experience that covers plenty of deep and profound sentiment – sometimes dark, and laced with wit throughout make this a bloomin’ joy to play. Yes, you fools – of course I’m recommending it.
