Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, folks! To end 2023 with a true Christmas review, and to write something in December, I found a nice little title on Itch.io, as it’s hard to find titles that revolve around these holidays elsewhere. The only title I recall is Cthulhu Saves Christmas, from the guys at Zomboid games. Does it deserve your attention during the most wonderful time of the year? Let’s find out.
Introduction
Yuletide is the only work of Studio Roco, who developed the game in a month for the Indie Game Making Contest 2018. . Unfortunately, it didn’t win any prizes, but that’s not a testament of the game’s quality.
The game takes its name from Yule, a pagan celebration of the ancient Germanic peoples, that later ended up absorbed by Christmas. But don’t worry, the game has no religious content, taking a more ludic approach, with toys, presents, and alcohol-free eggnogs.
As most jam titles, it’s very short, and you won’t spend more than two hours with it. But are those two hours worth it? Let’s discover ahead.
The Narrative
In Yuletide’s world, there is a continent in the north called Polaria, a land full of mysteries and dangers. Many people attempt to reach it, but none ever returned. Your character, Nick, is one of those persons. After arriving in a cave, he finds a cloaked figure who gives him a magical bag that can hold anything that can fit through its opening. With this new artifact, Nick will travel through snowy caves and hills, hoping to finally reach Polaria.
The main plot is simple, but the mysterious clocked person makes you think that there is something more going on in Polaria. There are also a few hints about Nick’s harsh life, with poverty and rejection. It also hints that he may change thanks to his experiences here.
Regrettably, we will never know, as the story remains unfinished, as the developer’s last update was on December 2020. It’s a pity, as there is a lot of potential here. The developer can write some nice jokes and has a good nonsensical humor, that never feels artificial. A very unfortunate situation.
Presentation
The game utilizes the RPG Maker MV engine, and while the maps and sprites are simple, the enemy art is great. It’s simple, just wireframe drawings, but they have a lot of personality and style. That’s why art direction is usually more important than graphics when we think about longevity in games. The songs are also good, so you won’t have to mute the game to play.
Mechanics
Battle System
It’s interesting that Yuletide is classified as an RPG. It sure does have the RPG framework, with leveling, HP, and a variety of battle actions, but it plays like a puzzle game. Instead of killing your enemies, your objective is to calm them down through presents.
As combat starts, you will have three types of action available: Contend, which are common attacks that change for each enemy; Social, that is used to talk to opponents and learn more about them; Magic Bag, which is your limitless inventory.
On easier fights, you only need to talk to the enemy and give them an item that fulfills their needs. For example, for a broken rocking horse, you just give them glue so they can repair their damage parts. If you don’t have the necessary item, you can use one of the availabe Contend commands to kill the enemy and drop out of combat. Later on, stronger enemies will require different combinations of commands so they can accept your gifts.
It’s a fun combat system, but as said before, it’s more of a puzzle in the guise of an RPG battle system.
As for the enemies, they are a lot of fun. They are naughty, quirky, and sometimes douches. You will fight rocking horses, naughty sweaters, pedantic sweaters, evil snow man, and even someone’s aunt fruit cake. It’s a great selection.
Final Thoughts
Yuletide is a good game that will give you between one and two hours of gameplay, perfect if you have your family for the holidays and need a quick scape from them. It subverts the traditional turn-based battle system, and I always a fan of games that do it. It’s also free, so I don’t see why I wouldn’t recommend it.
Final opinion: Recommended if you have one or two hours to spare during the holidays.