Created by a small development team, Copycat is an interactive narrative designed to pull at your heart strings. Told through the eyes of an adopted cat, the plot takes center stage as it discusses the heart breaking topics of abandonment, loss, and how you can only really rely on yourself. It is about the length of a full feature length movie and best played in one sitting.
Since the entire game is designed around its depressing plot, it is difficult to write this review without spoiling anything. Therefore, I wish to be purposely vague because this is one of those games to play for yourself. Don’t watch a Let’s Play. Don’t read a summary. Don’t do too much research. Just play it for yourself so you can participate in the intended experience.
In addition to having a compelling story, the game accurately captures the movement and play control of being a cat. There is a slight, swaying delay with each movement and leaping from platform to platform feels very cattish. This shouldn’t be view negatively as the response time purposely falls in sync with the cat’s animations within each 3D and sometimes 2D space. Meowing on demand is also kind of cute.
The early stages have the cat getting familiar with its new surroundings. Navigating this 3D space feels lived-in and human. As the narrative progresses and starts to take a turn, this cozy safe space becomes dark,brooding, and sometimes dreamlike. At times, the presentation breaks into a mini game. Sometimes you need to tap the dpad to swat something. There is a stealth sequence. The game breaks into an endless runner of sorts a couple of times. There are even segments where the cat is locked to 2D side scrolling camera movement with no option to turn back. All this, on top of exploring the occasional 3D space, and you never really know what style of game is going to appear next.
Since there are so many types of mini games built into this one narrative heavy experience, there is some unfortunate jank. The response time of the dpad hitting mini game doesn’t seem accurate. The pop-in along with the long and frequent load times are annoying. And the camera sometimes doesn’t always cooperate. But again, this downloadable title was created by a small team and the narrative was given priority over its gameplay. In comparison, this isn’t like Little Kitty, Big City where the player is free to explore a highly interactive space. Copycat is about witnessing a story told through a handful of different gameplay types.
Even though it lacks polish in spots, Copycat is simply just one of those games you should play. I think that players 40+ years in age will appreciate this experience the most. Again, I don’t really want to explain why as it ruins the experience, but putting the emphasis on a heart-breaking story, told through the eyes and desperation of a cat, is unique, interesting, and definitely wishlist worthy.
SCORE: 8/10
Also Play: Farewell North
Don’t Forget About: Lost Ember
Wait For It: a sequel to RiME
By: Zachary Gasiorowski, Editor in Chief myGamer.com
X/Twitter: @ZackGaz
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