Short But Sweet
Costume Quest, by Doublefine Productions, creators of the cult classic Psychonauts, led by fan-favorite developer Tim Schafer is an adorably earnest celebration of childhood imagination, centered around that holy grail of childhood, Halloween. Following a male-or-female main character (depending on who you choose) as they attempt to rescue their twin sibling from horrible monsters who are going around ransacking the town and stealing all the candy (and that's terrible) the game become an incredibly solid turn-based RPG. With a clever take on random encounters (will it be a grown-up, or a monster behind that door?) the game's combat transforms the character's costumes from cardboard and duct tape to pure awesome, as representations of what those children's costumes were designed around battle the monsters, using Paper Mario-style QTE integrated turn based combat.
Unfortunately, while the game is undeniably charming, there isn't all that much there. I personally played the recent PC port, which included the DLC expansion Grubbins On Ice, but even with that the game only clocks in at around 8 hours-- And that was for a 100% completion run. Still, I can't say I would have preferred the game to be any longer either. The combat has very little depth to it, introducing "Battle stamps" which equip your character with special effects in combat. Unfortunately, since each character can only have one stamp equip at a time, there's not much strategy to the game. Also, Costume Quest doesn't have nearly as many laugh out loud moments as, say, Psychonauts, though they are certainly still there.
Still, while these complaints hold Costume Quest back from being something great, they don't keep the game from being quite good. The game's charm and very cool costumes kept me entertained, and made me want to see the rest of the game. It's also nice to see a turn based RPG out there that doesn't focus on length by adding hours of level grinding, instead giving a small, focused experience. The game is easily recommendable, and the price point of $15 isn't unreasonable, especially when some modern games only give you 4-5 hours of single player gameplay for $60. Costume Quest is a game you won't regret playing, but if you're like me, you might wish there were just a bit more there, both mechanically, and in terms of length.
