This is an ongoing series where I attempt to play and complete every video game ever, and then rank them to finally decide the Greatest game of all time.

I don't have a VR rig. Sometimes I think that I should get one, it would be fun at least to put my twins in for a little while, but even I know that I wouldn't get real use out of the thing that warrant the money investment. However, that didn't stop me from playing EQQO which I didn't know was a VR title until after completing it. Don't get me wrong, it makes total sense when I stop to think about it, but I just thought it was a funky indie title on the switch that controlled unlike most games I have played.

EQQO tells a short story about a blind child who comes into possession of the final egg of a dead god. You, the player, control the narrator who is the child's mother (another god) and direct the child on an adventure to find a place where the egg can be hatched. It is supposedly based on Ethiopian mythology, but when I tried looking up some key phrases or story-beats nothing was returned, so I will have to take the game's word for it. (if anyone actually knows the story its based on, i would be more than interested to read those). Throughout the journey you are tasked with doing some light puzzle solving, and some light enemy avoidance, and while you do not have direct control over the child, you do control him similar to a point and click adventure.

This game is very touch control friendly, and keeping in mind that this was originally a VR game makes sense, playing it on the switch takes some other adjustments. On the switch you can use the touchscreen to signal where you want the child to run as well as interact with the environment, but I did find it more useful to switch to buttons and a joystick. The most glaring issue (if you are playing on the switch) is to change how the camera responds. Playing the game undocked means that the camera changes based on how you hold and tilt the switch, which can catch you off guard if you are someone who maybe doesn't sit still, or jostles the switch to get comfortable often. You can in fact wrest control away with using the right stick for the camera, but ideally you are going to want to turn off the motion controlled camera, by either playing docked, or through settings.

Seeing as this was meant to be a VR game, each screen is its own level. There is no open world to roam around and get lost in, there is simply a path forward and a path back. Some of the bigger areas, have different camera points that you can affix to in order to get a better angle or find other interactive pieces in the environment, but essentially every area plays the same. You are trying to guide the child from one room to the next, solving puzzles like opening gates, or creating a path (physically) to get from door 1 to door 2. While Eqqo is holding the egg, he can't interact with any elements in the level, so at some points he will need to put the egg down so that he can pull a lever, or push a button. Eqqo is not the only one that wants the egg, so in some levels putting it down and leaving it (to do a different task) will cause the enemies (think dust mites) to try and take the egg for themselves. In these instances, you, the narrator, can pick up rocks or pots to throw at the enemies to hopefully buy yourself time for Eqqo to do his deed and then get back to the egg itself. While these can be somewhat hectic sections causing you to multi task with a timer, the game is forgiving and relatively easy to boot. A failure only kicks you back to the start of the screen(level/puzzle/whatever) and once you get an understanding of how the puzzles work, there really isn't much thought to how to move eqqo between areas (leave egg here, go pull lever, run back to the egg, carry it over here, pull broken pillar to make a bridge, walk across bridge, get to door, done.) There are some boss fights, but they are just puzzles on a strict timer, these can be more frustrating, but i found that past the first encounter I had the cadence of the game down, that future boss fights required little restarts.

The draw of this game is its story and how much you care for the child and the egg. The narrator will tell little vignettes of what the child is saying to the egg, and what the egg is saying back, as well as what is happening during the story, all of which will add to a tale I think is worth telling. The ending was a little confusing for me, but that is probably more because I don't know the source material and less the game's fault. There were also some genuine emotional moments for our heroes, that I felt were well done.

The game is a short 5 hour experience, so it is very much a game you can beat in a weekend if it catches your attention, or you just want to power through. It is also a relatively easy pick up and play game, and one that you can put down and re-visit much later without feeling like you need to start over to re-learn mechanics or controls. In fact I probably played 2 hours back in 2020, and only just picked it up last week where I then finished the game in two sittings, at no point was I lost or struggling to find the groove again.

Its a rough "game" to recommend, because the game elements are fairly easy here. There is no difficulty setting and the puzzles themselves don't offer up a challenge you might get from other puzzlers or adventure games. The story is minimalistic, but well done and that is the draw of the game. If you aren't a story nerd in terms of your games, then this is probably a pass, but otherwise I think its worth the $2-5 it is probably selling for on the Switch marketplace. This game will serve the purpose similar to a fun short story. I might re-read it every 5 years, to remember the good parts, and it won't be a huge time sink to do so, but it can't hold a candle to the favorites.

Is this game the Greatest game of all time: No

Where does it rank: I honestly probably overshot it, but I have it placed at #16. It is sandwiched between #15 Freestyle Street Soccer, and #17 Simpsons Road Rage.. and sits almost dead in the middle of the list as we are now at 33 games ranked.

Up Next: Mega Man 2 (NES) (This one is for you bigsocrates)

Anyone looking for it: here is the link to the list and more if you are interested in following along with me (this is not a self promotion). Here

Thanks for listening.