I don't know about you, but I find that so many games that try to be funny fall short. It is a difficult thing! Different people are frustrated by very different things, so a developer who wants to inject humor into their game is treading on very terrible ground. Racoon Logic has somehow managed to not only outrun these dangers, they've glided over them, arms blazing. Revenge of the Savage Planet is a very funny video game.
This shows up in many small ways, all coming together in this amazing little slapstick device. For one, Revenge of the Savage Planet, as a sequel to the beautiful Journey to the Savage Planet, has shifted the perspective from first person to third person. This allows a festival of fantastic animation to take center stage. Things as simple as the running animation are multiplied to an unusual degree. You slide and slide over goo with the same energy as a Tom and Jerry cartoon, and you kick innocent animals with the intensity of a wino falling over someone's football abandoned on the street.
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Then there is the writing. The game isn't a narrative-heavy experience at all, it's far from an RPG or visual novel, but it's full of jokes and gags that don't overstay their welcome. This, along with a vibrant collection of planets teeming with alien life that sits somewhere between funny and horrifying creates this series of passive humor. A threat, if you will. It is a well-known cliché for a writer to say that a game brought a smile to their face. So, in the spirit of Revenge of the Savage Planet itself overcoming cheap cliches, I will say that it made me laugh. And I was pretty sure I heard similar sounds coming from other nearby forecast stations.
Speaking of the writing, there's a cathartic heart at the core of the game's premise that adds that extra layer of brilliance to ROTSP's charm. You, as an employee of a space colonization company, have resigned and left your job and been left stranded on a distant planet. It's a rich chocolate river of thick and steady jabs at corporate greed, which makes a lot of sense when you consider the developer's creation after the biblical mismanagement of Google Stadia. Jumping off that ship, it's clear that the team has some experience dealing with such ruthless business moves, and they have (as well as their feelings on the games industry to complete) was introduced into the game in a surprising way.
All this stuff only sits well because the game itself is solid. That is obviously the bread and butter of the whole experience. As a metroidvania, you traverse the planets solving puzzles, fighting various creatures, and looting loot. Permanent renewal allows for further exploration, just as our lord and savior Satoru Okada intended. However, given the tone of the game, these are whimsical and wacky in nature – think electric whips and different types of goo. There are lots of extra little tools that you can quickly pick up that will be a toolbox of sorts for a great adventure.
I'm a bit concerned about how the open world layout might make navigating old places of interest a little difficult, but with a cleverly implemented marker system on the in-game map, or a generous automatic POI tracker could solve that manually. I also didn't find the game particularly challenging. I don't think this is a big deal, not every game has to break your balls. However, as a survival game of sorts, there is a certain type of gamer who may be looking for something that is not here. It's a really chill experience, one to laugh with a friend or two.
Overall, Revenge of the Savage Planet is a joyous game. There are elements I didn't get to explore in depth, such as base customization and capturing creatures to use at home (what to do, who knows), but nonetheless it's now a game firmly on my list of expected 2025 releases. It should be yours too! Grab a friend and a pizza and this game will do the rest.
