The eponymous rabbit, Chicory, is beloved and idolised by Pizza. The story beats are almost textbook, coaxing the player into a false sense of security that is shattered when Pizza tries to return the Brush to its rightful Wielder. You explore the cosy hometown of the main character, learning the basics of the mechanics along the way, until an encounter with the big bad propels you into the quest itself. The beginning of the game progresses in a manner familiar to anybody who has played an adventure game before. The question being asked at the core of Chicory is not, “Can I save the world?” but rather, “Why do I have to save the world at all?”Īt the beginning of the game, Pizza arms themself with the Brush, the magical weapon responsible for bringing colour to the world that has been wielded by generations of, well, Wielders, before them. The crux of their arc is a transition from the category of the former to that of the latter, and in doing so, Lobanov turns the whole narrative of an adventure game neatly on its head. Video game protagonists are often inoffensive everyman that the player can freely project their agency upon, or otherwise, more realised characters with stories that allow the player to be immersed in somebody else’s journey. This is a large aspect of the role of video games as an escapist medium. If the protagonist doesn’t think too hard about it, then there is little reason for the player to think too hard about it either, and they are free to continue their merry way hacking through monsters and saving the princess. Life-endangering quests are what they do. There is little need for mental gymnastics to justify the protagonist’s involvement in a potentially life-endangering quest. Video game protagonists with such cheery two-dimensionalities are excellent stand-ins for the players themselves. The protagonist (named after the player’s favourite food, which defaults to “Pizza” if none is selected) is a textbook video game main character-bright-eyed, enthusiastic, and ready to take on the task of saving the whole world armed with little more than their pluck and determination. Chicory is a colouring book turned video game, complete with Zelda-inspired puzzles, Metroidvania elements, and fun side-quests… all of which combine to create a disarmingly devastating commentary on what we are taught to want, as opposed to what we actually need. You play as a cute little dog in a world of anthropomorphic animals with food names, painting in the world of Picnic after a mysterious colour wipe. On its surface, Greg Lobanov’s Chicory: A Colourful Tale is the poster child for escapist video games.
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