Papo & Yo is not the game I expected to play when I first saw it announced at E3 last year. Yes, the game is a fantasy adventure game that has you platforming through a fantasitcal version of Brazilian favelas with a giant monster who follows you around. But there is a much deeper, darker story that exists underneath that has really taken me by surprise and it’s one that I’m not sure if it is something I want to experience in a video game.
You play a boy named Quico, and right from the beginning we see him hiding in a closet from an angry beast. Quico holds on to his robot action figure named Lula and tries to block out the rage he hears on the other side of the door. While in the closet a white portal opens up and Quico, drawn to it, goes through it and ends up in a courtyard surrounded by favela houses. It is here is where you begin your tutorial on how to navigate this Inception-like world where you use different switches and devices in the environment to alter everything around you. This world is also Quico’s escape, in his mind, from the troubles he faces in reality. It is immediately clear that there is a very deep and personal story that runs throughout this game.
When you are introduced to Monster, he is visually an intimidating figure. He is huge and lumbering, with big horns and big teeth, always grunting as he walks around. But he is actually a gentle giant, who is always looking for coconuts to eat and actually will play soccer with Quico when you throw a ball at him. He is Quico’s friend in his normal state, but when Monster sees frogs and eats them he turns into a fiery, raging beast that will hurt Quico any chance he gets. When you are playing as Quico and befriending Monster it’s a very sweet thing to experience, on the filp side it can be very disorienting and emotionally hurtful to see Quico get tossed around and physically hurt by Monster when he is in rampage mode. Knowing that Quico and Monster’s relationship is a metaphor for the relationship that Quico has with someone in the real world it can become emotionally jarring and makes your forget that you are playing a video game. I won’t go into detail about who Monster really is but if you have seen the cinematic trailer for the game then you can guess who Monster is in relation to Quico.
Gameplay wise, Papo & Yo is set up like a puzzle platformer, with an environment that you can bend and alter to your will. This is Quico’s world so he can reshape it however he needs to get to his next goal. It’s not extremely difficult to figure out how to get to the next area, and there are hint boxes that assist in figuring out what to do next if you do get a little stumped. Despite it’s simplicity it is still a pretty magical experience, for example, picking up and moving a cardboard box around which moves an actual building around so that you can build a bridge over a ravine. The first time performing such a task actually put a little smile on my face. Consequently it is this fun, jovial gaming experience in contrast to the very heavy, emotionally jarring storyline that makes it difficult for me to say whether or not I “enjoy” this game.
I will admit, the game’s themes are hitting a nerve with me personally and it’s brought about some emotional stuff from my childhood that I haven’t had to deal with in a long time. At one point in the game I had to stop playing and step away from my PlayStation because I was actually bothered by what I was feeling at the time. I’d imagine that this is not an accident by design because the creator of the game has expressed in some developer diaries that this is a very personal story to him and he has put his personal experiences into Papo y Yo. I imagine that not everyone will feel the way I feel, but I will say that the game is one that is uniquely special when it can draw out such an emotional response. Not too many games now a days can do this and I can appreciate that Papo y Yo is trying to create a TRUE and GENUINE gaming experience. I just don’t know if I really want to experience such emotions while I’m playing a video game, an activity that I like to engage in when I want to escape reality and not relive it.
If you are tired of the same uninspired games that exist out there then you might want to try out Papo & Yo for yourself. It is something that is not experienced very often in games, but it might not be something you want to endure emotionally if full on escapism is what you are looking for in a video gaming experience.
