BOKURA from Kodansha Games Creator’s Lab is a co-op 2D puzzle adventure through a world that is not really what it seems. Check our BOKURA review!
BOKURA from Kodansha Games Creator’s Lab is a co-op 2D puzzle adventure through a world that is not really what it seems. The multiplayer aspect is of the online variety, so each of you will need to own a digital copy of BOKURA as well as have a good internet connection. One player will host, while the other one will join the session. Selecting the same region will make it easier to find each other when entering the password from the host. Once each of you selects a character, your journey will begin.
Things start off as you reminisce about your childhood and the past. You were very close to another boy, and you bonded over playing Packet Monsters – Pakémon for short – up until the latest versions were ready to be released on the Advance. One of the boys won’t be able to continue playing Pakémon since his family can’t afford to get a new console and a new game. The other boy, who has a wealthy family that is neglecting him and doesn’t pay much attention to things, offers to buy two Advance and two copies of the game.
The first boy refuses and instead turns his attention toward the statue up on the hill that can be seen far on the horizon. That’s a statue of the Mayor… and it’s a real eyesore! It’s an ugly statue that is a bit self-serving and shouldn’t have been built in the first place. The rich friend suggests using some fireworks procured during the summer break to destroy the statue’s legs so that the whole thing collapses. You know, the usual summer stuff you normally do.
After each of you gains control of your character, you’ll be able to move around with the left analog stick and the D-Pad. Pressing the B button will allow your character to jump. Pressing and holding down the Y button will make it possible to push or pull objects. You’ll have to work together to solve puzzles. Push a box to cover a hole in the ground so that you can then push another box needed to jump to a platform that would otherwise be too high. Your character might offer some useful advice. Standing below a bridge that is near collapsing will allow you to push a box over it.
You’ll need to always keep in mind that fall damage can kill you. The good news is that if you Assassin’s Creed things a bit and fall into a haystack, you’ll survive! Falling into the water is also a big no-no since either one of the characters will quickly drown, thus forcing an automatic reload of the last checkpoint you managed to reach. Falling from great heights is bad. Falling into the water is bad. Not paying attention to all elements of each puzzle will be bad news.
Anyway, the pair run into a deer’s rotting corpse, and they decide that getting closer to it would be a good choice. The pair collapse… and that’s when things start to get weird. One of the players will be sent into a colorful and cheery world where they will turn into a duck, while the other one is sent into a different version of the world… a world that seems to be set in a post-apocalyptic reality with a heavy dose of steampunk. Oh, and he will have a weird contraption on his head.
The player in the cheerful world will see the other player as a cuddly bear. The one in the steampunk world will see the other player as another robotic entity with a weird contraption for a head. Even the soundtrack for each version of the game will be different! Puzzle elements will also change, so what one character sees as a box might look like a can of soup in the other world. At some points, you’ll split and experience different story scenarios.
And then areas will start to be very different for each player. One of you might have a pond with green water up ahead, while the other one has nothing but solid ground and a box on the right side of the screen. Jumping into the pond would be bad, so the other player will have to push the box to the right spot to have it serve as a floating platform. What one player sees as a box to push and pull, the other one will see as a post with a chain that can be climbed to reach another platform. Push down a box, and it might show up as a huge soda can on the other player’s screen that is needed to climb higher.
BOKURA is a fun co-op 2D puzzle adventure through a world that is not really what it seems. It can only be played online, with both players needing to own the game and one acting as a host that must share a code with the other one for them to join. It’s an interesting journey in which each player will see things in a different way, and communication is key if you want to progress since, after a specific point, each player will not only see the world differently, they will each run into different elements to avoid or objects to use to solve puzzles. It’s a game that should take you around 3-4 hours to complete. BOKURA is out on Nintendo Switch with a $6.99 price tag.
Disclaimer
This BOKURA review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy provided by Kodansha Games Creator’s Lab.
