Gravity Falls seems like the kind of show that would translate well into the realm of video games. From Zelda to Mario to Donkey Kong, the Disney cult hit has trotted out references to many of gaming's greatest franchises. In fact one of the best episodes of the series, "Fight Fighters", is about main character Dipper accidentally bringing a Street Fighter-esque character into the real world. It's phenomenal. It really makes one wonder how Ubisoft managed to get a video game version so wrong.
It should be noted that Gravity Falls: Legend of the Gnome Gemulets, while still sticking with the major themes of the show, unfortunately does not have a focus on any of the gaming-related content we've seen in the series. No Rumble McSkirmish. No Giffany. No NORT. It seems like an enormous waste, as Gravity Falls is a show that loves to make nods towards gaming culture. Why they wouldn't include these aspects in an actual video game is bewildering.
Lack of gaming references aside, Gnome Gemulets does have some of the most hilarious character dialogue in recent memory. Not to mention a goofy plot worth it's weight in cavorting beavers. The whole storyline is pure Gravity Falls gold, and stands out as the game's biggest selling point - especially from a fan perspective. In the game's first moments a strange creature flies by the Mystery Shack to which Mabel exclaimes, "A flying log! With a person face! I'll call him Loggo!" Classic Mabel. If you know the characters well you'll hear their words echo in your head, and it sounds right. The writers of the game did a fantastic job capturing the spirit and the silliness of each character and playing off their personalities. Sadly this is where most of the fun ends.
Players control Dipper and Mabel, Gravity Falls' mystery twins, throughout different environments as they collect items and solve puzzles. It's your classic 2D hop-and-bop approach with some power-ups thrown in for good measure. It's decent at best in this aspect. Players can switch between Dipper and Mabel to use their unique powers (grappling hook!) in specific situations, but it always seems like more of a hinderance than anything else.
This is mainly due to the game's insistence that players be in the exact right spot at the time of use. Gnome Gemulets also forces players to backtrack through the stage if they get to end without picking up some of Grunkle Stan's mystery items. The problem is that players may not even realize they've missed them before it's time to turn around and replay through the stage.
Gnome Gemulets is set up as a collectathon platformer in the spirit of Rayman Legends. In fact UbiArt, the same engine behind the recent Rayman reboots, is utilised for Gravity Falls' first 3DS outing. This is easy to see in many areas of the game where Rayman-esque elements appear, such as floating on air currents and swinging from ropes to reach new surfaces. There are even Lum-like orbs that Dipper and Mabel can collect along their journey.
It's certainly a problem when you're actually hoping a cut scene won't end, because you'd rather listen to the characters jabber on than trudge through another level. The levels themselves aren't terrible in design, they're just not very diverse. They seem to feature the same obstacle over and over, pushing players to use their special power-ups here and there, but never really challenging them.
The worst part is the enemies, if you can call them that. There aren't many to be found and the ones that players do come upon are so painfully slow and unaggressive that they'll find themselves simply skipping the fight all together. The creators of the game couldn't even be bothered to make five of the six big bosses anything more than colour-swapped models with some slight differences in attack pattern and obstacles.
The development team do know how to ink pretty 2D game, and the multi-layer backdrops and smooth character animations look fluid as players trek through the forest and underground. It's certainly not a bad look, but as anyone who played Rayman Origins on the 3DS knows, hand drawn graphics are all about detail, and they can become a bit muddled behind the top screens large pixels. The visuals are fine, but it would be nice to see the environments of Gravity Falls on a bigger screen where players could take in its grandeur.
Then there's the collecting. Everyone in Gravity Falls needs you to find something they have miraculously lost. And we mean everyone. Players will find books, dumbbells, pages, potions, cassettes, floppy discs, trophie, and more scattered throughout the game's few levels. It does give you something to quest for after the game has been conquered, but there is virtually no incentive. Not that it'll stop you from picking up the items on your quest, as they are usually sitting in plain sight on the level's main path. It's padding, plain and simple. Something the game does often, telling players they need to go back to a certain stage to talk to one character only to be told to go back to another stage for some similar reason. It can be a bit aggravating, to say the least.
Game length is another aspect that Gnome Gemulets struggles with. Standard players will be able to complete the game's main quest in roughly three hours, while a bit of longevity can be added by hunting down the few left over items Dipper and Mabel couldn't reach on their first go round. The game's short play time is mostly due to the fact that there are only a handful of stages to complete. The whole setup seems more fitting to a download-only eShop title than a full budget retail game.
Conclusion
Fans of the Gravity Falls television series will find plenty to smile about in the snappy character dialogue and running gags, but Gnome Gemulets is far too short and far too repetitive to make them smile for long. This is a game only young players will likely enjoy on the whole, while others will be left scratching their heads as to how a show with so much personality churned out such a dull game.
Comments 35
Meh, disappointing. I was hoping for a good Gravity Falls game but Ubisoft have delivered yet another game that looks unfinished.
Crap, I really wanted this one to be good
Been wondering when Nintendo Life would finally review this game, not that it really matters, since I already bought it sometime last week. It probably would've been in my best interest to wait until the review before I made my purchase, as I agree 100% with everything said. I don't really see my purchase as a waste of $30, but rather an investment to support a show I care deeply about, with a game (albeit a generic one) as a gift for my contribution.
Enemy variety should have been the easy part. Just watch an episode at random and you will find a good candidate or two.
Not surprised it's bad, Gravity Falls isn't that great either.
Shame i was looking forward to a Gravity Falls video game. Disney should jump at the opportunity for a 3D free roam video game
GASP! A bad licensed game!
@Not_Soos At least the humor is there. I did laugh out loud on various occasions.
@sWiTcHeRoO Whoa now, buddy. Let's not say anything we can't take back. Gravity Falls is fantastic!
Love the show, was hoping this would be good.
@BenBertoli Opinions.
I was worried this would end up exactly like this when I saw that it was some 2D platformer.
Can't say I'm surprised after the fact.
The humor and plot shouldn't come as a surprise, though - Alex Kirsch himself worked on the in-game dialogue.
Well, that's a letdown. It's the only non-KH Disney game I ever got kind of excited about. ...Okay, I can't say that. I got hyped for Disney Magical Kingdom, and that one actually was really good, IMO. But this could have had even more potential, though...
@sWiTcHeRoO True that. To each their own.
Man, that's a shame... I was expecting it after hearing impressions from multiple people, though. I'll pick it up, since I'm a huge fan of the show, but only when I can get it cheap.
@sWiTcHeRoO Matt Chapman writes for it, so you are factually incorrect.
@Dr_Corndog Ok.
As someone who LOVES this series to death, I'm very sad to see this was as much of a disappointing game as I expected it to be. I do realize that sounds like a contradiction.
Telltale is wasting their talents on that Minecraft game (this is not a diss to Minecraft for the record) when an already amazing story driven, mystery driven kid's show is right there.
Whilst it's a very short game (I got my copy last week & finished the main quest in around four hours with a few collectibles left to find), I found it to be a really fun game & a perfect recreation of the show from the settings, dialogue between the characters, music etc with some great 3d visuals.
Sure it could do with more enemies, boss variety (despite the twist) & a bit more platforming too considering there's only a handful of levels but it's still a thoroughly fun, enjoyable & hilarious adventure for those that are a fan of the show.
(Plus there's a nice..appearance from a certain mastermind not to mention a coded message at the end of the credits which I thought was a rather cool treat).
Well that's unfortunate. Seems like you should get it during a sale rather than full price.
The episodes have so much variety. How did they manage to have a game repeat itself for 3 hours. The show would of been perfect for a point and click mystery like the new adventure time game. In fact it seems much to obvious that I can't beleive they didn't make one. I wonder if they had Bill Cypher is in it. I hope when Steven Universe gets games they are good.
@amiiboacid Because large corporations apparently put deadlines over quantity. I can't really think of another reason
@LztheQuack Thats why indie games can be very high quality while being under such small budgets. I just hope all the time pays of for Zelda U and it becomes 2016 game of the year.
that's a shame the cartoon looks really good, and so did this game sad that game got a low score, but the series looks good sooo....... there a win on that!
Dang. I really like the show and enjoy watching it in the morning before work. It's a shame that there are so few good tv show/movie games out there. This one in particular, because the show has so much variety and endless potential for level design/bosses. Also, I played a Super Mario Maker level recently and it showcased the Gravity Falls theme. It blew my mind.
Too bad. Guess I'll pick it up when the price drops.
@amiiboacid There's a Steven Universe game on iOS (and Android, I think). Apparently, it's actually really rather good.
Aw, well I shouldn't be surprised, most liscened games aren't good. Also doesn't 'cult' mean something that isn't popular when it comes out, but gets fans overtime? "Gravity Falls" was an instant hit when it came out.
Aw, really hoped this would turn out better seeing how great the show is (not counting the tons of hiatuses thrown in). Still, no Bill Cipher or Ford, no buy
I can see this being worth $5 or $10 in the inevitable bin it will wind up in after a year or so, I can wait until then.
In the UK this game is cheap, and so I got it, and I loved it. It's exactly what I expected, and glad they didn't drag it down with stuff that's already on the show. It's easy, and it's an original story written by Alex Hirsch himself. I'd have at least given it a 6.
@sWiTcHeRoO Opinion yes, but I find Gravity Falls to be one of the best cartoons I've seen. Very well-written and interesting.
WHY
WAS THIS
NOT
A LUCASARTS STYLE
POINT AND CLICK ADVENTURE
IT'S LIKE THEY HATE MONEY
@rjejr I wanted to know if you were picking this up for your kids. The family in the cartoon is Jewish, you see.
@amiiboacid I have no idea what this is, but judging from those graphics and the Cars wannabe title even if my kids starred in it personally they still probably wouldn't want to play it.
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