#PapoAndYo
May 10, 2023 - Day 130 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 146
Game: Papo & Yo
Platform: Steam
Release Date: May 3, 2019
Library Date: Jul 25, 2021
Unplayed: 654d (1y9m15d)
Playtime: 71m
I'd played through all of my unplayed games up to 2020, and this was the only 2021 non-VR game that's unplayed, so that's a goal knocked on the head.
Papo & Yo is a 3D platformer-puzzler, with something deep to say, that isn't preached at you; it's built right into the core of the game.
If you'd told me this game was released in 2023, not 2013, I'd have believed you.
The graphics & atmosphere are lush, and gorgeous. The game's setting is a surreal representation of a Brazilian "favela" or slum.
As your character Quico runs across cobblestones, sheets of corrugated iron, and terracotta tiles, the sound of his footsteps change to reflect the surfaces, with the terracotta particularly breathtaking.
The game opens with a still frame dedication from the designer to his mother & siblings, on surviving their own monster; at this point I decided to stream it.
It took my breath away multiple times, but particularly as the storyline delved into the character's trauma. It took me to a place emotionally, that I had to end the stream to deal with the feelings.
Papo & Yo is lovely & deeply moving; quite simply, it's:
5: Excellent
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