Bring the fun back to fungi.
Having your own inspiration isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, I think it’s great that developers can take ideas from successful titles and adapt them to reach new audiences or introduce similar design ideas in their own interpretation. Thinking of Smushi Come Home as an indie version of Breath of the Wild detracts from the value of the game. It’s a small adventure, so it’s a refreshing and approachable adventure game, perfect for those looking for a refreshing and wholesome experience.
Here’s what the elevator pitch looks like: Smushi and his brothers live on a tiny little island in the middle of a lake. One day a bird comes and takes Sumushi away from his family. It’s up to Sumushi to travel through the forest and find his way home. On his way he will meet all kinds of inhabitants of the forest and help them in any way he can.
At its core, Smushi Come Home is a 3D collection platformer. Travel through areas in the woods and encounter all kinds of creatures to help you on your way home. Writing that captures a character’s personality using only text and small sound effects is instantly captivating. While walking, jumping, gliding, and climbing, you can collect crystals to unlock new items and a cute mushroom hat to change Smushi’s appearance. The main content of the gameplay loop is finding specific key items to progress to new areas of the forest.
Looking at the gameplay, you may quickly notice that the stamina and climbing system are similar to Breath of the Wild. But I think Smushi actually gets their information from different sources. Gliding reminded me of his 3D platformers like Rayman 2. I felt that the world and writing were inspired by A Short Hike. The developer really mixed some mechanics together to make it feel like a really solid 3D platformer for him. You can feel the love and inspiration from other titles, but this particular combination makes Smushi truly feel like its own game. Also, a soundtrack with pleasing visuals that make Sumushi feel small in this world using nice depth of field effects for his style and a very adorable track that welcomes you to explore the world. is also helped by
I think the real strength of Smushi Come Home is the fact that you know what type of game you want. No endless lists of quests and items to drag you down, no perfect precision platforming or lengthy puzzles to solve. It’s actually just a cute and fun 3D platformer that takes hours to complete and finish. I am very satisfied. If you have young or inexperienced players who find it too difficult to navigate in 3D space, feel the controls in Breath of the Wild are too intense, or just want to relax in a cozy game, Smushi Come Home is perfect. In fact, it even ran at a very smooth framerate on Switch, which isn’t necessarily the case with his other 3D platformers on the system.
Overall, Smushi Come Home is the definition of a wholesome experience. This type of game is becoming fairly common, but thankfully it stands out for itself by remixing some types of traversal controls. It’s not about speeding up, collecting hundreds of objects, or even fighting enemies. Instead, Smushi finds joy in the moments when he can explore this big world as a tiny little mushroom and finds it a lot of fun to play. For those looking for a short but cozy experience for an afternoon, or to introduce young players to what her 3D platformer is all about, this is one indie he doesn’t want to miss.
