The plot of the game covers the very idea of the prologue. We play as a Welsh Corgi named Bon-gu. Bong-gu was sleeping on his bed and imidietly given the hale on its head
we understand that these dogs and the location are in the afterlife. The dog was summoned to join the other dogs in the pressence of the Angels in order to be trained. We also see how the
dogs play with humanised squick toys and they re having fun in Dog heaven. We also see that a rainbow bridge can open for more dogs to join as well as their owners who can apparently
come for them and reuinte. Long time passes and one day Bong-gu gets awaken by a familiar smell. It seems the owner of our playable dog has also passed. The angels taking care of the place
do not know what the dog is trying to tell them and thus the dog decides to take matterts in its own paws. With the help of its friend, they distract the guardian Angel and Bong-gu tries to escape.
An elder Angel tries to prevent him but Bong-gu made its mind, it will follow its gut and trace the smell to its human. The Angel warns him that outside of Dog heaven there are shadow creatures who will chase
its angelic halo and harm him. Bong-gu's mind is already made up, and knowing the danger that lurks, it still wants to follow the smell. The Angel seing his determination, grants him his blessing and creates a
guardian butterfly to escort him. Bong-gu is on its way to follow the smell in hopes of reuniting with its master.
Will Bong-gu be fine?
Will the dark shadows stop him?
What will he encounter and what is the smell it picked up leads to?
As you can tell this is a unique story and a full emotional journey from start to finish. Playing as a dog means you cannot use spoken dialogue, only bark. Ofcourse the option shows what Bong-gu thinks and says but every emotion, relies on the delivery of the sound of the barking and the small thought bubble that appears with a small drawing. The same can be told about all the NPCs whose sounds resemble moaning and mumbling similar to games like Splatoon and animal crossing, or the villagers from minecraft. Another way Dreamotion told their story is through flashbacks. Again no words re being spoken however the story is being told through hand drawings. The hand drawings are simplistic but they re very accurate.
The gameplay is simple yet effective. We get control of Bong-gu, a small Welsh Corgi with a big heart which is strongly motivated to find where the scent is coming from. However, Bong-gu is still a dog and its gameplay is limited to what
dogs do. The core gameplay is that of 3D platformer where the player goes through different areas of the afterlife in hopes of reaching is destination. The player is capable of moving around in the 3D area jump. However, the dog is relatively small
and thus the jump is not too high. There is a spring button which will allow the player to run faster and when combined with the jump it can cover a longer distance. Sprint is not infinite, theres a a bar that appears next to the dog when the player
sprints. Once the bar runs out, the dog simply walks and then sprint becomes available again. The stamina consuption is slow and it covers great distance. The Stamina bar can also be extended by finding the Puppy potions.
The player can never get off track because they can use the scent button in order to sniff the path. Once sniffed, the pink path will appear showing the correct way. Alternative colors will appear when the objective differs due to
current story objectives. For example, there will be times where you will be asked to find other NPCs or the nearest water area. The scents color will be blue for the water and white or something else for the other objective. The game also
has some interaction buttons. One button allows the dog to sit down and pressing it a second time will make him lie down. Sitting and lying down wont do anything aside from allowing you to take some nice screenshots. The other buttton will allow
you to interact with the environment. For example, approaching food in a bowl will make Bong-gu eat or drink water when a puddle is found. The interaction button can be used during dialog to respond back to the NPC.
The game also consist of puzzle solving,Stealth Sections, runaway segments and quick time commands. Runaway segments re very similar to the ones found in Crash Bandicoot where the player will either have a side view or a view where
they run towards the screen with something following them. The player should be avoiding incomming obstacles as each hit will bring them closer to the chaser. Quick commands occur often especially during action scenes and chase sequences. A cutscene will be playing and the player should
press the displayed button or tilt the sticks to the directions showned. Failing to do so will play a failed cutscene leading to a restart. More often that others, when theres a long jump, Bongu will leap and will try to catch the edge of the other side, the player will then have to mash a button
to kick himself back up. There are a couple of stealth sections when the dark creatures/halo hunters/demons are nearby. These monsters wish to steal your halo and erase your existance. The player usually hides in bushes or behind obstacles. In some sections being spotted is game over whilst in other
open areas, you can run away from them and hide. Last but not least Puzzle solving is important in order to proceed. Usually theres a companion or someone with you willing to help. For example in one chapter you have a plushy which can pick you up and leap very high or extend it self to form a bridge. In
other cases, the player will have to dig the ground to stay away from wind currents. In other you need to push heavy objects to use as a step or as extra weight. Furthermore, in other cases the player can swap between dogs to distract hunters whilst the other sneaks around.
Theres plenty of minigames or minigame sections that honestly change the gameplay for the better. For example, sailing the sea and perfect timing the speed boost to dodge, playing a ruthm minigame for a tug of war whilst managing your stamina and the endurance of an item and even timing your lick to
help an injured dog calm down when feeling pain. Theres a nice quantity of these mini game sections that re well scattered throughout. Some of them are similar in terms of gameplay but differ in execution based on the map or even the actors included in the sequence. For example, theres sections when big dogs lie down
for your Corgi to step on them but there others where you escort an older dog and you become the stepping stone for them.
I would like to point out, i was waiting for this game since its announcement which was 2-3 years prior to its release. Honestly i really enjoyed the gameplay of My Little Puppy and i also i went ahead and got the platinum trophy for it. It is meant to be a relaxing game and a brief adventure. However, i believe it could ve been further imrpoved with simple mechanics that may seen as nothing but they would increase the games charm. These mechanics are not gameplay changers but they would improve the experience. For example in a game like Stray where you control a cat, you have a "Meow button" that allows the cat to fill in the silent void and can also make NPCS interact with you. For example some bots thought you were cute whilst others were not happy with you. I would ve loved to know how John Wick would react to our barking or how the little baby would. Unfortunately, in my little puppy, Bong-gu only barks when you have to speak to an NPC and its not even optional, you have to do it. Another detail would be to allow the dog to interact with alot of things found around the world. For example, in the current game the dog can kick the soccer ball and play with 2 types of squicky toys but cannot interact with the tennis ball or all any of the other toys found around. Another thing i would ve loved to see is a bigger character customization. Dont get me wrong i do understand Bong-gu is based on the lead developers real life dog that passed away, but i would ve loved to make the dog look slightly to mine or atleast give it more than 7 outfits. The devs did make a couple of dogs model so i would ve loved to swap. Nevertheless i do understand that such a thing could be bad, given that some may wanna play as their Husky but Hushies are tall dogs meanning half of the levels would be unplayable.
Honestly the game doesnt have any post content game. You can replay the main campaign over and over again. There are certain things you can do to get the trophy but most of them will be achieved through the main campaign. For the others, you can use Chapter select and do the things you missed out. There is one type of collectable but its in obvious locations as if the devs wanted you to get them in one go. That item being the Puppy Potions that grant extra stamina.
On the visual department, the game uses a cartoonish art style. The game depicts multiple locations and they did a very good job. The dog heaven is a nice location up in the clouds with its grass, the fountain and the NPCs playing around. The forest begins as a scary dark location
but by the end you restore it to a magical land filled with colorfull trees and flowers making it look like heaven. The caves are dark and scary filled with ponds, rocks and cliffs. The desert is filled with cactus and stones but there re oasis that change the scenery. The islands are
filled with tropical plants, sand castles, tropical animals etc. There are plenty of dog breeds/designs and im especially happy to see a dog using wheels for personal obvious reasons. There are also some nice references around th world. For example as seen in the trailers, you can see
John Wick and theres more stuff like Metal Gear and others. Last but not least i really loved the paper handdrawings when narrating/showing important story parts.
Genuently loved it. The game used the Unity engine.
Audio wise the game does a good job on capturing the feelings of the game and sending you into an emotional roller coaster. The ammount of times i found myself tearing up each time a sad music was on with the hand drawings, i would think i was going through another Final Fantasy Vii Rebirth or a
Kingdom Hearts playthrough without prior knowledge of the game events. As mentioned there isnt any real voice acting just barking and mumbling noices but some of them do capture the feelings of the actor. Aside from that each area has surrounding noices and sounds that capture the essence of the location. For example,
in desert you hear the sand sliding under the dogs paws, in the caves is pure silence with only the steps of the dog and water drops etc.
Overall, My Little Puppy is a relaxing game that can easily make you burst into tears if you ever own a pet and specifically a dog. This idea of our dog waiting for us in the afterlife is a though that hunts most of us and wish we could meet them. The story is delivered nice through its imagery and the hand drawings. The gameplay is simple and it always differ based on the objective however at its core
we control a dog capable of running in a 3D space, jumping and sprintng. We also have an interaction button which can be used to push platforms, take shelter, hide in a bush, and distract hunters. It also include quick time events, multiple minigames and stealth sections. They all balance well with the length of the game. The game does an amazing job combining its music and its imagery to
play with your emotions.
The game does not have much or any post game content. It also does not offer alot of dog customization. It does not need them, but im pretty sure many would ve appreciate a bit more. The game's size is short but its price is reasonable. For a first attempt in a game not made for the IOs and Android, Dreamotion did an amazing job. This is a game that would 100% stay in your head just because the story is something
people can rely on.
This is a video of me playing the game.