Pumpkin Jack

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About the Game

One thing i love about video games is that it allows everyone to create a unique story and narrate it through their characters and their world. Pumpkin Jack was developed by a single individual name Nicolas Meyssonnier. Video Games were always his passion and made him study their art from a young age. Eventually, he came up with the idea of Pumpkin Jack. The game showed potential and so Headup Games help him publish the game. The game was originally only published for the PC, Nintendo Switch and on XBox One in October 2020. Sony's Playstation release came later on in February 2021. Both future generations PS5 and XBox series S/X obtain their version in October 2021.

The game was overall praised and received lots of possitive feedback. In 2024, Nicolas Meyssonnier announced that he funded a new gaming studio known as Evil Raptor and also announced his new upcomming game Akimbot. Pumpkin Jack was a project that worked well for him and he ll be using his knowledge moving forward into his new project and into the whole gaming industry.

It's worth mentionning that Pumpkin Jack DOES NOT have a physical release in none of the platforms.

Story of the Game

The story takes place in a far away land known as Arc En Ciel. A peacefull land where the humans, the animals and every living thing lived in harmony. The land was so pure that made the devil himself hate it. In an act of boredom and to spice things up, the devil cast The curse of The Eternal Night. The curse was capable of controlling every dead, mindless and soulless being and use them to bring chaos to the world. The monsters without losing any time began spreading chaos and destroying the land all around, leaving nothing but fire and rumbles behind them. The human race could not win the fight againts the new threat nor could they co-exists, so they called upon their 'champion'The mighty Wizard. A very powerfull sorcerer who was capable of deafeating this monsters and could potentially bring an end to the Devils curse. The wizard shut himself to his studies and grew all the more powerfull in order to succeed on his quest. The devil excited from the humans respond also called his own pawn/champion for this fight, Stingy Jack. A trickster who the devil banished to wander the world as a wayward spirit. The devil placed his soul into a pumpkin and made the deal with him. the devil would forgive Jacks past acts and grant him aceess to the afterlife in the exchange of killing the Wizzard.
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Jack was then sent to Earth where he sees an owl. The owl claims to work for the devil and that it will overlook Jacks journey as he is hard to trust based on their past history. Jack realizes that the monsters that work for the devil are also attacking him and requests the owl to tell the devil to make stop. However the owl tells him that they re braindead and cannot tell the difference even amongs themselves. Telling the devil wont change anything so he can kill em if he likes. Eventually Jack is also joined by Crow that wishes to join him on his quest. The quest begins as a race from both parties to collect certain artefacts before the inevitable clash.

Who will win this battle, who will fall and who will survive.

Thoughts on the story

I personally enjoy how fun and how simple the story was. This makes the perfect setting for a Halloween themed game. The tale is very simple and straightforward that you can tell at any moment what happened. The character of Pumpik Jack is very well written and he always finds his time to make a joke and even break the forth wall Deadpool style. It doesnt happen alot but when it does its hilarious, especially when he criticizes the plot convenience here and there. The game only has one narrator who will talk in the beginning, at the end and during the start and end of a certain chapter, pretty much narrating what occured in his own sense of humor. The in game cast only interacts with speach bubbles and simple noices.

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Gameplay

Pumpkin Jack at first glance looks like a simple attempt to an action adventure game. The players get control of Jack the trickster and re set to manuver from the start of the level all the way to the end. The game begins the players with a few basic movements abilities such as movement, jumping and dodging. Eventually Jack obtains the ability to double jump helping him reach higher heights. At the start of the game, Jack only holds one weapon and that is a Shovel. The game keeps things fresh by giving Jack a new weapon or a new game mechanic when progressing through the game. By the end of the game Jack will be able to swap between his 5 weapons. His Shovel, Spear, Cursed Sword, Shotgun and Murder of Crows. Some of the weapons are good for close range combat(Shovel & Spear), others are better for long range battle(Shotgun, Crows) and others can be used in both(Cursed Sword). Keep in mind All the weapons have a standard attack when mashing the attack button, a different attack when dodging and imidietly attacking and one for when Jack Jumps and attcks. As mentioned all these weapons can be swapped in the fly. Moreover, the Crow that follows Jack can also be used offensively by commanding it to attack a certain enemy.

During the levels the players will have to use their platforming skills in order to get around the levels. The platforming it self is not very challenging so everyone should be able to manuver freely. Some collectables re hidden behind a more chalenging platforming area but once again everyone should be able to complete it. At the same time, some levels require the players focus on a certain gimmick. For example, the players will have to constantly dodge upcomming damage whilst pushing a payload from one point to the other, others will have Jack defending his area from enemies whilst avoiding obstacles and others will have Jack riding his horse whilst avoiding platforming challenges and using his crow to break certain hazards. If combat consist of 35% of the game, platforming is consist of the rest 45%.
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You might be wondering, "wheres the rest 20%?", the answer is puzzles. Through out the levels the player will have to solve puzzles. Some are optional that will reward the player with a collectable whilst the others re mandatory where the player will have to complete them in order to proceed with the story. Some puzzles will have Jack removing his pumpkin head, in order to go through a small pipe and somehow create a way for his full body to move. For example, throwing his head up a house, to make its way down to open the door from inside. Some puzzles are simple where Jacks head will have to create platforms, others will be rythm based and others more objective focussed. Overall, not all of them re challenging and should be able to be solved by anyone.

Thought of the game

In my opinion the game feels like it was design with Ps3 in mind. It feels like a simple platformer of that era and not as a game destined for the Ps5/PS4. Although to be fair the team behind it was limited. The platforming is simple and fun. The settings re well design and help the game feel more dangerous(even though hit box wise is easy). The combat of the game is fun but i found myself usually using only 3/5 weapons. For example, using the shotgun and the shovel felt more effective than the Murder of crows and Spear. The sword on the other hand is good with some attacks but feels useless in others. For example its jumping attack felt stronger than the normal spam. The puzzles were fun to do and the humor behind Jack removing his head was used pretty good. Overall gameplay wise, the game was fun kept introducing new things to keep things interesting.

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Post Game Content

The game does not have much of post game content. All the players have to do is simply find some collectables. Some of the levels have Gramophones scattered around them which the players will have to collect. Furthermore, Every level has Crow Skulls that once again the players will have to find. These skulls usually create a noice when you re near them thus making it easier to collect. Each level has its own sets of crow skulls to be found and collected. Last but not least the player can collect all of Jacks Clothes and complete his wardrobe.

Sound and Graphics

The game is supposendly being told as a fairytale that the narrator is telling to the players. With that in mind the games narrator begins his story by flipping the pages of his book where different drawings appear on the screen whilst he reads. This drawings are very simple yet charming. They definitely serve their purpose. The ingame graphics on the other hand are not something spectacular. They re very simple but given the fact that it was made by a one man team it gets the pass. They resemble the end of the Ps2 era early Ps3/PSP

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The audio department is pretty good. The Narrator does a fantastic job when telling the story and the way he takes sides is hilarious. For example, in the first cutscenes he comments how boring life at Arc En Ciel is but when the monsters brought chaos he seems more excited. The characters themselves simply make attack sounds and simple screams during both the gameplay and when they exchange dialog. On the other hand the level musics are very good, spooky and set the mood for the entire level/cutscene. Can definetely get the OSTs to play in the back during a Halloween themed party.

Final Thoughts

In conclusion Pumpkin Jack is a very good game developed by a single person. The story of the game is very staright forward and doesnt miss its chance to humor it with small jokes here and there. It does keep things interesting as in the beginning it starts as a race between humanitys sorcerer and Jack. Its also funny cause your enemy is pretty much fighting for their survival whilst you just go out there to get access to the afterlife. The amazing job of the narrator should also be noted in this part. He did an amazing job when explaining the tale. The gameplay on the other hand is pretty good, combining 3D platforming with puzzle solving and action fighting. The developer introduced five different weapon types and also included different game sections where the gameplay differs. Such as going down a mountain with a trolley, or defending your boad from alot of undead. Its very easy but it can get challenging if you dont pay attention. The audio and the graphics may look like a previous gen games but thats not something that should stop you from Purchasing the Game. Overall its a good game and given its price on stores like Play store and Nintendo store it should definetely get your attention. Last but not least this is a game that screams PLAY ME during Halloween.

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