Chibi-Robo (5/10/26) - Score - 9/10
Chibi-Robo has been a game I’ve wanted to play for a while. I even had the chance at one point to purchase it for…300 dollars. I passed because…300 dollars. With it finally available on the Switch 2’s Nintendo Classics service though it was finally time to give this game a go on stream.
First off, it should be noted that while I have not played Chibi-Robo before, I have played games that have shared Chibi-Robo’s DNA. The reason for this is due to the origin of the developers of this game, Skip Ltd. Basically a whole slew of creative employees from Square (Who worked on games such as Live a Live, Super Mario RPG and Chrono Trigger,) went on to form a company called Love-de-Lic. Love-de-Lic only made 3 games but you’ve likely heard of one of them, Moon: Remix RPG. Moon is an insanely creative and subversive game for its time and despite its obtuseness, I greatly enjoyed my time with it when I streamed it 5 years ago.
After Love-de-Lic folded, the game designers and artist who made up Love-de-Lic went on to found 3 different game studios. Those being Punchline, Vanpool and of course Skip Ltd. And if you’ve played any games from these companies as well as played Moon you quickly realize that they tend to all share a similar vibe. They also tend to be some of the most unique and creative games of all time. Chulip, The Tingle games, Captain Rainbow, The Art Style games, Dillon’s Rolling Western and of course Chibi-Robo. Most of them tend to be very weird and likely not everyone will gel with them. But for me I’ve loved most of the games I've played from these studios and would like to play even more of them. But having really enjoyed the two Tingle Games as well as Moon, I knew Chibi-Robo would gel with me.
Chibi-Robo right off the bat is much more approachable than Tingle or Moon. It’s more forgiving, especially with what starts off as its main mechanic. Similar to Moon the main ‘goal’ of the game is to go around interacting with the weird denizens of the Sandersons house and make them happy. In Moon however, you had a time limit and once you hit it you would have to restart the cycle similar to Majora’s Mask. So how far you could explore the world and what you could do was limited by that counter, which could be expanded as you made progress. Chibi-Robo is very similar in that regard due to your battery only lasting so long before you need to plug yourself in and recharge. As you progress in the game by getting more happy points, you gain a larger battery allowing you to explore longer.
But the thing is with Moon doing this kind of acts as a puzzle to solve, trying to figure out what you could do to increase your very limited timer. In Chibi-Robo, while some activities are difficult with a limited battery (like going outside, going upstairs or going down the drain,) overall you have a lot more options since outlets are fairly plentiful throughout the household. The only thing holding you back from exploring is making sure you top off your battery and keep an eye on it before it runs out. That’s not to say there are no elements of the battery limit creating a puzzle scenario, but it very quickly becomes less an interesting game play mechanic and more just an annoyance you have to keep track of. Especially the more batteries you earn.
In general Chibi-Robo feels like a filed down Moon in this way. Some of the rougher aspects of Moon that would turn most players away are lacking, but some of the more interesting elements and weirdness tend to also be lost. This has allowed Chibi-Robo to easily obtain the largest cult following of these types of games, though having a cute mascot also helps it as well. That’s not to say that Chibi-Robo is bad because of this, just to point out that for most people what seems as jarring or weird to them for me felt more muted. Chibi-Robo is weird and its gameplay can be a bit jarring as you do chores and tasks but for me it felt a bit safer than I was expecting.
That said, it’s still really good. A filed down Moon or Tingle is still a great game because it retains the same vibe and game philosophy that made those games fun. The game lives and dies on its charm and its cast of zany characters kept me engaged the entire time. On top of that, while at times I felt a bit lost as to what was needed to progress the plot, I almost always had some avenue to explore. It scratched that kind of itch I have when playing puzzle or mystery games where I keep exploring different paths to see what opens up. Just as I start to run out of things to do, I enter the bedroom and gain the ability to squirt liquids. Or I find a shovel. It’s the kind of 3D platforming type game I really gel with and want to see more of. It’s why I love Banjo Tooie, just figuring out where to go next feels very satisfying.
While it's very generous in giving you money and happy points to allow you to progress, I’m mostly ok with this because there are still enough obtuse sidequests that give some of that friction I like without it being too frustrating. Granted having a twitch chat helped, but even if I didn’t have them I never felt like Chibi Robo felt like it was unfun in its difficulty. Doing chores and helping characters also felt rewarding because I was constantly entertained by this bizarre world.
That said, I do have some minor complaints. The fact that the plug mechanic quickly becomes irrelevant in terms of game play choice is disappointing. I also think that while most of the items being in a menu are fine, the copter being tied to the game’s menu is annoying when you consider how often you need it for platforming. Having to drag it out and then put it back away wouldn’t have felt so bad if it was just a button press.
Overall Chibi-Robo is very different from most of the games the AAA studios pump out. I can see why a lot of people gravitated towards it, because it’s weird enough to be intriguing but not too weird and difficult to turn people away. It’s like people want to rebel from the norm, but not too much you know. So I’m very glad if this game was an introduction to the work of these talented game developers and I encourage them to maybe dip a little deeper into the pool in the future to see if they would be into some of the more bizarre games. Even still Chibi-Robo is fantastic and now I can join in with everyone else being sad that he’s dead.
