Ittle Dew 2’s story relentlessly pokes fun at its own genre and that is its greatest strength. More often that not it will make you laugh with its jokes, but other areas did leave me wanting.
Plot
I’m not going to spend too much time talking about the plot of Ittle Dew 2 because, well, Ittle Dew 2’s plot is more of a joke of a stereotypical RPG story than anything substantial. Without any backstory - Ittle the adventurer, and her flying fox companion Tippsie, arrive at an island only for their raft to be destroyed. Instead of making a new raft out of trees, like Tippsie suggests, they instead decide to conquer the eight dungeons of the island to get the eight pieces of a raft. For the most part, that’s the extent of the plot. Your only task is to find and complete those eight dungeons. While it is a funny take of the ‘you must collect x number of items’ RPG troupe, obviously it’s not substantial enough to keep you engaged. Unfortunately, the new ‘Dream World’(which is exclusive to the Nintendo Switch version of Ittle Dew 2) doesn’t do much to fix the plot issues.
Writing
This is where Ittle Dew 2 shines. You know how I said that Ittle Dew 2’s plot was a joke of a stereotypical RPG? Well it doesn’t stop poking fun at videogame troupes there. Having ittle talk about how she can glow in dark - because most games make the area just around the character visible in dark areas - is so refreshing and clever. Ittle and Tipsey break the 4th wall constantly like that – for example when they talk about the tutorial dungeon which is literally enemies hitting you with foam swords.
The humor is what keeps ittle dew 2 afloat for its 5-hour main journey. Aside from its jabs at video games, Ittle Dew 2’s humor caught me off guard because it can be so unexpected. it makes jokes out of things you would never expect. One time in particular I was so blindsided by the joke that I burst out laughing. I was walking through a grave yard when ittle says it’s a “Stick Plantation”. It’s because I was absolutely not expecting a joke that made it so funny. Ittle Dew 2 is chalk full of hilarious jokes without ever resorting to low brow humor. Every joke is clever and Even though all the jokes are kid friendly that doesn’t mean that adults, like myself, won’t fully enjoy them.
The best humor comes from the banter between Ittle and Tippsie. Ittle acts as the stereotypical adventurer from a video game, while Tippsie is the voice of reason - calling out just how ludicrous games can be. The duo is so great, and I just wanted more and more.
The same can be said for the island inhabitants as well. Nearly everyone you talk to only has a one-line joke or comment, but I still ran up to each one to see what funny thing they would say. I do wish there was just more dialog though, There’s usually a couple lines at the start and end of a dungeon and that’s it. When the dialog is so good, only having those few short scenes is a shame.
Immersion
Ittle Dew 2’s world is nothing if not colorful. From the enemies to different sections of the island, it’s hard not to smile as you explore it. I mean come on, there’s a garbage dungeon - and I mean that literally, not figuratively. You can tell the developers had a ball coming up with the dungeon ideas because most are creative like that. My personal favorite being an art gala dungeon - and yeah it’s as funny as it sounds. There are a couple dungeons that are less interesting though, like a fire and ice dungeon.
The island itself mirrors the strengths and weaknesses of the dungeons. Most areas of the island are really fun, like a wild west area, but a few miss the mark. In a game that makes its name by taking on stereotypes of its genre, having a snowy area just isn’t as creative as I was expecting.
The enemies, on the other hand, are always great. They are just as hilarious as the rest of the game. You start off by killing platypuses – that explode into confetti mind you - and eventually you’ll be battling flexing caucuses. Every time I encountered a new enemy Ittle dew 2 found a new way to surprise me with its personality.
And Ittle Dew 2’s personality extends to the smallest aspects of the game – finding a crayon box that literally colors in a new part of your life bar is impossible not to love. Not to mention that the art style certainly has its charm with its cell shaded graphics. It’s nothing that ever wowed me, but it did enough to keep me in a whimsical mood. However, the art used for dialog I was less of a fan of. I felt like it was much lower quality than the rest of the games’ art.
Conclusion
Itle Dew 2 has a charm about it – there is no denying that. Its bright world mixed with its humor makes for an enjoyable adventure, but it could been better had it had more dialog and a stronger plot.