To be honest I thought this would have been a very cheap tie-in VR game, and I went in only because I do really love Wallace & Gromit vibes and wanted to give this a try just because my heart told me so.
I have to say that this game surprised me, it's not that great but it really manages to convey (partially) the same vibes of one of their shorts (especially the Moon one, of course).
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The first thing I noticed and appreciated is that the characters really look like themselves, both visually, since they kind of look like they are made of clay (even though with limitations), but especially their animations!
I was caught by surprise because the poses they made perfectly match the ones in the shorts, and it's not just that, they behave exactly like them, it feels like you are watching a short just in VR, and this is already a big accomplishment for this game.
The way Wallace moves his big mouth while talking, or Gromit moving his eyes and raising his eyebrows every time Wallace does something weird... it's them! The new entry, the robot, is also very cute and fits well with the rest of the team.
Another really cool thing that makes it even more immersive, is that even when you are looking somewhere else, doing some task, Wallace might still perform an animation to eat some cheese (of course, cheese) and you might only see it if you are looking in that instant. It's never something that if you miss it's the end of the world, but it truly helps in making them feel like they are real and you are there with them, which is super important for a VR experience.
I also really loved the art style of the game and the way the materials look like, which reminds me of those pre-rendered backgrounds in old games like Final Fantasy or Myst.
It does trigger nostalgia and also adds a sort of eerie vibes which do fits well the mood.
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Talking about the gameplay, it's really just a simple point and click adventure, very short, but, in my opinion, the proper length considering the simplicity of the game and the "short-like" nature of the original material.
There isn't much to do besides collecting objects and throwing them, but it's enough to keep you going through the different sceneries. The story is clearly the main drive here. The good thing is that they managed to use these simple mechanics to perform different tasks based on the settings you are in, so at least it does not feel too repetitive and also helps in feeling immersed and not just solving one puzzle after the other.
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A thing that makes me feel like this game has not been rushed or cheaply made is the way the devs implemented some UX / UI elements.
For example, if you need to perform a task and you don't do it, sometimes (sadly not always) an icon will appear telling you what to do in a minimalistic and pleasant way, not ruining the atmosphere because it kind of merges well with the rest of the style. This is something I don't take for granted, because more often than not games go the easy way and just open a big popup with plain text, or use some generic button images which ruin the view.
The credits of the game are also well animated, something that also is not always done and that puts a cute ribbon on the story, giving you that "Fin" vibe.
As a last example, I loved the way you use a bag as a menu, and especially loved that every chapter has its own postcard. It does make you feel like they cared for the artistic part of the game, it makes it clear.
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Not everything is perfect though.
My main complaint is that there are no subtitles in the game. I'm good with english, but I can get lost at times, like when I'm looking at the environment and stop listening a bit: in those cases being able to just quickly read helps a lot. Other times the voice volume is just too low or mixed with other sounds, and others I just can't properly understand.
I'm really confused as to why there isn't an option for them, even just in English would have been fine.
The second thing is that in this game you mainly grab stuff, but both the close range and the long range one are too precise. I think they could have just made it easier to grab, especially since there is no challenge in the game. It has been annoying sometimes to have to try to grab 5 times a thing before being able to do it.
Since you don't have to move, I wish the game was just meant to be played seated, because most of the time it's fine, but some you just have to stand up because a lever is slightly too far, or there is something a bit too high in front of you so you have to stand up to see beyond.
There are other minor things, like sometimes it's not very clear what you have to do, and the companion robot does not repeat the task (even though you can use the notebook menu, but I forgot I had it), or some interactions are not very clear, but overall, considering its short duration, it's not problematic.
The game also crashed one time, but the chapters are very short so it was not a problem, and I took advantage to look more at Wallace & Gromit "off camera" animations while restarting that chapter.
Final minor complaint: in one of Wallace talking frames, the mouth is rendered with a few darker parts on the lips which were so annoying, I was so sad because it ruined him a bit, but I'm just nitpicking here.
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That said, I'm really happy I followed my heart and decided to give this experience a chance, I felt like I needed more from the duo (and also just recently rewatched the main shorts) and this experience delivered what I was craving for.
