I don't want to oversell this but we get about a billion Metroidvanias every year and barely any LinkToThePastas and I finally got around to playing Chicory and it's a pretty freaking awesome LinkToThePasta! Although really it's more like a LinkToThePOkami since it has brush mechanics at its core. Though it doesn't really have combat at all outside of the boss fights, and it doesn't have "dungeons" in the sense of long complex puzzle based areas or anything. It's more like an overworld to explore with caves and such and then some specific "levels" which are usually fairly linear and just a handful of screens, sometimes a bit more.

I will say it started off a little slow, but once you get into it and get a few brush mechanics it's super fun. Lots of unique uses of the brush. Lots of interesting puzzles based on the brush, and tons of collectibles including a ton of hats and shirts and stuff, like a TON, you get new ones so fast you barely get to wear the old ones.

Also it's just so CHARMING. Like, I think it's legit the most charming indie game I've played since Undertale. I liked all of the characters, the story is touching, the art design is neat, great music, and you're in control of the color so you can basically make every screen pop.

Really just mostly good things to say. Have been interested in it for awhile and finally gave it a chance, glad that I did.

Did anyone else play this? Feels like the type of game Nintendo fans especially would love...

A slow start, you say? I remember sampling this on Game Pass and thought it seemed pretty boring, but perhaps I should give it a second look... if it's still available...

Yeah honestly I played the first hour or so awhile back and it didn't grip me so I put it down for a month, came back to it just because I wanted to give it another shot, and really got hooked. Early on it feels a bit like "Zelda for babies" but then it finds its own path. Some of the puzzles even stumped me a little bit here and there, though it's certainly not a hard game.

I been meaning to mention that I finished this. A nice little game to relax with over a few nights a week. Definitely better after the beginning, though it remains a little too chatty throughout. This is one of those games where I gotta keep my eyes peeeled, it's easy to miss a collectable or hidden passage, especially when it starts out black and white. The dialogue in the art classes makes me feel like the game knows the player will be awful at them, as there's no way to come anywhere close to the examples with the limited tools given, ha ha.

I would also like to see more top-down games, I generally find them more interesting than side-scroller.