Game Review: MiceGard

By Manuel

Players: 1
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5

I'm a sucker for games that remind me of things from my youth, and I was intrigued when I learned that a game featuring warrior mice was set to release on the Switch and PlayStation consoles. My mind immediately went to Redwall, but I kept my expectations open in case the game delivered something totally different from what I was imagining. With that in mind, I'm not sure if Mice Vikings ever entered my thoughts, but we're here to review a game that features exactly that today! The game in question is MiceGard, we're be looking at it on the Nintendo Switch.

MiceGard places you into the shoes of Micel, a warrior within a tribe of mice who have a culture very reminiscent of Middle Ages Vikings. Ill omens abound, and some of the village’s children suddenly go missing. Micel heads off with a small band of warriors to find them, and soon discovers that they have been captured by an invading frog army. This army is led by an evil dictator named Toadon, and he has not only already killed some of the missing mice children, but his armies have also destroyed MiceGard while the warriors were away. MiceGard of course being the name of the land the mice reside in. It goes without saying that these actions kick off a war between the mice and the frogs, and Micel and his warrior friends swear vengeance. Along the way you'll learn that all might not be as it seems, and maybe betrayal amongst your own tribe, and abandonment by the gods themselves, may have brought about the current situation. Either way, those frogs must pay!

I'm not sure what I was expecting story-wise when I booted up MiceGard, but it definitely wasn't what I got. I assumed the tale would be something more along the lines of what one would find in a Redwall novel, but with some Viking trappings added. Instead I got a rather serious tale, full of twists that actually were shocking. Let's start with the obvious, this game actually kills some of the missing children early no. Who does that? I guess MiceGard does... Despite surprising me with that early on, I have to applaud the game for deciding to go against what you might be expecting. I'm sure I'm not the only one thinking things would be as cartoon-y as the visuals. My only complaint as far as storytelling goes would have to be that the entire experience is over pretty quickly. Each stage in the game tells its own little story, and there are even some choices to be made, but you can see everything there is to see here in about two hours. I'm kind of getting ahead of the review a bit, but I would've loved more substance to this one. Short or not, I can't deny that the story kept me invested until the end, and that's not always the case with modern games.

Describing MiceGard's gameplay is a bit complicated, as it's an action game that has a sprinkling of tactics gameplay thrown in as well. You control Micel directly, but you travel in a party of five other mice warriors. You all share a single health bar, and you can potentially all attack in unison too. You party can be placed into three configurations, a defensive stance, an offensive stance, and a free stance. The free stance lets the AI take over your other warriors, while you control Micel. This is only really useful when gathering resources or traveling, as you leave yourself open to attack. The defensive stance splits your party into two halves, three mice form a shield wall, and the other three arm themselves with bows. This formation allows for long-range attacks, but has some limitations that we'll get to in just a bit. The offensive stance sees your party form an outward-facing circle where they all draw their swords. This formation is best used when you're surrounded by enemies, but you can also be quickly overwhelmed as your party seems to take the most damage while in this form.

Another aspect of MiceGard's gameplay is its city building. It's very limited in scope, but it's there throughout the entire game. You can rescue captured mice to rebuild your final army, and you can repair destroyed buildings using stones gathered in each of the stages. By the way, barring mission specific items, stones and health recovery items are the only things you'll have to worry about gathering within stages. Rebuilding buildings not only helps with aesthetics, but they also provide bonus abilities and stats to your party. One of the earliest upgrades actually finalizes the skills your party has at its disposal. At first the long-range defensive stance might seem limited due to the fact that the shield-bearing mice can't do much in the way of offense. Unlocking the dash ability allows you to break an opposing shield wall, and also allows you to travel a bit faster too. Alternatively, adding the shield bash to the offensive stance gives you the ability to block some attacks, though the timing is extremely tight. Other than that, it's just kill the frog enemies and do your best to survive to the next encounter. There are missions to clear sometimes too, but they're not really noteworthy enough to discuss here.

Personally, I found the gameplay loop in MiceGard to be quite rewarding, to the point where I beat the game in a single sitting. Part of the fun is learning how to get through battle without losing much life. There is a surprising amount of thought that has to go into these encounters, as rushing in will just result in a game over. Switching between forms is key, as is a degree of luck and planning. You'll often find yourself moving bit by bit, taking out enemies as they come, and being careful to not be overrun. It's not all perfect though. One annoying aspect of the gameplay I found is that enemies could often simply place themselves within the mice formations. It honestly felt like most of the damage I took in-game was thanks to enemies managing to find a dead spot in the mice formations, like inside the circle of attackers in the offensive stance, and chipped away at my health until I was able to kill them. Part of the reason they're able to do this is the general lack of mobility you have in your formations. The offensive stance moves really slow, and the defensive one is nearly impossible to turn around while formed. I would often break formation and reform constantly in the heat of battle since it was faster than simply moving the already aligned mice. This seemingly minor annoyance made the entire combat system feel a bit wonky, but thankfully it was by no means a deal breaker in terms of gameplay.

Considering that it was the visuals that drew me to MiceGard in the first place, it makes sense that I have mostly positive things to say about them. The game has a cartoon-y look to it that is honestly neat, and that extends to the character and enemy designs as well. Obviously something can be said about the visuals being an odd juxtaposition to the actual story, but that never bothered me in particular. Unfortunately for the game, its brevity does mean that the visual scope is limited too. It wouldn't make sense to pack in tons of enemies and locations in a game that only lasts about an hour two, and the game doesn't really try to go against that thought. Even though the gameplay does change itself up here and there, you'll always be facing off against the same enemies, in the same locations. Thankfully that same pace means that you'll barely notice the repetition going on, but it does detract a bit from the overall presentation.

If there was one part of the game where I found myself to be truly disappointed, it would have to be the sound. The music is pretty much the definition of generic, to the point where I wasn't even sure I was going to mention it all. It's not just the music either, as there are problems with the sound design too. Many sound effects feel muted or missing entirely, and there isn't any sort of voice acting here at all. I know voice acting would've been difficult to include in a game of this scope, but maybe some sounds for the warriors’ attacks or deaths could've been included. The game largely passes by in near silence, and this often went against the dire situations playing out in the story. It may be asking for a lot, but I hope that any follow-ups to the game get more focus put onto their sound.

I already mentioned that most players will probably clear MiceGard within an hour or two, but I don't want to knock it for its short length too much. The game does offer some decent variety in its missions, and there are even different paths you can take to the reach end. I wouldn't exactly call it the most replayable game out there, but there is something to look forward to in subsequent playthroughs if you find yourself looking for more. I like to compare shorter games like this to watching movies, good or bad, and I think that comparison fits perfectly here. Playing MiceGard felt like I was experiencing a fantasy tale told to me in real-time, and its storytelling pace matched the speed of the gameplay perfectly. Considering that the game currently comes with a reasonable price tag of just $9.99, I think that it provides the appropriate level of content to those who choose to pick it up.

Even though there were parts of the game that are far from perfect, I truly think MiceGard is worth playing. Fans of Action RPGs, light strategy games, or even of the Redwall series in general, are likely to something to enjoy here. It's not exactly a difficult game either, so it's perfect for casual players too. I can't help but hope that there's a sequel or follow-up in the works, as I really want to play another game like this, but perhaps one that is given a bit more time to be polished. If that game ever comes out, I'll definitely be back. Until then, see you in the next one!

Check Out MiceGard on Nintendo Switch:
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/micegard-switch/

---

Story: A
Gameplay: B+
Graphics: B
Music/Sound: B-
Value: A

Overall: B+

Pros:
+ A great mix of action and strategic gameplay.
+ The visual style is great, and is very reminiscent of the Redwall series.
+ The story is surprisingly dark given the visuals, and it even has a few shocking twists up its sleeve.
+ Completing the game doesn't take too long, and I for one enjoyed the brisk pace.
+ At just $9.99, picking it up won't break the bank either.

Cons:
- Can be beaten in about two hours or less. This might put off those looking for longer games.
- The music and overall sound design is a bit lacking.
- The surprisingly dark story might not be for everyone. It does sort of bait-and-switch you with its visual style.

A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.

---

Uncle Ben, that you?

#MouseVikings