Getting A Summer Delivery Job: A Mika and the Witch's Mountain Review

By Manuel

Players: 1
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC

Even though I wouldn't call myself their biggest fan, I did enjoy two of Chibig's recent titles. For those unfamiliar, they're the developer/publisher who put out Summer in Mara and Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara. Both games had their issues, but they had loads of charm, and were fun as well. Needless to say I was excited when I heard about the upcoming release of Mika and The Witch's Mountain. Having raised quite a bit of money via a successful Kickstarter last year, it's finally releasing on the Nintendo Switch and Steam. We're going to be taking a look at the Switch release today, and see if it is as good as the other Chibig games I mentioned earlier. There's no need for further introductions, so let's dive in!

As the title implies, Mika and the Witch's Mountain places you into the role of a young girl named Mika. Mika is an aspiring witch who travels to Mount Gaun, the titular Witch's Mountain, to start her training. Her would-be teacher decides that her first lesson will involve flying back up the mountain she just arrived at, and proceeds to toss her off a cliff to the village below. Mika survives the fall, but her broom does not. For the next three days Mika must work for the local delivery service to earn the money needed to fix/upgrade her broom. There's actually a bit more nuance to the plot than that, but that's the basics of it. It's clearly inspired by the Studio Ghibli film Kiki's Delivery Service, with the core focus of the game being Mika delivering several packages and items to the residents of the island. Though there are many colorful characters to meet, you only ever learn about their backstories through package deliveries. While this is an interesting way to tell a story, it also means that most of them will remain strangers for much of the game. Complicating matters further, most players will get whiplash with how soon the credits roll. Mika and the Witch's Mountain is far from a long game, and its narrative seems to cut itself short just as things are finally getting interesting. I'll admit that what little plot we're given isn't bad, but I must also admit that it is rather thin. This might fall under spoiler territory, but I think it also should be mentioned that you never actually get back to the witch training that starts the game. While we're off to a fairly rocky start discussing plot, hopefully things fare better in gameplay.

Though Mika and the Witch's Mountain is a platformer, you'll be doing most of your travelling by air. Controlling Mika on her broom takes quite a bit of getting used to, especially when you're delivering packages. You're able to deliver one to three packages at a time (depending on the broom you have), and you lose ratings for the deliveries if they get damaged or wet. I struggled to figure out how one is supposed to avoid either of those occurrences, and then realized that the entire mechanic relies heavily on jumping. Mika can jump while not on her broom in a standard platforming way, but the same button bounces her broom in the air when used. It's hard to explain outside of the game, but you'll be doing a lot of hopping during your many flights. Hopping is the only way to get yourself off the ground without the use of air gusts, and is something that I'm not sure the game actually ever mentions. That's another problem with the game too, as there doesn't seem to be any way to revisit tutorials. Sadly, I pretty much explained the entire game already. You fly, and you make deliveries. Much of the game revolves around dozens of fetch quests, and the flying mechanic is far from robust. I'll admit things did grow on me after a while, but the beginning was a bit rough. Though I can go on about how much of the game feels like a glorified tech demo, I think there's another issue that I have to address before moving on...

I know that we're still at the beginning of this review, but there's an important issue I think needs to be addressed before moving on. Even though this review is only about the Nintendo Switch release, the game is also currently available on Steam. It actually will eventually release on the XBox, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5 too, but these are the versions we have as of now. My issue lies with the Steam release. Said Steam version is actually an Early Access title, and there are already two scheduled content patches coming this year. That means that the developers are pretty much acknowledging the fact that this is an incomplete game, no matter that there is no mention of any of this for the Switch release. I can't help but wonder if those same content patches will be coming to the Switch also, but it would be kind of mean spirited if they didn't. I haven't finished the review yet, but there really isn't much content here, and it can definitely use any additions that come down the line. My question at this point is why they decided to release it on the Switch if it's clearly unfinished. This is only going to lead to disappointment, and bad reviews all around. I know that the game might be good at some point next year when all the content is added, and the kinks are ironed out, but it's released now. I know this aside might seem random, but it really left a bad taste in my mouth regarding the game. It honestly feels that this release was rushed to meet some Kickstarter goal I'm not familiar with, and I can say that the game suffers in just about every way because of it.

Unfortunately, the game's odd Early Access release on Steam isn't the only problem I have with it. I already mentioned the wonky flying and thin plot earlier, but both aren't helped by the fact that the game goes for something resembling an open world concept. You're able to complete a lot of tasks out of order, and I actually got myself stuck doing this exact thing. It'll take too long to explain the specifics of how I got stuck, but I stumbled into what is apparently a known issue regarding putting out a fire on a plane that can soft lock you from completing the game. This issue forced me to restart, and it still exists as of this writing. (NOTE: During the editing phase a patch was released that fixed this error, but broke many other things. So I guess we still have to wait for a stable release.) Literal game breaking bugs aside, there's still more. The lack of an on-screen minimap adds so much time to the gameplay that I can't help but think it was taken out so that the game's runtime can be a bit padded out. Seeing as you have to constantly go into a menu to get your bearings, not including a minimap has to be intentional. Then there's the bonus content, like hidden costumes and such, that all seem like pointless busy work. Smashing clay pots for tarot cards isn't fun, and neither is scouring the entire island for small statues to trade in for costumes. Mika and the Witch's Mountain isn't without its charm, but the lack of polish really makes it hard to like the game at times.

Mika and the Witch's Mountain has an art style that is sure to be familiar with anyone who has played a Chibig title before. It's cute, it's colorful, and it gives off storybook vibes in the best of ways. I personally like that it didn't lean into any anime art styles, as it gives the game an identity of its own. If it had gone for that aesthetic, I think the dollar store Kiki's Delivery Service vibes would've been too hard to ignore. Even though the game looks pretty good, I was surprised that it had some performance issues. There are several times where the game has distracting amounts of draw-in, with it seemingly happening most often during cutscenes. There were also times where the game seemed to hiccup a bit, and jump forward a second or so as if it was catching up with itself. Neither of these issues are as game-breaking as the soft lock issues, but they're annoying nevertheless. Though it's still a mixed bag, I have to grudgingly say that the best aspect of Mika and the Witch's Mountain are its visuals.

Part of me thinks that the entire gameplay experience would've been better if the game had a great soundtrack, but unfortunately the music we get is as mediocre as the rest of the game. None of it is bad by any means, but I can't think of a single track that caught my attention during my entire playthrough. The music just exists, and there doesn't seem to be a lot of variety to it either. That's not the only place where the sound falters, as the game seems to be missing several sound effects too. There were times when I missed my packages taking damage because they wouldn't be a sound for collision, and other times when I'd hear something, but not take any damage. It made for an uneven experience all around, and once you notice how many actions and environmental stuff just exist in silence, it'll be hard to not notice it throughout the rest of the game. The last issue I have with sound has to do with the game's voice acting, or lack thereof. I'd actually have liked it better if Mika and the Witch's Mountain was just silent during all the dialogue sections, as what we get instead made me cringe more than once. Instead of actual voiced dialogue, we get grunts, sighs, laughs, and other random noises. Any part of me that liked Mika died once I heard her giggle incessantly during cutscenes, and I'm baffled why the developers went this lazy route. Though I'd give the current broken nature of the gameplay a slight nod, I think sound is a close second to the single worst aspect of the game.

Most players will probably beat Mika and the Witch's Mountain in about 3-5 hours. I probably would've been able to clear it faster myself if I wasn't always fumbling for the game's map, but that's neither here nor there. I guess there is the promise of future content for the Switch release, but I won't count on that here. With the current amount of content in mind, I don't know if the game's $19.99 price tag is justifiable. Maybe if there was triple game on offer (I'm thinking back to those two promised content patches...) I'd be more forgiving, but it's a pretty lackluster experience that should be in the lower range of the budget pricing as far as I'm concerned. No matter how you look at it, the game in its current state feels like an extended demo, or one of those "Prologue" releases some titles get before they get an actual full release. I'd go far easier on it if the game was up front with what it apparently is, but I can't in good conscious give it credit for things that aren't included in it yet. And by "things", I mean any future DLC and game-breaking bug fixes.

Part of me wants to love the game for its charm, and maybe even for the simple joys of flying, but I still don't think that's enough to warrant picking up Mika and the Witch's Mountain as it currently exists today. It's not a horrible game, but there's enough here to warrant staying away. It's short, it has several annoying gameplay mechanics, it's technically still broken at the time of this writing, and it might also be incomplete as far as releases go. That's all just a bit much in my book, and the best I can say is maybe wait until next year to get it if you're interested in playing it. Hopefully by that point it'll be an actual complete game. See you in the next one.

Check Out Mika and the Witch's Mountain on Nintendo Switch:
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/mika-and-the-witchs-mountain-switch/

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Story: C
Gameplay: C-
Graphics: B
Music/Sound: C-
Value: C-

Overall: C-

Pros:
+ A fun and charming game that gives off Kiki's Delivery Service vibes.
+ The game's graphics are cute and colorful, and really add to the game's charm.
+ Though it can take a bit of practice to get used to the flying mechanics, that aspect of the game can be fun and enjoyable.
+ There are lots of bonus objectives and collectables for all the completionists out there.

+/- Though I don't seem to be able to find a roadmap for the Switch release, it's possible that there is more content coming in the future.

Cons:
- The game is extremely short, to the point where it feels unfinished.
- Though flying is the focus of the game, it's not particularly fun.
- Even though the world and characters seem like they'd deliver a great story, the plot is very thin.
- The core gameplay literally boils down to dozens of simple fetch quests.
- Music is mediocre, sound effects seem missing, and the sounds that replace the game's voice acting made me wish they hadn't bothered at all.
- Releasing the exact same game on Steam in Early Access is a very confusing move, and leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
- Has several game breaking bugs as of this writing.

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.

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Always RUN when an employer says their employees are "family".

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