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gobliiins 5: typos

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Wouter Groeneveld 2023-05-15 22:06:00 +02:00
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@ -11,9 +11,11 @@ game_release_year: '2023'
game_developer: 'Pierre Gilhodes'
---
In case that isn't clear yet from the theme of this website, I love the quirky [Gobliins](/tags/gobliins) puzzle [adventure](/tags/adventure) games. [Gobliins 2: The Prince Buffoon](/games/pc/gobliins-2) had a massive impact on me when I was just a wee lad; it was my _Monkey Island_ revelation. My dad bought the boxed copy back in the day that came with a novel color code lookup copy protection. I didn't understand most of the English and even though we jotted down every word revealed to us after desparately taking a joker, I don't think we ever finished the games in the nineties.
In case that isn't yet clear from the theme of this website, I love the quirky [Gobliins](/tags/gobliins) puzzle [adventure](/tags/adventure) games. [Gobliins 2: The Prince Buffoon](/games/pc/gobliins-2) had a massive impact on me when I was just a wee lad; it was my personal _Monkey Island_ revelation. My dad bought the boxed copy back in the day that came with a novel color code lookup copy protection. I didn't understand most of the English and even though we jotted down every word revealed to us after desparately taking a joker, I don't think we ever finished the games in the nineties.
Years after Coktel Vision died, the Goblins co-creator Pierre Gilhodes took stab at creating a successor with a 3D engine. That was a big mistake resulting in confusing puzzles, difficult navigation, and ultimately poor reviews for _Gobliiins 4_. Luckily, in 2022, the Kickstarter reveal of _Gobliiins 5_ showed a return to quirky 2D cartoon humor: Pierre was determined to bring back the original Goblins vibe, exciting many old-time fans such as myself. The game was eventually also released [on itch.io](https://pierre-gilhodes.itch.io/gobliiins5) for `$11`. But is it as great as its pixelated ancestors?
Years after Coktel Vision died, the Goblins co-creator Pierre Gilhodes took a stab at creating a successor with a 3D engine. That was a big mistake resulting in confusing puzzles, difficult navigation, and ultimately poor reviews for _Gobliiins 4_. Luckily, in 2022, the Kickstarter reveal of _Gobliiins 5_[^gobi] showed a return to quirky 2D cartoon humor: Pierre was determined to bring back the original Goblins vibe, exciting many old-time fans such as myself. The game was eventually also released [on itch.io](https://pierre-gilhodes.itch.io/gobliiins5) for `$11`. But is it as great as its pixelated ancestors?
[^gobi]: The amount of "i" characters in the title determines the amount of controllable Goblin characters. Gobliiins 5 plays like the first Gobliiins, with three Goblins.
![](castle.jpg "In the castle, talking to the king, who is clearly not well. (part 1)")
@ -33,15 +35,15 @@ Mechanically speaking, the game is _very_ rough around the edges, to the point t
- The UI screen overlay on the top frequently sits in the way of selecting objects in the scene. In previous games, this was done by right-clicking and the menu screen would appear where one clicked.
- You can't save. Yes, you read that right! Pierre thought it was better played in a chunked way level by level and if you were half-way, you simply restart since you know what to do. I think that's a rather poor excuse for technical problems that persisted into the release.
- In previous games, you could travel between different scenes to scour for objects while in Gob5, your actions are confined to a single scene. This could be intentional or another technical limitation?
- Not really a mechanical issue but a striking one nonetheless: I absolutely loved the music in Gob2/3. Some of the tunes of Gob5 are reminiscent of its predecessors but overall I was underwhelmed: none of the tracks stuck with me after finishing the game.
- Not really a mechanical issue but a striking difference nonetheless: I absolutely loved the music in Gob2/3. Some of the tunes of Gob5 are reminiscent of its predecessors but overall I was underwhelmed: none of the tracks stuck with me after finishing the game.
I recognize this is an indie game and Pierre isn't a developer, but last year's [Dexter Stardust](/games/switch/dexter-stardust)---another one-man adventure game adventure---was highly polished and left a big impression on my wife and I. That is to say, it can be done.
![](kitchen.jpg "A kitchen full of sausages where a potato is cooking? (part 3)")
I wish _Gobliiins 5_ was kept in the oven for another month or so, because the core Gobliins gameplay is present and I really want to see this succeed. The game is filled to the brim with funny moments, stupid lines (full of English translation errors...), and even stupider objects for you to pick up and hopefully use in a puzzle. In Gob5, you again control three Goblins: Oops, the talkative one with the inventory, Asgard, the burly viking that bashes things, and Ignatius, the horny old wizard. Interacting with objects and people (or potatoes?) yields different results depending on the goblin, and the huge amount of useless but funny puns and animations put in are simply a joy to behold.
I wish _Gobliiins 5_ was kept in the oven for another month or so, because the core Gobliins gameplay is present and I really want to see this succeed. The game is filled to the brim with funny moments, stupid lines (full of painfully obvious English translation errors...), and even stupider objects for you to pick up and hopefully use in a puzzle. In Gob5, you again control three Goblins: Oops, the talkative one with the inventory, Asgard, the burly viking that bashes things, and Ignatius, the horny old wizard. Interacting with objects and people (or potatoes?) yields different results depending on the goblin, and the huge amount of useless but funny puns and animations put in are simply a joy to behold.
The puzzles themselves aren't too easy or too difficult, which can be a difficult balance to maintain for a typical "moon logic" adventure game such as the Gobliins series. Don't try to think too logically here. Sometimes, the candlestick just doesn't do what you'd think, and that's okay: every time your attempt to solve a puzzle by applying an item fizzles, there's a chance of invoking a bit of funny dialog or animation. I found the "sanity balance" to be much more digestible than the sometimes maddening puzzle sequences of Gob2/3. Then again, those games had hints built-in, and luckily, I found a YouTube channel that breezes through every level, as part 4 contains a nasty one I just couldn't wrap my head around.
The puzzles themselves aren't too easy or too difficult, which can be a challenging balance to maintain for a typical "moon logic" adventure game such as the Gobliins series. Don't try to think too logically here. Sometimes, the candlestick just doesn't do what you'd think, and that's okay: every time your attempt to solve a puzzle by applying an item fizzles, there's a chance of invoking a bit of funny dialog or animation. I found the "sanity balance" to be much more digestible than the sometimes maddening puzzle sequences of Gob2/3. Then again, those games had hints built-in, and luckily, I found [ banshee997's YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/@banshee997/videos) who breezes through every level, as part 4 contains a nasty one I just couldn't wrap my head around.
![](ship.jpg "The captain of this ship was just potatofied! (part 1)")