Button City Review
Release Date: August 10th, 2021
Developer: Subliminal
Platforms: PC (Reviewed alongside Nintendo Switch), Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S
Price: $19.99
As I've gotten older I've had a greater synergy for games that don't ask much of me whether it involves my time, skill, or attention that would determine whether I ever see credits roll or not (I always try to beat everything I play), and it's the reason why point-and-click, walking sims, hidden objects, farming sims, and management games have been more my vibe as of late. Games that also put players through an emotional trip or simply a wholesome, feel-good time have also been rising immensely in popularity, and I think a large part of this has to do with an increase of stress we see in our day-to-day lives that have also been amplified by the effects of COVID that still lingers even post-vaccination for a lot of folks. Button City is one of these standout titles that have come out amidst the pandemic to provide much comfort, nostalgia, and joy at a time when we need it most, putting us in the shoes and the lives of adorable little animals in a low-poly aesthetic complemented by filling and colorful diorama set pieces that sees a story of arcade obsession and blossoming friendships.
Upon start-up Button City makes it immediately known that what you're about to experience is not only a cute and colorful adventure, but one with love and passion poured into it from the get-go. The uplifting music from the start of the menu showing Fennel and friends outside the Button City arcade before hitting start on a new game and opening with an anime-esque opening of the animals doing a dance number sets the tone and you can't help but smile from the overwhelming charm as Button City ensures you'll have a comfortable time playing with simple tasks as you get to explore your new home as the main character, Fennel, just moves into town and has a lot of time to kill. Being introduced to Gobabots when visiting the local arcade then kickstarts the entire adventure as you'll go through goofy yet fun trials of "training" to make you and your team the best Gobabots players around against a rival team of "bullies" that are equally as goofy. Going through the likes of having to make lemonade, playing the Button City version of Dance Dance Revolution, and getting completely sidetracked by slushies, garbage, chores, and making sure you can help someone decide what they should wear tomorrow in case it rains almost gives the entire adventure a Bill & Ted feel where you're basically doing everything except for actually preparing for any and all upcoming battles you have coming up to keep your reputation. However, much like Bill & Ted, it's an enjoyable ride of laughs and the best kind of "stupidity" you could ask for.
Button City doesn't just stop its enjoyment at the story itself and dialogue, though, as there's a ton of care put into the actual arcade games themselves to really make the game shine when the more interactive elements kick in. While Gobabots will be the main focus of Button City, having other arcade games close by and playable like rhythm, gacha, and racing games keep the arcade healthy and plentiful with things to do, including being able to purchase new gobabots to use in-game and accessories with any ticket winnings you acquire from winning at the arcades. Also being able to speak to just about any and everyone you see make Button City as a whole feel lively and super welcoming. These aren't the only way to get tickets and coins, however, as you'll be able to acquire them through doing sidequests and interacting with random objects like other vending machines, trashcans, seats, and just observing items through the various locations you'll go through in Button City. Locations are also set up in an extremely unique fashion as rather than finding a simple exit that will take you to another portion of the map, you'll instead zoom out to see a stack of dioramas on top of each other that you can scroll between before selecting where you want to go next. Downtown areas, Junkyards, Apartments, your Home, Button City itself, and more can seamlessly be traveled to and from after zooming out at any given location (except indoors) and once selected will spawn Fennel immediately in whichever way you're rotated. This helps with Button City's immersion and keeps you locked in, with the only real loading happening when starting the game and beginning a round of any of the arcade offerings. There's a lot of incentive to keep going to and from multiple locations outside of quest-related reasons, as collectibles and tasks can be found in various places within each, so those looking to 100% the game or get some (easy) achievements should enjoy the sort of collectathon Button City has to offer, deepening and increasing your time with it.
The Gobabot arcade game that you'll be playing frequently in and out of the arcade is an immense amount of fun while being easy to pick up, as two teams of four compete to grab as much fruit as they can before tossing them in a huge blender at the center of the arena to acquire points. These little machines go around and all have their own sort of move when you're in the selection screen, and there's quite a few to find, though it's nothing overwhelming to collect all of the available gobabots available for play. In regards to the story, you'll usually be set with a predetermined team, but when you're going in 1v1 battles with random folk throughout Button City, you can choose out of everything you've acquired to assemble your team. With each having their own perk, style, and flair, it makes Gobabots feel like a genuine real game you'd be able to attend and play at a real arcade. It's an extremely simple game to pickup as well, and truthfully no matter what character you play it ultimately comes down to preference as the main differences between each gobabot is their special attack, which can vary from direct attacks, AOEs, and more when you want to quickly deplete an enemy gobabot's health to send them back to their spawn location and drop anything they may have been holding. Button City aims to be a relaxing and forgiving experience though, so even in the competitive nature of the arcades, in Gobabot's case, when you die you'll have a chance to be revived by a teammate simply walking into your bubble that's floating back to the spawn point, or by quickly returning back to spawn and reducing the cooldown to do so by trying to get a ring perfectly placed in the highlighted portion of a circle placed in the middle of your screen. Each time the ring has been successfully hit, you'll get a small boost that will get your bubble back to base even quicker. It keeps the entire thing engaging even if you die, it's something I immensely appreciate about Button City's design, which is no matter who you are or what your history is with gaming, you'll be able to enjoy what Button City has to offer.
One of the more impressive aspects of Button City is just how accessible it is, allowing for all sorts of play. With touch support on Nintendo Switch, mouse-only, keyboard-only, controller, and more, Button City can be played virtually any way the player sees fit. Everything is customizable as well, though keybindings and controls are fairly simple and minimal to begin with, leaving the default layout to work perfectly fine. My biggest gripe is that while Button City is extremely colorful, runs well, and looks crisp, in my experience - and after much troubleshooting - Button City seems to max out at 1080p, leaving Button City not looking as clean as it possibly could on my 1440p monitor. However, Button City's aesthetic has no real reason to be in the highest visual fidelity possible, so even with a slight resolution downgrade Button City was an absolute joy to play and look at thanks to its solid optimization.
Overall, Button City is not only an immensely relaxing experience but one of the most wholesome and memorable games I've played in a long time, leaving a stamp on its mark in Indie games thanks to its unique gameplay and feeling of nostalgia for a time and place you were never originally a part of. Between its humor, charismatic cast of characters, music, and point-and-click-with-arcade-flair gameplay, Button City is one of a kind among its peers and even aims among the greats of its style and aesthetic, leaving a mark in the hearts of players that find themselves in Button City's bright and colorful world. There's a fantastic small but jam-packed package to enjoy here that's best to be experienced at your leisure, and as much as I'd love to spoil all the incredible things Button City has to offer from top to bottom, Button City invites you to experience the joys of arcade life yourself with your newfound friends that just want to play an awesome game of Gobabots.
PROS:
Immensely cute art direction
Unique gameplay that's both relaxing and fun to play
The writing and dialogue gives a ton of personality to all of the characters while keeping things humorous and engaging
Its diorama-like environments have tons of depth and detail despite its low-poly aesthetic
A lot of accessibility features make it so you can play however you'd like, whether touch, mouse-only, keyboard-only, controller, and more.
CONS:
Lack of a run button can make walking from place to place feel a bit slow at times.
A huge thank you to Subliminal Games for providing us a copy of Button City for the purposes of this review!