Review: Mika and the Witch’s Mountain Channels Kiki’s Delivery Service

I’m going to actually admit that every time I’d see Mika and the Witch’s Mountain, I’d consider it because the Kiki’s Supply Service sport. I imply, it’s a younger woman who’s an apprentice witch driving round on her broom to assist her group by supply packages. Chibig and Nukefist even included an anime-style opening. The excellent news is that it’s precisely what it seems to be, although some broom-riding mechanics and deliveries is usually a little irritating. 

Mika is heading to the Stellar Lighthouse to coach underneath Miss Olagari, simply as her mom did. Nevertheless, upon getting there, her new trainer boots her off the facet of the very best peak on the island’s mountain. She tells her she will’t actually start till she will get again as much as the Stellar Lighthouse. Upon touchdown, Mika breaks her broom. She begins working for Greff, who runs the native supply enterprise, as a courier to pay for repairs, connecting to the island and its mysteries within the course of. 

Whereas Mika is a witch, Mika and the Witch’s Mountain is just about fully a flying sim about making deliveries, recreating the entire Kiki’s Supply Service expertise. You’ll be tasked with finishing the deliveries in your Supply Card, a few of which received’t come up till you kick off a series of occasions by taking or making the primary drop-off within the line. Most supply objects have a sure variety of hearts representing their well being and restrictions like you may’t get them moist or harm them. (Should you mess up, you may maintain X to reset the bundle and retry.) Often, there could also be a timer asking you to finish a supply in a sure period of time. 

Since your early brooms aren’t nice, you’ll typically must depend on sure exterior components to assist in your deliveries. These can contain wind currents, which carry you up or present a burst of pace to get alongside a straight move. Former spoil components can even enable you to set off extra wind-generating portals or components to achieve even better heights. Nevertheless, relying on how fragile your bundle could also be, these may additionally work in opposition to you and ship you careening into obstacles, ruining the merchandise.

To not point out there are additionally elective deliveries. For instance, you could discover an merchandise like a kite or ocarina mendacity round, indicated by sparkles in a piece. Choosing these up solely offers you a touch as to who the proprietor is. That means it’s good to have an concept of who the residents are to make sure these issues get again to the rightful house owners.

Usually, Mika and the Witch’s Mountain works a lot better than I anticipated. Flying simulators are a bit finicky generally, particularly after they don’t contain planes. Mika positively seems like a witch simply discovering her footing. Because of this the brooms themselves don’t all the time really feel very exact! There was one early Greff supply that concerned taking an already broken merchandise to a sure place I’d solely visited as soon as earlier than on the other facet of the island, and it took me about seven tries to really get it there safely. The additional you get within the sport, the extra fiddly it might probably really feel like some objects are, so there are positively a couple of occasions once I wished the brooms and controls had been a bit extra precise.

However actually, other than that, just one factor stored me from feeling like Chibig and Nukefist nailed what they had been attempting to perform with Mika and the Witch’s Mountain. I actually want there was a solution to “pin” goals on the map. Typically, characters transfer round! They’ll be in several spots than they had been earlier than. While you examine the supply card, you’ll additionally solely get a common space of the place issues are. I get what the builders had been attempting to perform. It actually does really feel like I’m an apprentice witch checking a map, typically repeatedly, to ensure I’m headed to the correct spot. However once I began actually counting on totally different airstreams or relics to get locations or attempting to make use of these components to proceed, I began to want I may see somewhat on-screen indicator to not less than remind me I used to be headed within the right path.

That stated, the whole lot else about Mika and the Witch’s Mountain is dealt with fairly properly. The script is charming. Even characters you don’t spend numerous time attending to know initially go away an enormous impression. The builders did an important job of getting us to root for Mika! The format of the island is conducive to exploring, particularly while you begin to memorize which wind currents might be most useful. The designs for the whole lot are additionally very vibrant and interesting. Additionally, the few nerve-racking and timed deliveries apart, it may be shockingly low-key! I additionally like that whereas that is positively designed to really feel like Kiki’s Supply Service, Mika is a really totally different kind of witch and protagonist and the sport includes different forms of themes.

Mika and the Witch’s Mountain actually does do a great job of giving us a Kiki’s Supply Service kind of sport, and it’s typically fairly stress-free too! Mika’s a enjoyable protagonist, and the island is that this vibrant setting stuffed with large personalities and life. Typically the broomstick-riding can really feel a bit fiddly, but it surely’s genuinely a pleasant simulation about being a courier witch.

Mika and the Witch’s Mountain will come to the Nintendo Swap and PC on August 21, 2024.