First Impressions: BOXBOXBOY!
More often than not, two is better than one. That goes for video games as well; you have a successful game, why not bring out a sequel. The catch is that you have to do something with the sequel to make sure it’s not just a copy and paste from the original, but even then more of the same could be a good thing, just as long as it’s not exactly the same. In the case of BOXBOXBOY!, it kind of falls in that ballpark and after playing for the past week, I’m going to give my first impressions as to why.
If you’ve never played the original BOXBOY, the goal is to just progress through each stage of pits, spikes, and other obstacles by making blocks and getting to the door at the end. In each stage you have a limit to how many boxes you can make at any one time and when you begin to make a new set of boxes, the first set disappears. Completing each stage earns you medals you can use to buy things in the shop, plus each stage also has one or two crowns that you can collect to earn more medals. That’s generally the gist of the game in a nutshell.
So what does BOXBOXBOY bring to the series that the orignal didn’t? From what I’ve played so far it’s exactly the same as the original with one major exception: you can now have two sets of boxes on screen at once. This opens up a whole new possibility for stage design. The way having two sets of boxes works is the first set you create will be green, while the second set will have a light blue color. When you create a third set, the green set will disappear and the set you’re currently creating will be green, and so on. You can also hit X to make all blocks disappear from the screen which can come in handy in some stages where you need to create a new platform where a current stack of blocks lie.
The challenges in the new puzzles haven’t been all that difficult but some have made me think a bit. I’ve had some puzzles where I’ve had to create a line of blocks to place on a conveyor belt in the air, then create a second platform of blocks below that to ride on, but I’ve had to time it to where the top row of blocks goes under a laser beam and blocks it from hitting me. There are also puzzles where you have to have two switches pressed down to proceed and you have to find creative ways to have them pressed down. That being said, there is one thing that I wouldn’t have minded getting changed: spending play coins to give hints for whatever part of the puzzle you’re on.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not above getting help on puzzles, I’ve done it at least three times now in the first four worlds. However, each hint only costs one 3DS play coin. Even with a max of 300 coins that you can accumulate, that’s three hundred “segments” you can get hints for. My suggestion would have been to maybe make each hint at least five coins. Making them only one coin each means you can get through a good portion of the game with very little effort if you wish to do so.
That being said, I’m enjoying BOXBOXBOY thus far and am looking forward to finishing it up. My only qualm thus far is the same issue I had with the original: the puzzles feel a bit too easy, especially with paying a coin to get a hunt. On the flip side, the puzzles do feel a bit more complicated than the original game, mainly due to the new mechanics. I’ve got another week until I write my full review, so time will tell if something else comes along to change this perspective, for better or worse.
