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Introduction:
I only just heard about Little Kitty, Big City about a week before it was to be released, but due to my love of Cats, Platformers, and Sandbox Adventure Games, it seemed like something that I would most likely enjoy, so I figured that I'd check it out eventually, but once I learned that it was to be included with a subscription to Game Pass, I knew it was something that I had to check out as soon as possible. So without further ado, let's get into the Nitty-Gritty of Little Kitty, Big City.
Visual Presentation:
Little Kitty, Big City is a rather graphically simplistic game by modern standards, but that's fine because the real meat is in the gameplay, where it belongs. Nevertheless, the game manages to have a cute, charming, and endearing artstyle which is pleasing to the eye. While there isn't a whole lot of detail in the graphics, there's a surprising amout of variety in the overall design of the city itself, so the overall attention to detail is actually rather impressive.
Audio Presentation:
The Jazz music that makes up the game's soundtrack suits both the slinking feline protagonist as well as the urban environment of the city perfectly, although I can't quite put my finger on why that is exactly. The sound effects are mostly what you'd expect, although the odd "whoosh" it makes when you jump or climb sounds rather awkward, it is if nothing else, unique.
Gameplay Mechanics and Features:
Little Kitty, Big City is best described as a hybrid between a Sandbox Adventure Game and a 3D Platformer. As Kitty, you explore a open world environment both by running through the city, crawling under gaps in fences or through narrow cracks in walls, climbing vines, jumping between various objects, grabbing ledges and pulling yourself up/over walls. It's fun and engaging without being too challenging or frustrating for less experienced players to enjoy. There are no injuries to be sustained, no nine lives to be lost, and therefore no GAME OVER screens for failing to make a jump and falling from a great height. In typical feline fashion, Kitty always lands on their feet after a fall, thus making the game accessible and fun to players of all ages.
As you travel through the city you'll find a number of friendly animals who need help in various ways and will assign Kitty with various tasks, offering a variety of awards for completing them. You'll collect Shinies — assorted bits of metal — which serve as the game's main unit of currency that can be given to Crow in exchange for cosmetic Hats for Kitty to wear as they traverse the city in style, Fish to increase Kitty's stamina which enables them to climb for longer periods of time, and Feathers — earned by sneaking up on birds then (harmlessly) pounching on them — which can be given to Tanooki in exchange for opening up manhole portals, enabling Kitty to fast travel between them.
Story:
One lazy affternoon, while taking a nap on the ledge outside of their master's apartment window, Kitty carelessly slips off the ledge and falls a great distance to the city streets below, fortunately having their fall broken by landing in trash can. Upon climbing out of the trash can, Kitty finds themselves too weak from hunger to climb all the way back up, but fortunately a friendly Crow offers to Kitty some helpful advice as well as assistance on how they can find Fish around town to eat in order to replenish their Stamina. From there, Kitty embarks on a wild misadventure, traveling through the City, making new friends along the way, on a quest to return home before the day is through.
Performance:
Admittedly, the game is not without a few bugs, but fortunately I experienced nothing game-breaking during my playthrough. Mostly just a few mildly annoying issues with collision detection which would prevent Kitty from grabbing onto ledges reliably or colliding with solid objects correctly, which made progressing through the game take a bit longer than it otherwise would have, but fortunately didn't set me back much. One extremely helpful bit of advice given to me by a friend is to SAVE OFTEN, especially during sequences which require a lot of platforming, that way if something goes wrong you can just reload your save without having to start all over.
Closing Thoughts:
Little Kitty, Big City is a short yet sweet game which can be completed within about 4 to 6 hours, yet could last up to 10 hours for a Completionist Run. I enjoyed the game so much that I decided to go for 100% in order to really get the most out of the game. Once I had finished, I was so pleased by the experience that I decided to purchase the game on PC, just to support the Developers and have another go at it at a later date. It's currently included with a Game Pass Subscription, so I highly recommend that you check it out while it's still available on Game Pass, but it's definitely worth full price at just under $25, let alone any sale price it may receive at a future date. If you love cute animals, open-world sandbox gameplay with platforming, items to collect and objectives to complete, then don't miss out on Little Kitty, Big City.