A light take on a dark universe

Gibbous, A Cthulhu Adventure, it a point-and-click adventure revolving around the discovery of the Necronomicon and your cat learning to talk. While the genre of point-and-click games runs the gamut from “read it your damn self” to fully voice-acted, Gibbous comes down on the high production side, with even minor characters being fully voiced, and a pretty good quality of performances.

Tonally, the game is far lighter-hearted that you might imagine from its title. Aside from the somewhat gloomy settings, the cosmic horror stuff doesn’t really pop up until the game’s third act. For the most part, you bounce between playing the part of a 1930’s style gumshoe and a librarian with a talking cat. There’s a degree and density of puns and humorous commentary throughout that evokes the old King’s Quest and Monkey Island games. Sometimes, it can get to be a bit much (and this is coming from someone who spews that kind of nonsense almost nonstop).

The art and animations are brilliant. It’s a surreal, 2D style with great use of color and light to evoke the almost Halloween feel of the narrative. Actually, Halloween is really a good description of the vibe in general. It’s supposed to be dark and horrible, but since you’re in on the schtick, it comes across campy and fun. I mean, you’ve got a talking cat (and it even tries singing).

In keeping with PaC tradition, there are puzzles. They’re generally pretty easy and mostly a source of voice-acting amusement as you bumble around trying to solve them. This is definitely more a game set on amusing you rather than challenging you in any way. That said, it makes for a pretty player-friendly entry point to similar games.

As far as a total package, I’d say that Gibbous is more of a show than a game to “play” despite the puzzles. You’re loading it up for the amusement value of the colorful and weird cast of NPCs and the snark of the playable characters more than the gameplay itself. The plot is a little thin, but mostly because it’s backloaded. You’ll spend a lot of the early goings just playing along because you know it’s a game, not because the plot itself is compelling you onward.

If you enjoy these types of games, sure, hop on board if you’ve got the 10-12 hours they estimate for a playthrough. It’s also a safe pick for a newcomer if they’re looking for a recommendation. It’s engaging without being frustrating. But if you’re looking for something to flex your mental muscles on and give you a sense of accomplishment for beating, this isn’t it. Take Gibbous for what it is, a light take on a dark IP with a lot of hammy jokes that the writers spent a ton of time cramming in.