Video games are unique among other artistic mediums. Interactivity allows the player to truly participate in a story and can be used by developers to create dialogue between performers and audiences. Games that speak directly to art are rare and often not very effective in getting their message across. But the story of a dog and a rabbit facing artists’ expectations breaks that mold. Chicory: a colorful story is one of the best art stories in any medium, not just video games, and is an essential PlayStation experience with its addition to the PS Plus library.
Everyone is critical
Painting is something that most children do. Often it starts with finger paint and then a few brushes, maybe they even get to a stage where they use nicer paints and real canvas. But it is understood that art will not be a lifelong pursuit for everyone.
Those who do not let go of the brush become artists. They are seen as these great pillars of culture, responsible for creating something out of their own being that speaks something about the world.
Chicory, the titular character but not the player character, is the traditional entertainer. She is classically trained and lives with high expectations in everything she does. But she reached the peak of her young career and was exhausted. As Wielder, she is tasked with bringing color to the world, but as she falls into a deep depression, she relinquishes her title and color is removed from the world.
Over the course of the game, we watch her struggle to regain the love of art she once had, but on her own terms. His journey is a raw and powerful representation of the intense burden imposed on artists by the rest of the world and themselves.
The player character is a dog (in my case, Pancakes), who starts out as a janitor in the Wielder’s tower. Pancakes decides to take the brush, the tool that brings color to the world. Pancakes is not an artist, at least not traditionally. They travel the world trying to appreciate the role of the Wielder despite being constantly told that they are not good enough to be a “real artist”.
The chicory and the pancakes act as foils to each other, revealing two aspects of the art. It is history through observation and history through experience. Chicory: a colorful story finds difficulties and values in artistic creation as an artist and as an amateur. Every boss in the game is an “evil” reflection of yourself, moving in mirror image to yourself. The biggest villain in the game is doubt. Pancakes’ most powerful trait is their self-confidence, the same trait we see Chicory seek out in hopes of reconciling her own self-doubt.
out of the lines
Whereas Chicory: a colorful story is primarily an art story, it also creates a world that breaks with traditional game design beholden to our own realities in a capitalist society. There’s no money in all of Chicory.
Instead, other citizens of the world offer you items in exchange for serving your community. By finding lost kids or picking up trash, you can get a stylish collection of outfits for Pancakes. No one seeks to exploit his neighbor and make a place for himself in the world by driving up the prices of necessary items.
“We’ve avoided any type of renewable resource, which means there’s nothing for players to work on forever, which changes the relationship with the game a lot,” said designer Greg Lobanov. Eurogamer.
In a medium often obsessed with acquiring skill points, currency, or even paying real money to gain an advantage, Chicory stands. The likes of Tom Nook are not welcome in the world of Picnic.
This anti-capitalist approach boils down to Lobanov’s desire to make freedom the defining characteristic of Chicory. This little dog adventure game is also a blank coloring book, and it allows the player to fill each page as much or as little as they want. This unlimited freedom brings color and joy to the world and to the player.
A world map can be viewed at any time during your game, it shows your progress in the world. You can watch the color slowly work its way into different corners and eventually the map is filled with your work. You left your mark on this world, and it’s unlike any other person. Chicory: a colorful story places the player in a position of power and creation that no other game possesses, bridging the gap between developer and player to create something unique.
It is a product of the artist and the hobbyist, and it is beautiful.
Chicory: a colorful story is free for PS Plus Extra and Premium subscribers. It is also available for Nintendo Switch and PC.