Sometimes when you see a game online or at an event you think to yourself, that game looks great I can’t wait to play it. Over the last year, gamers have felt divided on some of this year’s releases. While many have loved games like Helldivers II, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Fallen Aces, and Black Myth Wukong other games have made gamers question some formerly beloved studios.
At PAX East when we were first shown Gori: Cuddly Carnage, we suspected that it was going to be special and be a game that gamers around the world could enjoy. Now, with the release of Gori: Cuddly Carnage, we finally have the chance to see if our expectations were justified or if it would fall into the shadows of other action platformers. How did the cute but bloody platformer turn out? Find out in our Gori: Cuddly Carnage review!
Developer: Angry Demon Studio
Publisher: Wired Productions
Platforms: PC (GOG, Steam, Epic, Utomik) PlayStation4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S
Release Date: August 29th, 2024
Players: 1
Price: Base: $21.99 USD
Gori: Cuddly Carnage is the story of a scientific cat who has had to flee from Earth with Chip and Frank to avoid the evil toy army. Gori’s mother sent him away to save himself but after crash landing back on Earth he is tasked with finding her and trying to save the Earth. When on Earth, the general of the toy army attempts to capture Gori and his newly found ship.
Upon escaping Gori receives a transmission from the professor giving him instructions on how to find her. The story takes about six hours to complete if you are finishing the side challenges as well; the story only has eight levels but each level has its own design, theme, and soundtrack.
As the story progresses, new enemies are introduced for the player to fight; in later chapters of the game, these enemies will all unite for the player to have to fight different styles. The game does have a natural progression where nothing feels extremely overpowered or broken.
Gori: Cuddly Carnage is an action platformer that is a blend of hack-and-slash combat and skating mechanics. As you fight the corrupted toy army, you will earn a score based on your performance; the performance score is decided based on combos and multipliers.
Players can get a higher multiplier by keeping the flow of combat up and avoiding damage. By utilizing the grind mechanic, players can keep their scores alive and achieve the PPP score.
Based on the player’s score, Frank will say a different voice line that can be rather comical. The better the combo the higher the overall level score. Having a high score at the end gives the players more money to upgrade Gori’s abilities and unlock different cosmetics for Frank and Gori.
Gori: Cuddly Carnage features four difficulties Indoor Cat, House Cat, Alley Cat, and Cuddly Carnage. Once you complete a level within the story, you can replay it on a higher difficulty to earn more points and money. If you are finding it too easy, you can go to the main settings and change the base setting.
Players can also change the button layout for the mouse and keyboard or the controller. The game features a camera and aim assist option and the ability to auto grind; additionally, players can turn off the button mashing requirement and only have to press and hold the button to get out of trouble.
Gori: Cuddly Carnage features a wide variety of visual options to change the player’s experience. In the options menu, the player can adjust subtitles, the crosshair, blood/gore, camera shake, colorblind modes, and aim assist.
In regards to the Colorblind options, the game features Deuteranopia, Protanopia, and Tritanopia options to give players an easier-to-see visual experience. With subtitles, the player can change the size and background and even turn on Closed Captions.
For those working with limited technology, the player can adjust motion blur, raytracing, gamma, anti-aliasing, shadows, textures, effects, and upscaling. By adjusting the blood option, blood is replaced with confetti.
In most levels, the game features a ton of fun and colorful visuals that make each level feel different and unique. On one level, there is a visual effect that seems like you are lagging but instead, it is the side effects of something afflicting Gori.
The game’s visuals can be overwhelming in more chaotic fights but every character has a high level of detail and looks good. Honestly, we would not be surprised if the developers scanned their cats in order to make the perfect Gori model. When looking at even the level design, you can see the high level of detail that the developer has put into the game.
Throughout our playthrough of Gori, there was only one visual gameplay/graphic bug, and that involved an enemy spawning on us and us falling underneath the map and dying. That issue only occurred once throughout our whole playthrough but resulted in us losing one of extra lives.
Gori: Cuddly Carnage has limited Audio/SFX options but the player can control the speech, music, and SFX volume level; additionally, players can choose to turn on Mono audio to have the audio channels combined.
If you want to stream the game and are worried about potential copyright strikes for the music, you can turn on Streaming Mode to avoid any DMCA strikes. The game only features two audio languages English and German (Deutsch). The game does have a language filter enabled but the player can disable it by buying an override chip for Frank.
Gori arguably has one of the best soundtracks in 2024. Each level has its own theme that will suck you into the aesthetic and keep your heart pumping with the action. Once you have completed a level, you can play its theme on the jukebox.
The voice acting of the characters feels natural versus something that seems forced. There are comedic moments and heart-wrenching moments that the cast delivers that will have you feeling a wide range of emotions
After having games that impressed and others that disappointed in 2024, Gori: Cuddly Carnage exceeded our expectations and gave us a title that we could fall in love with. Gori: Cuddly Carnage revitalized the hack-and-slash style of the 2000s that many loved with Jak and Daxter or Sly Cooper.
The gameplay in Gori: Cuddly Carnage is fairly smooth and the ability to change the controls and the settings to make as smooth of a game experience as possible. The controls are easy to use and make it so you can just swing into the fight. The story is cute, sad, and happy at different moments.
The ending gives a happy ending but then cuts it short with the teasing of a sequel or a DLC. Combat within the game is fairly straightforward but understanding how the combo system works can take a little bit to get used to. The soundtrack and the visuals will suck you in and keep you focused with great-level design and an energetic soundtrack.
If you are looking for a fun hack-and-slash game or something enjoyable to play consider picking up Gori: Cuddly Carnage instead of more expensive titles. The side missions alone will give you something else to enjoy and are a good way to get money to upgrade your abilities.
Gori: Cuddly Carnage was reviewed on PC using a copy provided by Wired Productions. You can find additional information about Niche Gamer’s review/ethics policy here. Gori: Cuddly Carnage is now available on PC (GOG, Steam, Epic, Utomik) PlayStation4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
