This article is part of a bigger ongoing project organized by Yousef, whereby some of us in the Writer's Guild on the forums have picked our own Game of the Year for 2024. Please check out the other articles as well!
With complete and sheer honesty, I can say that my favorite game of 2024 was Little Kitty, Big City. This is as much a glowing advertisement for GamePass as it is a review for a game that has some of the best world and level design that I've seen in quite some time. Sort of a Metroidvania-lite approach, but we'll get to that in a little bit.
Twenty-five dollars is usually more than I spend on this type of an indie game, though, it is important to note that the so-called cozy genre of games has been evolving over the years, and it has been nearly 30 years since Harvest Moon's original release--which is the game I would consider to be the progenitor of the cozy genre. Stardew Valley would not exist had it not been for Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons and I don't think the cozy genre of games would have taken off quite as much as it has if not for the commercial viability that Stardew Valley legitimized.
Don't get me wrong, *Little Kitty, Big City* is worth the money, but I would have waited for a sale not knowing how good of a game it actually is. So do not let the short runtime or any preconceived notions about the game stop you from buying it, BUT, if you have GamePass, it is still available on there, so you can just boot it up and give it a go. Provided you have a decent internet connection, this is even a good game to play via cloud, because there aren't any super-precise platforming moments or any mechanics that require split-second reaction timing that would be ordinarily be hindered by latency.
So, why is the game worth it? Well, we tried the game out at my niece's twelfth birthday party, probably my wife's suggestion, or perhaps she was just asking me for something appropriate to pull up for the kids. In either case, my niece lost interest, but I ended up playing it nearly the whole afternoon. A relatively short experience of approximately three hours to get through the main objective on the first playthrough, but enough content for another three or so hours of collecting and exploring. Probably a full 10 to 12 hours if you're a trophy or achievement hunter and you're not using a guide.
You play as a cat, a little kitty in a big city just as a the name implies, presumably a Japanese one (both cat and city). Although the city itself may be conceptually massive, as far as actual game play you're cordoned off to a few small blocks--however, this is where the genius of the level design comes in--albeit, a densely packed few blocks with all sorts of nooks and crannies to explore that are quite appropriate to your role and size as a semi-realistic cartoon cat. While the primary goal is to get back to your home, a high-rise apartment in the center of the map, you need to find and eat enough fish to boost your stamina high enough to be able to climb for extended periods of time. Along the way you'll run into other animals that will assist you on your journey, or may need your help in some form or fashion. Most of the side objectives are simply reason to go exploring the environment, but everything is varied in tone and narrative, so it isn't really a chore to do, and it's not the same as running through a map just to complete a checklist. In more Metroidvania style, once you unlock enough of your stamina bar, you can retread areas you've already been to and unlock entirely new areas which usually reward you with some collectible of one form or another. Usually something that was presented earlier in the game that you weren't necessarily instructed on the importance of.
Most casual players will probably begin and end with simply collecting the hats and finding enough fish to make it to the end, but the hats themselves have special attributes that affect the game in different ways as well. Not to be frustrating though, there is only so much experimentation that you can do, or only so much of the game that acknowledges your choice of headpiece. Still, running around with a cat wearing a cowboy hat was endearing to say the least. Other collectibles in the game can add to the gameplay experience in other way, such as the feathers you get and trade with the Racoon to unlock fast travel points, but this isn't really all that necessary. Fast traveling from one specific point on the map to the other and then getting to your destination is often longer than simply walking from wherever you are on the map to the location you want to go. Had there been an option to not have to invoke fast travel from specific points, but rather the ability to fast travel from anywhere to more varied locations would have made the system much more effective and useful.
Overall the fantastic atmosphere created by the environment, various animal companions and confrontational human NPCs wrapped in a metroidvania-lite package that emphasizes intelligent level and world design, combines to create a wonderfully enjoyable experience that I hope the studio decides to follow-up on with something similar but maybe slightly larger in scope.
With complete and sheer honesty, I can say that my favorite game of 2024 was Little Kitty, Big City. This is as much a glowing advertisement for GamePass as it is a review for a game that has some of the best world and level design that I've seen in quite some time. Sort of a Metroidvania-lite approach, but we'll get to that in a little bit.
Twenty-five dollars is usually more than I spend on this type of an indie game, though, it is important to note that the so-called cozy genre of games has been evolving over the years, and it has been nearly 30 years since Harvest Moon's original release--which is the game I would consider to be the progenitor of the cozy genre. Stardew Valley would not exist had it not been for Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons and I don't think the cozy genre of games would have taken off quite as much as it has if not for the commercial viability that Stardew Valley legitimized.
Don't get me wrong, *Little Kitty, Big City* is worth the money, but I would have waited for a sale not knowing how good of a game it actually is. So do not let the short runtime or any preconceived notions about the game stop you from buying it, BUT, if you have GamePass, it is still available on there, so you can just boot it up and give it a go. Provided you have a decent internet connection, this is even a good game to play via cloud, because there aren't any super-precise platforming moments or any mechanics that require split-second reaction timing that would be ordinarily be hindered by latency.
So, why is the game worth it? Well, we tried the game out at my niece's twelfth birthday party, probably my wife's suggestion, or perhaps she was just asking me for something appropriate to pull up for the kids. In either case, my niece lost interest, but I ended up playing it nearly the whole afternoon. A relatively short experience of approximately three hours to get through the main objective on the first playthrough, but enough content for another three or so hours of collecting and exploring. Probably a full 10 to 12 hours if you're a trophy or achievement hunter and you're not using a guide.
You play as a cat, a little kitty in a big city just as a the name implies, presumably a Japanese one (both cat and city). Although the city itself may be conceptually massive, as far as actual game play you're cordoned off to a few small blocks--however, this is where the genius of the level design comes in--albeit, a densely packed few blocks with all sorts of nooks and crannies to explore that are quite appropriate to your role and size as a semi-realistic cartoon cat. While the primary goal is to get back to your home, a high-rise apartment in the center of the map, you need to find and eat enough fish to boost your stamina high enough to be able to climb for extended periods of time. Along the way you'll run into other animals that will assist you on your journey, or may need your help in some form or fashion. Most of the side objectives are simply reason to go exploring the environment, but everything is varied in tone and narrative, so it isn't really a chore to do, and it's not the same as running through a map just to complete a checklist. In more Metroidvania style, once you unlock enough of your stamina bar, you can retread areas you've already been to and unlock entirely new areas which usually reward you with some collectible of one form or another. Usually something that was presented earlier in the game that you weren't necessarily instructed on the importance of.
Most casual players will probably begin and end with simply collecting the hats and finding enough fish to make it to the end, but the hats themselves have special attributes that affect the game in different ways as well. Not to be frustrating though, there is only so much experimentation that you can do, or only so much of the game that acknowledges your choice of headpiece. Still, running around with a cat wearing a cowboy hat was endearing to say the least. Other collectibles in the game can add to the gameplay experience in other way, such as the feathers you get and trade with the Racoon to unlock fast travel points, but this isn't really all that necessary. Fast traveling from one specific point on the map to the other and then getting to your destination is often longer than simply walking from wherever you are on the map to the location you want to go. Had there been an option to not have to invoke fast travel from specific points, but rather the ability to fast travel from anywhere to more varied locations would have made the system much more effective and useful.
Overall the fantastic atmosphere created by the environment, various animal companions and confrontational human NPCs wrapped in a metroidvania-lite package that emphasizes intelligent level and world design, combines to create a wonderfully enjoyable experience that I hope the studio decides to follow-up on with something similar but maybe slightly larger in scope.
Pros
- + You play as a Cat
- + Solid Stress-Free Platforming Mechanics
- + Great World and Level Design
- + Plenty of Collectibles
- + Exploration is Incentivized and Fun
Cons
- - A Superfluous Fast Travel Mechanic
- - Short Length
8
Gameplay
Solid exploration, collectibles, and platforming combine to offer a no-nonsense enjoyably relaxing experience.
9
Graphics
Stylistically cartoony in a way that will allow this title to age well.
6
Story
There isn't much story here. But what you're presented with is engaging enough to progress you through the game.
7
Sound
Sound design is serviceable and nothing spectacular, but there also weren't any rough areas.
6
Replayability
Short overall, and once you've collected everything there isn't much to do. That being said you probably won't find everything before hitting the end, and it's worth booting up again.
8
out of 10
Overall
An 8 might not seem like a high enough score for a GOTY, but this game really is greater than the sum of its parts.
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