Little Misfortune |OT| - Kids Float Here Too

Bebpo · Sep 19, 2019

I don't usually make OTs for games anymore, but this game definitely deserves a thread and there isn't one, so bear with me on this!

Little Misfortune
Developer: Killmonday games (Fran Bow)
Genre: Light Adventure Game
Release Date: September 18, 2019
Price: $19.99 or $17.99 if you own Fran Bow on the same platform
Platforms: Steam, Origin, Humble Store, GOG so far (likely will be ported since the interface is controller friendly and Fran Bow was on mobile)

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWAYJJyHuO4

Do you like dark fucked up stuff (w/humor)? Do you like wonderful fairy tales with great art, music, va? Do you like Swedish games? Do you like Foxes?

Litte Misfortune is a new interactive adventure by Killmonday games who made the widely praised and very good point n' click adventure Fran Bow. Fran Bow was a Grimm Fairy-tale-ish macabre adventure full of horrible violence & gore and dark themes but it was not a dark or mean game. It was actually a really charming fairy tale, just made for people that enjoy macabre stuff.

I'd say Fran Bow is probably closest to a horror/R-rated Undertale. If you haven't played Fran Bow yet, I really recommend you give it a shot. It also has a great cat Mr. Midnight! And cats are awesome.

Now Little Misfortune follows the same style as Fran Bow, it's a charming funny fairy tale about very dark stuff (dead kids and stuff). From what I've played of the game it looks like they really cut back on the gore to appeal to a wider audience (and also cut down on the puzzles, focusing more of choices with different outcomes), but even if it's not as violent and gory as Fran Bow, I'd say what I've played of Little Misfortune is even darker than that game. Back in the day this would be kinda like Spike & Mike's animation level of X-rated humor, but Southpark and stuff has kinda normalized it so it's more just dark R rated humor.

Anyhow, the art is great! The writing is great! The VA is....interesting (the lead artist voices the main character and she's got a pretty strong accent you're either gonna love or hate or feel it fits in with the weirdness [Killmonday Games is based out of Sweden]). It's definitely shaping up to be a great game from what I've played and I'd highly recommend it for people who like fairytales and dark humor.

Oh and did I mention that clicking on the main character Little Misfortune has her throw glitter on things to make them happy versions!

Nida · Sep 19, 2019

This looks rad, and I actually like the VA from the trailer.

Any idea how long it is?

Bebpo · Sep 19, 2019

Nida said:
This looks rad, and I actually like the VA from the trailer.

Any idea how long it is?

Not sure, but plan to play through it over the weekend so can update then. Fran Bow was around 7-8 hours but had backtracking for puzzles where as Little Misfortune just keeps moving, moving, moving so I'd expect it to be shorter (this also has a lot higher production values), but who knows!

Santar · Sep 20, 2019

I really enjoyed Fran Bow, even with the sometimes wonky english translation. Though I feel it could've been a little darker in spots.
Little Misfortune is a huge step up in production values compared to Fran Bow. The attention to detail in everything is great. Cutscenes and voice acting are very well done. I think Misfortunes voice is really good, it's very charming and adds to her personality.

I do feel Fran Bow is the better game though. Misfortune is more of a interactive story (and they do advertise it as such) with no puzzles or inventory system to speak of. It's pretty short too and I wish the story wasn't so, straightforward. I was hoping there would be something else going on other than the obvious, but no, it was just as expected.
All in all I enjoyed it it but I hope the devs don't abandon the traditional point and click genre.

Nida said:
This looks rad, and I actually like the VA from the trailer.

Any idea how long it is?

I finished my first playthrough in about two hours according to steam. There is incentive to play again to get all the outcomes from the different choices but it's not a long game.

Jawmuncher · Sep 20, 2019

Nice to know this came out. I know someone who really enjoyed Franbow and didn't realize this was already out.

Bebpo · Sep 20, 2019

Interesting on the length. I wonder if this is a small side project they tried with a bit more mass appeal while they're working on something bigger & meatier.

That being said they had an update in May 2017 that the alpha build of their new game was playable from start to finish. If it took them another two years for the rest on a two hour game, dang, but then again they are an incredibly small team, so who knows.

I know they said they were working on a Fran Bow 2, but not sure if I'd want that over something new since it was pretty self-contained and Misfortune shows they still have lots of original ideas. But I'll take whatever they put out next.

Santar · Sep 20, 2019

Bebpo said:
Interesting on the length. I wonder if this is a small side project they tried with a bit more mass appeal while they're working on something bigger & meatier.

That being said they had an update in May 2017 that the alpha build of their new game was playable from start to finish. If it took them another two years for the rest on a two hour game, dang, but then again they are an incredibly small team, so who knows.

I know they said they were working on a Fran Bow 2, but not sure if I'd want that over something new since it was pretty self-contained and Misfortune shows they still have lots of original ideas. But I'll take whatever they put out next.

I think Misfortune was a smaller side project they did when they took a break from their bigger upcoming game Different Galaxy.
It's currently on hold while they are looking for investors to be able to finish it. Hopefully Misfortune makes enough money for them to be able to complete it.
Though I see now that they plan on making Fran Bow 2 next year? Guess Different Galaxy was put on the back burner then. Shame as it looked interesting and cats are awesome :)

Oinone · Sep 20, 2019

It's a bit of a bummer that they cut down the gameplay, I like my puzzles.
Will grab it nevertheless one day, looks interesting and I liked the vibe they were going with with Fran Bow. (The story there wasn't all that surprising in the end too, I'd say.)

Santar said:
Shame as it looked interesting and cats are awesome :)

They truely are. Man, didn't know about the game before, but now I want it! D:

Pingal Pratyush · Sep 20, 2019

If anyone's interested in reviewing the game (written and video), please message me.

Acquiescence · Sep 20, 2019

This is the kind of pitch black humour I can get behind.

Daphne · Sep 20, 2019

It's also on GOG, by the way. I bought it release day there but I haven't had a chance to play it yet. I hope it does really well; Killmonday are awesome people.

malingenie · Sep 20, 2019

Did not disappoint.

Bebpo · Sep 22, 2019

Haven't had much time to play more but playing a little further each day. The writing is really funny, I haven't laughed this much with a game in a while. Hoping to finish it tomorrow.

Daphne said:
It's also on GOG, by the way. I bought it release day there but I haven't had a chance to play it yet. I hope it does really well; Killmonday are awesome people.

Thanks! Added it to the OP.

Kaako · Sep 22, 2019

Yikes forever.
Really enjoyed my time with this one. Sooo fucking charming with great dark humor. Well done, Killmonday games.
Her va is the best. <3

Bebpo · Sep 23, 2019

Yeah, just finished it myself. Around 2.5 hours. I really enjoyed it. It's a bit short and a little less interactive than I'd typically want in an Adventure game, but the writing and the VA delivery and the insanely gorgeous art & animation just made it a total joy from start to finish and was very satisfying.

I was surprised when I looked up the endings that there weren't bad ends because there were definitely a few spots where I felt like if I didn't choose the right choice I was gonna die and get a bad ending. I think

That in general the choices didn't have as much meaning as they were supposed to. Like what's the difference between bringing the rock or the unicorn at the start? I brought the unicorn and gave it the ballerina piece from the vending machine but I don't think I ever used it for anything?

I really like how the game connects to Fran Bow lore-wise instead of being a completely separate entity. If they do Fran Bow 2 next, I'd like to see some cross over with Misfortune. Ideally a Fran Bow 2 that's more traditional puzzle orientated but with the art/animation quality of Misfortune & VA and that's at least a good 6 hours long would be pretty amazing, but I also get Killmonday is a very small team so these games are gonna need to sell to fund something of that quality and length.

The writing though, man, some of the moments/lines in this game are so good.

When the Grim Reaper suicides LOLLLLLLLLL

Chance Hale · Sep 24, 2019

Holy shit at the puppy scene lolol

Oinone · May 13, 2021

Finally came around to playing it and sadly I have to be the party pooper. Didn't click too much with me. .__.

First bummer are the controls. I'm not a fan of PnCs being designed for gamepad. And then I couldn't even get my pad to work, so I ended up using mouse and keyboard. Granted, it is simple enough to be played this way without problems and I switched a bit depending on what felt more comfortable at the moment. But it still felt off the whole time.
I'd also love to have the controls displayed in the menu.
Then the game likes to freeze when you exit it. Huh.

The second thing, that caught my eyes immediately, is the weird use of chromatic abberation. It gets a bit less when you turn post fx off, but it still bothered me a bit, that everything turns so blurry at the sides.

But the biggest problem is the overall tone of the game. I'm in favour of dark humour usually, but this one didn't work for me most of the time. The toilet humour put me off and all those sexual innuendos felt weird and misplaced.
I also wasn't into the running gag, that she's super naive, retelling horrible things happening around her in a somewhat innocent way. (Like she really doesn't get it or shuts it out on purpose for her own sake.) All those very dark things often seem to add nothing to the overall story and are mainly used to be offensive for offensive's sake. I had that problem with Fran Bow before to some extend, but here it feels cranked up to eleven.
This goes hand in hand with the voice acting. I guess technically it's well done, since it fits to the weird tone of everything, but that might exactly be the reason, why I found it jarring most of the time.

Since I knew about the shallow gameplay beforehand, it didn't really bother me (although I wouldn't mind some interesting puzzles), and I think it's well done how the different choices open actions for you later on or lock you out of them. Although I played it rather slow, I finished it in 2,5 hours. So another playthrough can be done rather quick.

I had a light chuckle every now and then, and I liked the story links to Fran Bow. There are some metaphors and somewhat deeper comments hidden, I can appreciate. But most of the time the game just bewildered me.

Little Misfortune |OT| - Kids Float Here Too

Crisis Dino