I love my cat Lara. Lot. The idea of abandoning it is impossible for me, but still thinking that she could one day be lost in the street, scared and hungry, I will terrify me more than they might think. The synopsis of the indie game Copycat “On a newly adopted kitten that remains on the street,” a knot in my throat caused me and made me think that the game would end crying. In fact, many of those who have already played it make a lot of emphasis that in fact made them cry. But the truth is that tears did not come to me even in their most emotional moments.
Copycat It is a narrative adventure with some exploration and a few mini -games, but mainly focuses on telling a sad story that has about three hours. Although it is not a bad game at all, if you have very notable problems.
The game begins when Olive, an old woman with obvious health problems, visits a pet refuge to adopt an adult cat that Dawn calls. Initially Dawn does not want to know anything about humans due to bad past experiences, but little by little he becomes fond of Olive and feel happy to have a home. Sadly, a tragedy occurs and ends on the street having to survive for itself while looking for ways of being accepted again at home.
The gameplay is quite simple. Most of the time we simply travel the scenarios running and jumping until we find activities that put us to press buttons sequences, short sections of stealth or run automatically dodging obstacles. There are also times when we have to make decisions, but these do not affect the plot radically. The simplicity of the actions is fine because this game has an absolute approach in its history.
This is where my problem with this game is. Although that story is good and has really emotional moments, there are elements in its development and narrative that not only do not fit well, but actively sabote the effect it can have on the players. What bothered me most is that the protagonist cat has not one, but two different voices. Sometimes we see texts that say what he is thinking, while in others we have the narration of an alleged expert of nature who sometimes explains what Dawn is thinking, other times he tells what happens on the screen and in others he seems to chat with her.
The result is quite irregular and creates many distractions of what the emotional core of Copycat. I sincerely believe that it would have been much better than the protagonist cat had no voice and that we only had to interpret what was happening through its expressions, movements and meowed. That worked perfectly in Stray And that is a game that has a much less “realistic” cat.
The moments of the game that had the most effect on me, those who almost make tears come out, were those in which Dawn's confused expression saw about why he could not return to the house. When he fell asleep near the door waiting for him to open. When there were finally dialogues, they were simply to reiterate what we were seeing or to ruin the scene.
Another problem with the narrative is that it is very insistence on the message “The home is where they need us the most”, but a good part of the events we experience do not share this philosophy. Then we see scenes that try to force the message with a little emotional manipulation. They work at the time, but they disrupt if we analyze them.
That really sorry because there are other original elements that work very well. For example, there are dreams of dreams with 'low-poly' style in which Dawn looks like a huge wild cat in the savanna.
Speaking of felines, you have to admire the impressive animation work they did with the protagonist cat. Most of his movements are incredibly realistic and the expressions he makes are so natural that he sometimes planned to be seeing a real cat. There is something in his gaze that reminds me of my own pet when he is hungry or wants company.
Let's put aside the plot and the protagonist to talk about the gameplay again. Although it is functional, the control of Dawn and the camera are not the best. It is too fast and sensitive, so I would not surprise me to dizzy some players. It also lends itself to get stuck or cause strange movements and 'glitches' in objects. It is not very common, but it happened to me several times.
There is not much more to say about Copycat. It is not a bad game and I understand why he has made so many players cry. All of us who have a cat are going to see many of their behaviors and attitudes reflected on the screen. It is a pity that not all its narrative and playable elements work, but it is a short and cheap experience that can touch the emotional fibers of pet lovers.
He did not cry, but the first thing I did after seeing the credits was to run to hug my cat Lara.
Review made with a digital copy of Copycat for PS5 provided by Spoonful of Wonder. This game will also be available for Xbox Series X | S since May 29 and is already available for PC via Steam.
