Back during the last Steam Next Fest, I'd played a super stylish game called Pineapple: A Bittersweet Revenge. It didn't last long, it was a demo, but it left an impression as refreshing as the fruit. With Mouthwashing released, I purchased a bundle of games and it made sense to add this to the list.
Bullies are arsehats and deserve everything they get. The bully in question here is the 'Witch' who torments our hero - so much so that they've had to create a record of almost countless incidents of property destruction, humiliation, and other crap these morons like to pull. To top that, they also have two cronies that follow them about, making them 'untouchable'.
Pineapple: A Bittersweet Revenge Review: A Slice Of Life
It's time to make a stand. After these random acts of bastardness, you're going to get your own back by (creepily) scoping out your target, noting their patterns, understanding their habits and recording their passwords. Then, it's time to ger revenge by creating plenty of set pieces involving a pineapple.
What stood out so much about Patrones & Escondites game was the presentation. A great grasp of white space, fonts, and a wicked art style, literally was the digital equivalent of launching a garlic bomb under my nostrils: you've won me over immediately. The idea of having a nasty so-and-so get their comeuppance is a nice incentive - justice served, and whatnot, but your actions start to cross some lines, and it makes you wonder, "Am I the baddy?".
Chunk By Chunk
From placing a pineapple in a locker to serving it on a delicious pizza. That should be a thing, and they should name it after a place - like, Moroccan pizza or something; people would love it. Anyway, yes, the pineapple-based pranks in Pineapple: A Bittersweet Revenge soon become excessive in the - 30 minutes or so of gameplay? I wasn't counting, but I played initially on the Steam Deck and then on my computer, only to find out there are no save game files.
Pineapple: A Bittersweet Revenge is a mixture of visual novel and mini-games. The story will move along as you click highlighted text, then press the mouse, press space, or arrow keys to interact with the scenery. Sometimes it's hiding in lockers, to locating library books to graffiti in or simple point and click mechanics of finding an object. One mini-game offered a Worms-like trajectory tactic of launching a ball out the window to distract a dog. On the Steam Deck, this must have taken about 40 attempts before it worked, then reloading the game to play from scratch, another 15. Yeah, it's not excruciatingly difficult, but it's annoying nonetheless.
Playing in one sitting is recommended, and it was interesting to note that the mini-game structures are the same, but objects or characters appear in different locations. However, the onslaught continues, and it gets to the point of pushing the original bully into a state that affects their mental health and even glorifies it. The message is the opposite of that, but as you're going through the motions again and again, it feels gratuitous, and in fear of being a do-gooder, that doesn't bode well with me. Yes, it's 'just a game', I get that.
Pineapple Review Summary
There's no question about it: with its quirky illustrations, brilliant transitions and overall variety, Pineapple: A Bittersweet Revenge has a lot to offer stylistically. While the message isn't to condone bullying, the ongoing pranks to get revenge on an antagonist feel like pulling teeth in GTA V. The 'bully' doesn't seem to change for a long time, and one wonders whether this could all be settled over a hug and a cup of hot chocolate. Not pineapple, though; that's offensive.
