In every neighborhood there’s always that one house that gives out the best candy, and every trick-or-treater rushes to get there first, before all the other kids have claimed the full size Snickers bars or King Size Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. (Screw all those mini candy bars!) This Halloween, in the video game neighborhood, Double Fine and Midnight City are the owners of the house with the best treats. Better yet, there is no supply limitation in this age of digital downloads.

You do need to own a PlayStation 3 or PlayStation 4 to get these goodies, though.

Following the October 28th PlayStation console launch of Costume Quest 2, LittleBigPlanet‘s loveable burlap mascot, Sackboy, will be added to the game in a free post-launch update. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like Sackboy will be playable in time for Halloween. A specific release date for the DLC hasn’t been confirmed yet, but the press release announcement uses the phrase “in the coming weeks” to give an idea of release timing.

Sackboy will appear as a hidden bonus costume assembled by finding the four necessary materials–a burlap sack, buttons, thread and a whole lot of love. Sackboy’s DIY costume look is adorable while exploring town, but in combat his ‘Little Big Beat Down’ special attack packs a serious punch.

Double Fine and Midnight City are offering an early trick-or-treat surprise this weekend, kicking off Steam pre-orders for the PC/Mac/Linux release of Halloween-themed RPG adventure, Costume Quest 2. Two pre-purchase options are on the table. A payment of $14.99 includes the game and exclusive bonus costumes from the original quest, including the Robot, Unicorn, Eyeball and Pumpkin. Spending five bucks more upgrades to the $19.99 bundle featuring the first Costume Quest and its Grubbins on Ice DLC campaign, plus the same set of four bonus costumes.

In addition to Steam, Costume Quest 2 is scheduled to launch this October on PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. Check out the new gameplay trailer premiering this weekend at PAX Prime in Seattle!

Costume Quest is one of my favorite downloadable games, not just from calendar year 2010, but out of all the PSN and XBLA games currently available. So, obviously, the prospect of Double Fine’s trick-or-treat RPG expanding through DLC was something I was initially excited by. After playing the first DLC add-on, Grubbins on Ice, I’m not so sure about that any more.

Don’t take that to mean Grubbins on Ice isn’t a competent piece of DLC. On the contrary, it’s every bit the wholesome JRPG romp that the main quest is, and it’s a reasonable value for the amount of extra content it presents. But altogether, it just didn’t click for me like the full game did.

At $5 (400 MS Points), Grubbins on Ice is a third of the price of the full deal – and in terms of content it provides basically a third as much of everything. Costume Quest itself is around six to eight hours tops, has a level cap of 10, consists of roughly 25 quests spread across three main areas, and comes with 11 costumes, 20+ Battle Stamps and ~50 Creepy Treat cards. Comparatively, Grubbins on Ice takes no more than two to three hours to finish, bumps the level cap up to 14, offers 10 new quests in a single hub environment with 20 additional houses to trick or treat, gives you three new costumes to play with, and comes with even more Battles Stamps and Creepy Treat cards to collect. See, that’s not too shabby for the spend – there’s plenty to keep you busy for a bored afternoon.

Beyond the extras, the core game is the same. Halloween now past and the snowy doldrums of winter set in, Grubbins on Ice picks up shortly after the close of original, with Wren, Reynold and their fellowship of merry trick-or-treaters called back into action after Lucy gets sucked into a portal transporting her to the tumultuous monster kingdom of Repugia. To get her back, you must explore Rupugia, complete quests and slay monsters in accessible, briskly paced turn-based battles, going door to door around town with candy bags in hand and costumes at the ready.

The QTE-heavy combat system remains quick and enjoyable, and, on the back of Double Fine’s witty writing skills, the story is another whimsical excursion through childhood fantasy. So those are definite pluses, as are a few other things, such as a new manual save feature, improved technical performance, and the way the game continues off of what you accomplished in the main game.

But amidst these high points, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was missing. The DLC doesn’t really up the easy-going difficulty level from before and the all-too-familiar quests feel more like busy work a second time around. The three new costumes don’t seem particularly useful or necessary either. The Pirate is great, with its adventure ability to zip-line with a hook and its devastating combat ability which unleashes volley of cannon fire that strikes all enemies. But the other two – an Eyeball and a Yeti – don’t bring anything new or interesting to the table and quickly drop out of thought when planning costume combinations to take into battle.

Grubbins on Ice is basically everything I expected and wanted in a Costume Quest DLC extension, so you’d think I’d gobble it up like candy and ask for more. But strangely, now that I’ve completed it, I’ve almost immediately forgotten about it, and except for the closing teaser hinting at further possibilities for expansion, I can’t point to a single meaningful thing that I’d feel bad about missing out on. And now the more I think about it, maybe Costume Quest is a one-hit wonder; a game that deserves to be savored on its own like a tasty piece of candy but isn’t complex or substantial enough to satisfy for multiple tastings.

I can see a heftier Easter-themed add-on possibly winning me back over (egg hunts and bunny costumes for the win!), but after this I’d much prefer to see Double Fine ditch the DLC route and go all out with a full-fledged sequel.

Pros:
+ Good chunk of new content at a cheap price
+ More fun trick-or-treat RPG-ing
+ Same great Double Fine humor

Cons:
– New costumes really don’t add much overall
– No increase in difficulty
– Cut-and-paste quests

Game Info:
Platform: Downloadable content for Costume Quest on PSN/XBLA (reviewed on XBLA)
Publisher: THQ
Developer: Double Fine
Release Date: 12/8/2010
Genre: RPG
ESRB Rating: E10+
Players: 1
Source: Review code provided by publisher

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What type of game do you normally associate with Halloween? Probably something scary or gory like Silent Hill, Dead Space or Alan Wake, am I right? But how about a trick-or-treating JRPG in which you play as a troop of youngsters on a pint-sized quest to save Halloween from a witch stealing everyone’s candy? Bet you never thought about that. Well, Tim Schafer and the wacky guys and gals at Double Fine did – and that’s why they are such geniuses.

As I already mentioned, Costume Quest is a Halloween-themed JRPG-lite. And by JRPG-lite I mean it brings together staple JRPG elements like turn-based battles, fetch questing, treasure hunting, town exploration and party management, but it does so on a smaller scale, without the incessant random encounters, level grinding, lengthy dialogue exposition, cliché characters and plot, or the snarky “emo” attitude that is running rampant through the JRPG genre.

Instead, Costume Quest has you roaming around a Grubbin-infested neighborhood, shopping mall and fall carnival, going door to door for candy and completing silly collection jobs for other kids and citizens to earn candy, experience and materials to build additional costumes – all on a quest that takes no more than six to eight hours from start to finish. Who says all RPGs have to be 40-plus-hour epics?

There are 13 different costumes to create — each providing special abilities in exploration and battle – and a handy radial menu makes switching back and forth a snap. The knight costume, for example, gives you a shield to deflect acorns being thrown at you by a pesky squirrel or to serve as an umbrella allowing you to walk underneath waterfalls or other falling objects. There is also a robot that gives you wheels to roll up ramps, a ninja with stealth mode capabilities, and a space warrior with a beam to light up dark hallways.

In place of the traditional random encounters, you visit every house/store/stall with its porch light on and knock on the door. If a human answers the door, you get gobs of candy, which acts as currency to purchase Battle Stamps that can be equipped to your party to provide buffs like increased attack damage, counterattacks, auto-revive and so on. If a Grubbin or other nasty critter answers the door, however, a battle is triggered. At certain times random monsters can also be found walking around the game world, and if you want to do some extra battling you can engage them on your own.

Combat in the game is completely turn-based and should feel instantly familiar to anyone who has played any of the classic Final Fantasy games – though on a much lighter scale, of course. Your party of up to three characters stands opposite to a gang of up to three enemies, and from there you attack turn by turn until the monsters have been defeated. Don’t expect a whole lot of complexity, though, because this game is exceedingly simple and direct – and also a heck of a lot of fun!

During battle, you have one basic attack and one special attack which charges up after a few turns go by. Whenever you attack (and whenever you are on defense), a short quick time event pops up, and if you nail the button prompt with proper timing your attack deals more damage (or your defense holds firm and damage is reduced).

That’s all there is to it. No, seriously. This game really is that simple-minded. Hell, the level cap is 10 for crying out loud! Some light strategy is involved when setting up your party’s Battle Stamps and choosing costumes to find a good balance of special abilities. The Ninja, Robot and Statue of Liberty became my go-to lineup – the Ninja for its strong melee and protective shroud ability, the Robot for its powerful missile barrage attack, and the Statue of Liberty for its healing anthem. But by and large, the game is an easy, breezy romp that keeps the pace snappy and doesn’t require you to think a whole lot – and somehow it feels oh so right.

Something about watching big-eyed, cartoony kindergartners transform into powerful heroes satisfies that childhood fantasy of building a homemade costume and becoming the character/creature/thing of inspiration, and the cel-shaded graphics help bring the fantasy to life with tremendous whimsy and personality. As with any Tim Schafer production, the writing is sharp and witty, and while you won’t be laughing out loud like in many of his past titles, the game’s charming story, characters and dialogue deliver wholesome comedy for gamers of all ages.

On a sour note, I do have to point out that the game’s audio is disappointingly subdued. There isn’t a line of spoken dialogue, and the music, although appropriately haunting in a cutesy Halloween way, just gets lost in the shuffle far too often. At times I actually had to check to make sure the game hadn’t been muted, because for long stretches it would become so quiet. I think a more prominent score and maybe some form of fake gibberish dialogue would have provided an extra little punch of personality to completely round out the experience.

But that is a small complaint in an otherwise fun loving, easygoing role-playing adventure. Costume Quest is a sugary sweet gaming delight, tastier than any candied treat you can stuff into your face this Halloween or any other time of the year. I wouldn’t want all RPGs to be this brisk and this basic, but in this instance it works like a charm.

Pros:
+ Dumbed-down JRPG design is actually really well balanced and a ton of fun
+ Costume changing system makes you feel like a kid again (if you’re an adult that is!)
+ Charming story and characters backed by humorous writing
+ Cute graphics

Cons:
– Audio is noticeably subdued across the board

Game Info:
Platform: Reviewed on Xbox Live Arcade for Xbox 360, also available on PS3 via PSN
Publisher: THQ
Developer: Double Fine
Release Date: PSN – 10/19/2010; XBLA – 10/20/2010
Genre: RPG
ESRB Rating: E10+
Players: 1
Source: Review code provided by publisher

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