I don’t know who Epic Mickey is for. It wants to make Mickey Mouse dark and edgy, but also be a nostalgic throwback to old Disney and with a tacked-on moral choice system. So actually I think the game designers possibly made it for themselves: jaded adult Disney fans. This could have worked, and the gameplay ideas could have been appealing, if the game had managed to rise above mediocrity.

Yeah, I didn’t enjoy this. The 3D platforming is not good and the collectibles are meaningless. The main mechanic apart from platforming is using either paint (to fill in objects) or thinner (to remove them) to fight creatures made of ink stains and mad robots, or to solve environmental puzzles. A lot of stuff littered around the levels is pointless though, as is the choice mechanic I alluded to.

The game constantly presents you with ridiculous decisions, which broadly speaking boil down to paint/thinner or nice/jerky. It’s not always clear that you’re making a choice though, as other tasks are mandatory. Combined with the game locking you out of alternatives, or failing your quests after arbitrary plot progression, or allowing you to skip tasks in exchange for currency, it actually made me feel unfulfilled and cheated at times. I also feel the game communicates poorly to the player, which exacerbates the feeling of working against the game design.

My guess is that lead designer Warren Spector wanted to insert a Deus Ex-style ability for the player’s decisions to shape their experience, as is his wont, but it really doesn’t work in this type of game or in a Mickey Mouse experience. It ends up feeling like a cheap way to make you play the game again to see everything or get all the unlockables.

This core system is my main gripe with the game, but as I mentioned it’s mediocre in many other ways (tedious combat, interminable backtracking). The magic paintbrush thing is actually not a bad idea and is possibly the best thing about the game, which is good since it’s so core to the experience. Another appealing factor is the setting, a ruined land of forgotten Disney characters led by the early proto-Mickey Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. He apparently builds tons of robots and distorted recreations of Disneyland rides to make his realm feel more like a proper Disney world, but since he’s not perfect at it and Mickey caused a ruinous disaster there it ends up being very washed out, creepy, and twisted.

The problem is forgotten characters do not gel with brand recognition, so there’s robot versions of Goofy et al, as well as multiple Petes (not really a forgotten nobody, I would argue). Apart from that there’s just tons of generic cow and horse NPCs, as well as pirates from Peter Pan (again, not what I’d call forgotten), except Captain Hook is a robot, and Pan is Pete in a costume? It’s confusing and contradictory at times, but the themed worlds are nice. Another nostalgic factor is the transitional 2D platforming levels which closely mimic specific Mickey shorts. Unfortunately, having to traverse them multiple times just to get from place to place grinds down the charm, and the game engine is not built for them so they don’t feel good to play.

So while it was nice to play a 3D platformer (they’re still pretty rare), this one didn’t fill the void too well with lots of questionable design and frustrations. I will mention my favourite area of the game, a mountain made of discarded Mickey Mouse merchandise, but to really get the most out of the game you probably need to be a bigger fan of classic Disney and their parks than I am.