Kiki’s Delivery Disservice.
Animation house, Studio Ghibli, has been an inspirational force for decades. Its films are often a delight, offering an experience for people of all ages. From Ponyo to Spirited Away, to My Neighbor Totoro, and well over a dozen more, many of the studio's works are considered some of the best animated films of all time, resonating with audiences all over the world. While the most notable use of their work in gaming was through their collaboration with Level-5’s Ni No Kuni, many games have looked to provide equally cozy experiences meant to delight players.
The latest to do so is Mika and the Witch's Mountain. Taking literal inspiration from Kiki’s Delivery Service, a personal favorite of mine, it sets you in the role of a witch in training who then relies on a delivery service to make enough money to upgrade her broom and attempt to make something of herself as a witch. While the concept is certainly inspired, that is about all it shares in common. Mika’s journey is a brief one that doesn’t really keep your interest. She’s charming, often silly, but lacks any sort of drive or determination in her goals.
Mika’s journey begins as she reaches the top of a mountain to undergo training to become a witch. With a recommendation from her mother in hand, she has her training begin as the lead witch then pushes her off the mountain. With little training to safely land down below, Mika’s broom snaps into pieces, making her wonder just how she will ever get back up the mountain. Luckily, a local craftswoman offers to repair it, or rather, simply replace it with a better model; however, Mika will need money to do so. Hence, the delivery service.
And as luck would have it, the local delivery company is down a worker, off missing god knows where, and they are in dire need of a replacement. Like most jobs, your boss is the type who looks down on their workers and see’s themself as some sort of mentor, eager to turn everything into a teaching moment when the employee is more than capable at doing their job. When a customer complains about Mika’s delivery, despite there not being a single issue with it, her boss instantly blames Mika without so much as wanting to know the whole story. I think we have all been there.
Deliveries work by taking a package from the main center and then finding where its destination is on the map. Your main map will circle where your customer is, it's just a shame there is no compass here to direct you to the destination while you're flying about with the package hanging from your broom. Often, the person you are delivering to will have a request of you in return, sending you back and forth as you earn your pay. While there will be random items scattered around the island to find who they belong to, this is the general gameplay loop for the game.
Once you've had a few deliveries under your belt, you'll earn enough for a new broom that allows you to fly a little further. Now, let me explain something first; you don't really fly. Despite the ability of a witch's broom to grant the power of flight, Mika can only really glide. Despite updrafts and other ways to fly higher exist all around the island, you are constantly working your way to the ground. This causes you to be cautious with your packages. Hit rocks, water, or other hazards, and your packages take damage. Each package will have hearts to infer their durability, and anything less than a perfect delivery will negate any earnings you might make.
The controls for flying are pretty awkward at the start. While you’ll eventually get the hang of it, it’s a shame there is no button to come to a halt, often having you dismount the broom and land on your feet. This is especially an issue when delivering to the boats out on the water. You’ll learn a few tricks to ensure you don’t hit the water or smash into the cliffside, but all in all, flying doesn’t feel as good as it could.
When you start working for the delivery company, you are told that you have three ratings of each delivery. Perfect, good, and bad. Perfect is the only way you'll earn money, but since this was fairly easy to pull off, I'm unsure how you'd actually fail, considering your earnings are tied to the actual plot.
While the main objective is to get back up the mountain, the game tells much of its story through its colorful cast, many making appearances from other Chibig games, including Mûn From another Chibig game I enjoyed, Deiland. Now, there is a subplot about a crooked businessman, but the game sweeps this under the rug the moment it could have turned into something. In fact, that is sort of the deal with the entire game.
As you earn a few brooms and begin to get more confident in your delivery and flying prowess, the game abruptly ends. There are games that often don't live up to their potential, but this was rather a shock to just see it end when I felt like the game had just opened up to really provide me the point of it. It felt like the few days spent on this seaside village were a tutorial for when the game was going to pick up and make me really earn my witch’s stripes. Sadly, nope, it just decides to call it a day and simply ends. Honestly, if you were to tell me this was the end of an early access build, I'd 100% believe you, no questions asked.
Mika and the Witch's Mountain is visually fairly charming, crafting a colorful and very vibrant island to explore. And despite the clear influence of Kiki’s Delivery Service being present in the concept, the game does lack a certain charm to its characters. There are a few that are fairly reliable in some fun dialogue, but some conversations present here just go on for way too long. Had Mika maybe had an animal sidekick, ala Kiki, then I think more could have been developed here to be a more involved experience and get to know Mika a bit more. We get to know about her through these conversations, but having an outlet for Mika to converse with the player could have made her a more in-depth character.
While there are a few side jobs and collectibles to track down, Mika and the Witch's Mountain is a shockingly short experience that unfortunately fails to really lean into its premise in any memorable way. Its inspirations are clear as day, but doesn't have enough time to really allow its story or its characters to feel even remotely engaging. While it is painful to see a game turn out bad, it's another thing altogether to see a game completely fail to live up to its potential.
Developer - Chibig. Publisher - Chibig. Released - August 21st, 2024. Available On - Nintendo Switch, PC. (Steam) Rated - (E) - No descriptors. Platform Reviewed - Nintendo Switch. (Portable) Review Access - A review code was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.
Jeff is the original founder of Analog Stick Gaming. His favorite games include The Witcher III, the Mass Effect Trilogy, Hi-Fi Rush, Stellar Blade, Hellbade: Senua’s Sacrifice, and the Legend of Heroes series, especially Trails of Cold Steel III & IV.