The Perfect Pencil Review

The Perfect Pencil opens with a warning that the game deals with emotional and mental health themes, more specifically, the psychology of fear, and tells a story about personal development. We see someone lying on the ground, and a voice says, “Oh no, here’s another one… Look what She has reduced them to… They are looking worse and worse these days”. This fallen character is John, the headless protagonist that you will be playing as.

You hear a voice saying that you are lucky that they are here to help you. The person the voice belongs to has something that might fit you; it’s a head that looks like a little film projector. As soon as they put it on your body, you see an image of a white, wolf-like creature lunging towards John. The character who gave you the head says that this fearsome and frightening monster was the cause of your fall… well, everyone’s fall. This scary creature is in charge here, and if you want to get out of Her kingdom, you will need to completely obliterate Her. If you want to escape, it is up to you to figure out how.

The Perfect Pencil is a metroidvania with a huge, hand-drawn world to explore. You will repeatedly go through some areas, but there are hidden paths that you may not have seen the first time through, or you may gain a special item or ability that you will need to unlock something new. As you progress, you will find shortcuts that decrease the amount of time needed to get from this base to where you previously passed out. Just be prepared for a lot of backtracking!

John has some unique abilities, such as a personal radar on his camera head that pings as you get close to something that needs to be analysed. The faster the ping, and the stronger the vibration on the controller, the closer you are. Once you have located it, scan it, and you can interact with it, like a switch, where you decide if you want to hit it or do nothing and leave it alone. The Perfect Pencil is full of choices to make, all of which impact the story and the events that occur as you progress.

He can also self-heal using a Healing Strike that replenishes your Willpower when you have enough Courage to confront challenges. Courage is gained when you attack an enemy; once you have enough, you can perform a special hit against the enemy that damages them and replenishes a circle of your Willpower of which you have four, and if you run out, your character collapses and you are carried back to the checkpoint.

The visual design in The Perfect Pencil is incredibly bizarre. Some of the enemies you face are men crawling around with a stroller or a cage over the top of them, or a guy hiding in a stack of pillows, constantly throwing cushions at you. There are even bosses that are large babies that bounce around and try to crush you. This is one messed-up, dream-like world!

The backgrounds make the world feel huge compared to your small character. Plants in the foreground sway, and there are little glowing particles floating on the screen that make it feel very alive. You later learn that this is mould, so not quite so magical… You start in the Soft Forest, with trees that have pink blooms and holes right through the centre of the foliage, with little coloured mushrooms swaying in the background, almost as if they are dancing.

Besides the crazy environments and enemies, you meet a lot of eccentric characters who ask you to complete tasks for them. One example is the lady who set an alarm clock and wants to use it to scratch her back because it is itchy from all the mould. She threw the clock, smashing it when it went off, but now she needs you to retrieve all the pieces so she can use one part to reach that itch. It is so bizarre and weird! There is also the guy in the baby stroller who wants you to stop the annoying sound coming from the creatures inside the pillows hanging from the ceiling.

The Perfect Pencil reminds me a lot of Hollow Knight, with its exploration-heavy, action platforming gameplay set in a mysterious world with atmospheric music. I have been playing with a controller, and it feels very responsive and precise. When I run out of Willpower, it is usually because I am not patient enough and rush in without being strategic or using my healing ability when I get hit, it is not because of bad controls.

If you are a fan of bizarre, story-rich games full of exploration, The Perfect Pencil is a game you really should check out. It is strange yet endearing, and it kept pulling me back as I wanted to figure out what is going on in this dream-like world and what will happen to our camera-headed protagonist. It is genuinely intriguing to see how real-life mental issues that everyone deals with, such as facing fear, are translated into a 2D action platformer where every decision you make impacts the story. This title is absolutely worth your time.