Computer-generated image animation had a huge boom in the early 2000s. Since then, technology has only progressed to offer more fluidity, more animation details, more complexity in character modeling. And to be frank, it would have been made difficult without the contribution of the video game and its desire to cinematize its stories. Pixar is the first name that comes to mind when we talk about these animated productions for the cinema, but there are other equally talented ones like Dreamworks or Sony Pictures Animations that indirectly interest us today. Why ? Because their saga, Hotel Transylvania, whose 4th and last opus was released just a few weeks ago at the cinema, is offered, with a two-month lag, a video game as an accompaniment clearly intended for children.
But is the title worth the candle? Answer in the GTA VI test... or this one, who knows.
Given that I've seen absolutely no Hotel Transylvania, don't expect a screenplay parallel, or even a deep existential analysis of video games as a way to expand and serve the universe of movies. What you need to know is that Drac has to babysit his grandchildren and to keep them quiet he decides to tell them bedtime stories. You will thus take control of the protagonists of these stories like a version of Drac in a loose adaptation of Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves, and a hooded version of Mavis in an adaptation of Little Red Riding Hood and finally, the two will find themselves together in a very Indiana Jonesesque adventure. The last story, only unlocking when the previous two are completed, will offer a more linear development than the other two. Indeed, the latter are divided into levels linked by a central hub to each story. We are dealing with a classic 3D platform game with rare combat/action passages. Still happy by the way, because the latter are heavy, winded, long and annoying with the character's unique combo as an arsenal (yes, I didn't say some, but you will understand below). They will be even more so, when you add the flaws of the game that we will talk about just now, starting with the completely crazy camera. The latter goes into Parkinson's Syndrome mode as soon as you get a little too close to an obstacle and will only calm down when you manage to extricate yourself from this corner by we know what a miracle, these tremors and positioning indecision making character movement even more complicated than it already is. Finally... that's when you don't find yourself completely with a field of vision devoid of any texture. As you will have understood, the gameplay takes a serious hit, and this is even more true when controlling Drac who has an animation bug combined with a mess of controls, causing him to often move slightly on his own and indecisively. Near the ledges, then you will be the summoner of powerful swear words against the developers for leaving such bugs. Especially since Mavis has absolutely no such problem! But more than a lack of budget, I would blame it more on laziness and lack of Quality Control. After all, "It's a game for children, they won't see anything in it!".
Overall, the whole Drac part is technically inferior in every way to Mavis. And it hurts even more when you legitimately feel like you're doing the same things over and over again, fighting against enemies who have only a short shred of variety by design. The attack panel is similar and overall the course of each story follows the same path to the point that it is funny to say to yourself: "Hey, this is going to happen" and to be right. That's why I leaned towards laziness rather than lack of means because the whole game exudes this atmosphere: "It's okay, it's for children". Between the fact that the number of levels is not huge and that in addition, the game offers the luxury of having the player return to the previous levels to reach a small unavailable area just before, or that the narration of Drac is completely predictably interrupted by her grandchildren to add enemies. Not to mention Mavis and Drac being basically one and the same character, just with a different skin. Same actions, noticeably different animations and...oh yes, they differ in one thing only: Drac can activate a super jump on certain tiles, while Mavis can, via specific tiles, walk on walls.
Wow! We are still in 2022. This kind of subterfuge could pass in the Playstation era, even Playstation 2, but on machines like the Playstation 5 or the Xbox Series X (on which the test was carried out), it is intolerable to say: "You can play with 2 different characters, but don't expect anything more than a vulgar skin change with a difference ability between them, despite the power of current machines capable of running 3D games generating planets in an entirely procedural way" . Not at a time when SSD and GDDR6 reign supreme. In short, it's lazy, it's heavy and there are more invisible walls than fun in the game.
Which in the end makes things even less obvious for children because of the overwhelming heaviness of the fights and the platforming phases can be completely biased because of a very slight dive of the camera, obviously not repositionable vertically. Probably to partly hide the display distance, rather shameful in the exteriors without suffering from disturbing clipping of lack of finish.
So, out of solidarity laziness, I can only stop the test here instead of continuing to drive the game into its bugs, its distressing repetitiveness and its clear lack of ambition to recommend that you instead offer your children The Smurfs: Mission Malfeuille which will better awaken the senses of your future offender.
- Xbox (Version tested on Xbox Series X)
- Playstation
- Steam
- Switch
