#IndieSelect: Dobo's Heroes (NS)

Disclaimer: I received a copy of Dobo's Heroes for the Nintendo Switch from publisher Gramik Games through 420MacMan's #IndieSelect.  I received the game without promise or expectation of a positive review, only that the game be played and that experience be shared through social media.  All pictures and words unless otherwise noted were from my own experience playing the game.

Dobo's Heroes

Systems: Windows, Nintendo Switch

Release Date: January 17, 2022

Publisher: Gramik Games

Developer: Colossus Game Studio

Play Time: 5 - 10 Hours

Dobo's Heroes is a single-player puzzle platforming cooperative game where you get the character of Dobo to the exit in each stage while a clock ticks away in the upper left-hand corner of the screen.  The timer is there for the same reason that it exists in Super Meat Boy, to see how fast you can beat each stage and then rank your time on the leaderboards to see how slow you actually moved.  I say cooperative in regards to a single-player game because Dobo is unable to complete the stages alone and requires the assistance of Dobo's grandchildren who each have different abilities that complement each other, think thomas was alone if you are familiar with that game, but unlike that game, here you only need to get Dobo to the exit and you leave the grandchildren behind.  Don't worry, everyone returns to the next stage.

I am going to ignore the speed-running aspect of the game out of the discussion for right now, but we will get back to it.

Dobo's Heroes is made up of 45 levels broken up into five worlds with nine levels per world.  In the first world, "Space/Time", you are introduced to your first grandchild, Diybi (yellow grandkid) and the very basic mechanics for the entire game.  Your grandchildren are able to turn themselves into stepable platforms for a limited amount of time that help Dobo to the end portal.  How much time you have left is shown by the character gem/diamond in the upper right corner of the screen and honestly I did not notice this until I was already three worlds in.  The gems/diamonds also show you which character you are selecting and who you can select next (from left to right or vice versa).  Both Diybi and Dobo are not great at jumping, hence the need for platforms, so when you get to the second world, "Past," and Duduh (green grandkid) joins your group, it is very much a relief to have a character with a better jumping ability.  Duduh's secondary ability is that they can break through specific areas that usually creates a moving platform that Dobo can use to help him to the end of stage portal.  When a character "dies" they will respawn back at the beginning of the stage, which sometimes you can use to your advantage, but more often than not, and especially in the later stages, it is sometimes faster to restart the level than to get everyone back to where they need to be when you need to use more than one grandkid to get through to where it was that you "died."

Something I picked up from the second world on, is that oftentimes you end up having to leave one of the grandkids behind, be it from needing them to turn into a platform to reach a higher ledge or to cross a spike-filled gap. Then you just leave them behind, which I always feel a little guilty about and I am sure that Dobo would not feel great about it either, but again, all your grandkids respawn upon "dying" and you start each level with them at your side again, so at least you are not leaving them completely behind.  However, knowing who to leave behind may not always be clear on your first run through a level and sometimes you may have to make multiple runs to figure out how best and efficiently to tackle each level.  But that is part of the puzzle aspect of the game.   It was only in the later levels as well that Dibyi felt more useful as there were some areas of floor and ceiling spikes that could be jumped over, but with their low jump, they did not run the risk of hitting the ceiling spikes.

In the third world, "Culture" you are joined by Debys (blue grandkid) who can turn into a trampoline-like platform and lastly in the fourth world, "Keep Trying", Damba (purple grandkid) joins who can do a quick mid-air dash as well as turn into a platform like all the others.  Damba felt like the most unique ability apart from the platform, partly because their jump ability was not very good, about the same as Dibyi and Dobo and it felt like they were relegated to dashing across gaps or long strips of spikes for the sole-purpose of activating switches or buttons. 

Now, there is actually some story going on in the background which does not seem to play any integral part in the actual gameplay; or at least any impact that I have noticed.  When you start the game, Dobo's family is trying to convince him to leave the solitude of his darkened room after a vision of who is likely Dobo's late wife Erina.  Finally Diybi is able to convince Dobo to leave and that is where your adventure starts.  Throughout most stages, are books containing histories and memories from Dobo's earlier life, filled with reminiscences of conversations with Erina, and news clippings that very much feel like an allegory for climate change in our own world.  There are also hidden fortune cookies that give similar insight into Dobo's world and life, but all of these collectibles are optional and are not required to pass through the portal and the end of each level. 

Presently in the game, I am in the fifth and last world, "The Present Time," and stuck on level 44, which is pretty frustrating knowing that I only have one more level to complete the game.  I have tried multiple avenues to use different grandkids to manipulate switches to activate platforms, but most of the level feels like it was built around Damba and their dashing ability.  With switches located beyond spike-filled passages and spike-filled gaps and just spikes in general, I cannot see how using a combination of other grandkids would make the level doable.  On top of that is that it on average takes me about four to five minutes to get to the furthest point in the level and when one grandkid "dies," I have only found the one consistent way of making my way through the level is to have no fewer than three grandkids and getting them all back to the beginning, it is often times faster to restart the level than "killing" the grandkids to get them to respawn at the beginning.

As for the speed-running aspect, I have some mixed feelings, especially since the the online rankings seems to be currently broken.  When I first started the game, I was able to see where my time placed on a leaderboard and even managed to top at first on a couple of the early stages; There were also fewer than 10 time, so there was that too.  Now, when you go to check the rankings on any of the stages, the leaderboard is in permaload-mode.  My theory on this is that there was a hiccup with the coding in the leaderboard that maxed out and that it is having trouble loading all of the times, including the players individual time; I genuinely have no idea though.  I have checked to see if there were any updates for the game to patch this, but as of Sunday January 30, but it is still on version 1.0.  Without the ability to show leaderboard rankings, it kind of takes out the entire speed-running aspect out of the game, which is unfortunate because the game lends itself very well to speed-running.  Knowing which grandkid to use when and especially with making stepping platforms for Dobo who already has a limited jump could easily ruin a run by adding in a couple of seconds.  Hopefully the developers are able to patch in a fix to save this function of the game.

I really did enjoy Dobo's Heroes and there is a lot to like.  The level design is varied and consistent throughout, with some levels taking longer than others and with the exception of one proximity-triggered spike-traps that comes up from the ground without any indication that it exists (essentially a gotcha-trap), I never felt that the game was taking cheap-shots.  The music I was also very impressed by and will definitely be covering some of the music in an upcoming MIDI Week Single.  I was also surprised by the message of the game with environmentalism and environmental sustainability at the forefront,  and I wish that I could have finished the game to find out the conclusion to Dobo's journey from a secluded isolationists to one who is again connected to his family with the help of his grandkids.  I also love that Dobo is not and does not come across as a crochety old bugger who has no connection to his grandkids, but all of his interactions are supportive and encouraging.  It is just an incredibly sweet story that I wish that I could see the end of.  All of that being said, level 44 does add a bit of a sour-note because I cannot seem to wrap my head around the solution.  I will be keeping the game installed on the Switch out of the hope that I can either find a walkthrough or get a hint to how to get Dobo to the end.

~JWfW/JDub/The Faceplantman/Jaconian
Instrumental