Developer: Chibig
Publisher: Chibig
Platforms: Switch, Playstation, Xbox, PC
Mika and the Witch’s Mountain is a delightful little romp taking clear inspiration from Kiki’s Delivery Service and the world of Windwaker, playing as the budding witch Mika you receive a harsh lesson from your mentor by way of her pushing you off a cliff leaving Mika and her broom broken at the shore of little village on an island. From there your goal to repair your broom sees you taking a courier job on the island, thankfully your broom is somewhat repaired but is limited by its speed and height at first.
Utilising wind streams you can maneuver across the island’s hills and water, with each parcel having requirements to ensure a good rating like not getting it wet or avoiding whacking them. Thankfully, there is little anxiety when breaking an item as you can merely reset it without consequence. A 3D platformer lives or dies on how you are able to handle the controls and while the jumping and platforming are fine, the flying is where you’ll be spending most of your time and controlling Mika was like a breeze on her broom with little concern when it came to handling and easy enough to hop on and off
Navigating on the other hand can be a bit more frustrating, because Mika has opted for a limited GUI you need to pause the game for info such as the map and your destination. There are no beacons to speak of to help you find where to drop off deliveries and your only hint is NPC’s making a noise and the sparkles of collectibles in the distance. Besides your main courier objectives, there are plenty of trinkets throughout the map to find, lost items to return to their owners and enough to keep you busy for a few hours
The best way to describe Mika is cosy, there are no enemies to fight, no strategies to learn and no time to beat…. unless you are delivering ice cream but outside of deliveries and finding hidden collectibles there isn’t much else to do in the few hours you’ll be playing the main story, maybe some time trials or races could have been included. But at the end of the day what is on offer is a short, sweet but overall charming little story.
When it comes to cozy delivery sims, Mika surely delivers.
Reviewed on Nintendo Switch
Key provided by publisher
The founder and Editor in Chief of UnboxedTV. Nintendo lover and not afraid to admit it, can always go for a good Indie Metroidvania with a nice cold Cider.