A Woodle, a Leaf and a double jump is all you have to save your woodland friends from a toxic substance. Check out Chicken Perms Woodle Tree 2: Deluxe Switch Review.

A copy of the game was provided by the game’s developer Chubby Pixel.

A Korok, I mean, Woodle story.

A dark substance has begun absorbing life from the Wood Land inhabitants and Woodle is tasked to save them (totally not a Korok from the Zeldaverse). Equipped with a powerful Leaf that can be used to attack and glide (totally not the Korok Leaf from the Zeldaverse), which was given to him by a big tree (totally not The Great Deku Tree from the…okay you get the point). Woodle has to venture out and gather Water Drops from all over the land to restore their home and banish the evil.

Great Platforming, not so great action.

Firstly, I’d just like to say that of all the video game genres out there the Action-Platformer is my absolute favorite one. The staples of any good A-P can be found in Woodle Tree 2. I love a good double jump, is that weird? I am not sure exactly why, but I am fairly certain that it is my favorite ability to have in any video game. The single and double jumping in WT2 felt solid. There was no instance where I felt a mistake platforming was because of the game or the controls.

The action portion of the game play is a horse of a different color though, when compared to the platforming. Woodle uses his Leaf to attack enemies and the attack range is simply too short. Because of the stubby Leaf, I’d often miss enemies resulting in me taking damage. The toughest Water Drops are usually high up with several enemies that need swatting standing in your way. The harder drops could become annoying because the task of getting them bunched all of Woodle 2’s faults together. The poor attack range mixed in with a lack in check point placements, lead to some frustrating deaths.

In addition, some of the Water Drops are haaaaard to find. Good luck finding the second Water Drop in the third section! I nearly pulled out all of my feathers trying to find it. It got to the point where I moved onto the rest of the sections and returned later to try and find it; after getting every single other Water Drop. Somehow I stumbled upon it after wasting way too much time, which was crazy because the only way to get to the final boss was by collecting all 24 of the drops.

Collectathon!

What would any decent game of this genre be with out collectibles? There are red mushrooms aplenty throughout the world and blue mushrooms that demand extra exploration to find. Both can be used to purchase items to personalize your Korok… I MEAN WOODLE! There are a few abilities you can unlock with the blue mushrooms, but none were necessary to beat the game. In some places you will notice a group of coloured spiked blocks that require a Leaf upgrade to break. Only one of these sets of blocks hid something that was needed to beat the game.

I found it really obnoxious and illogical that of all the coloured spike blocks, only one had something the player needed to be able to get to the end of the game. So save up your mushrooms for the right Leaf upgrade from the start. Otherwise, you would have waste a lot of time and shrooms on non-essential gear.

Sights & Sounds

The open world is so vibrant and I absolutely loved it. There are eight different themed sections to collect Water Drops from and they were all varied enough to make me want to explore them every time I came across a new section. All the characters are cutesy and seem like they are a perfect fit for a line of plush dolls.

On the other hand, I did not find the audio to be that special. If anything, the music was too repetitive and bland. It’s not the end of the world for me, perhaps just throw on something else to listen to while playing this title (like the SIF Podcast).

Questions, Comments Concerns

Outside of the eight themed sections, I felt the open world was too empty. On top of that, I did experience some technical issues with the game and most of them happened whilst out in the open world. There was a decent amount of slow down and frame rate drops while the game tried to keep up with how fast you can run. In addition, the fog in the distance hampered how gorgeous the landscape looked, but is an obvious trick to help the game runner more smoothly. Furthermore, I also glitched through a wall while exploring the open world and Woodle fell to its death as a result of this.

Final Words.

In conclusion, Woodle Tree 2 has most of the basics of an action platformer down well enough. However, it does not really excel at anything it does and doesn’t seem to want to push the action platforming genre forward. The game felt like it needs a bit more work because of some frame rate drops and glitches. The colorful world was eye appealing and enjoyable but was paired with a forgettable sound track. Considering the genre, the platforming aspect was done very well but the action part could have been done better. The asking price of $12.99 is a tiny smidge high in my opinion, but worthwhile if ever on sale. Personally, if you are looking for a Nintendo Switch game that closely resembles the likes of Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie then my top recommendation is Poi.

Who is this game for?

To end on a positive note, I always like to include whom I think each game I review is most suitable for. So with that said, I think this game is great for a parent that loves the action platformer genre and wants to pass their passion onto their kid(s). Some of the Water Drop collecting and/or platforming may be a bit too difficult for younger kids, but it seems like a great game for a parent and child action adventuring duo!

To note, the developer has said they will be fixing the performance issues of the game in an upcoming update. Therefore, your experience may be better than mine if you play the game a little later.

Therefore, I give Woodle Tree 2: Deluxe by Chubby Pixel my rating of

Game Info

Switch Release Date: July 25, 2019

Price: $12.99 US

File Size: 1.4 GB

Mode(s): Up to 4 Players

Genre: Action Platformer

Publisher: Chubby Pixel

Developer: Chubby Pixel

What did you think of Chicken Perm’s Woodle Tree 2: Deluxe Switch review? Are you an action platformer fan? Will you be picking up Woodle Tree 2 Deluxe on the Switch? Let us know over on Twitter or come and join the SIF Discord.

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