The National Health Service is currently celebrating its 75th anniversary here in the UK. But health care here – and all around the world – is becoming a big issue, ripe for debate. We have a population that is ageing, a whole range of new problems, and a lack of funding. It doesn’t help that we are still recovering from a worldwide pandemic.
So with this in mind, how does a game deal with these issues? Well, Fall of Porcupine puts you in the shoes of a junior doctor working at a small town hospital, one in decline. Oh, and that doctor? Yeah, he’s a pigeon.
Fall of Porcupine isn’t just about a pigeon doctor though. This is a game that has a world revolving around realistic themes and concerns, all delivered through the cartoon dynamic of animals working human jobs. You have a hippo as a receptionist, a cockerel running the hospital, and a cow as a fellow medic co-worker. It has a feeling that you’re playing a cute children’s fantasy game, but there is something very different about Fall of Porcupine; much like Night in The Woods was.
You play Finley (that pigeon junior doctor) who has his first job at St Ursula’s hospital in the town of Porcupine. The story starts with a strange dream sequence, showing a tutorial and dealing with a traumatic event with a patient. Then it’s all about leaving your apartment and going to work through the town.
When you get to the hospital, the boss (a white cheetah) gives you the tasks for the day; these involve you treating patients. Along the way, you help other workers with jobs in the hospital, as well as talking and investigating other storylines. In this game, the narrative is full of diversions and lots of mini-stories. In fact, sometimes these sub-stories get in the way of the overall arc. There is some good writing on offer though, and the characters you meet in the town and the hospital and well drawn out and interesting. It’s just that there are some hits and misses throughout.
The gameplay requires you to explore the 2D side scrolling environment, taking in the world, interacting with people, chatting in order to uncover their stories. There is some very simple platforming too, but it’s not the main emphasis of the game. But it’s the puzzle elements of Fall of Porcupine which are very strong. When you are given your doctor’s tasks for the day, through an app on your phone, you go and visit patients to practice certain bits of care. This involves a mini-game in which you need to action certain things in time or solve a little puzzle. They are quite fun, even though the explanations for how to work through them can be a bit lacking at times.
Fall of Porcupine has a lot of promise and some great stories to explore. But sometimes the pacing is wrong and after walking from the hospital to home your attention may start to wander. It’s not helped by the loading screens between each room you enter; they aren’t what you want in a modern game and they fail to help with that pacing.
The visuals are very pretty and pleasant. The colours the developers use work really well, especially combined with great lighting and lovely vibrant, clear tones. The menus are also nice and, on the whole, the presentation is excellent. It works well in terms of audio too – the music has a lovely relaxing quality to it, with a folky musical score that fits perfectly as you wander the streets of Porcupine. But it’s also not afraid to be emotional and bring in the tension when needs be.
Fall of Porcupine has loads of brilliant stuff about it. It attempts to deal with a large-scale issue like health care and well-being with a game that features cute animals. The writing is good too, but it does get a bit overwhelming at times; what with the many different characters. The puzzles are well thought out as well, even though some mini-games could do with a bit more in terms of explanation. But it’s the pacing that is the biggest issue – Fall of Porcupine seems to drag at times, hindered by constant loading screens.
It’s always good to applaud innovation in games though, and Fall of Porcupine has that in droves.
