Talent Not Included Review

Talent Not Included is an action platformer with a small twist: it's all on stage! There's only one other game with such a premise that I am aware of, and that's Battleblock Theater. Talent Not Included has a lot of similarities, but the one that stands out the most is the way the scene constantly shifts. It's also harder than it looks. It's very simple at first glance, but the further you get the more complex and difficult it becomes. It's a very fun game to whittle away a few evenings with. I was actually surprised with how much fun it was...I booted it up the very first time, played for 3 hours, wound up being 2 hours late for work, but in the end I just called out "sick" so I could play more! Please don't tell my boss...

As a platformer, you have some basic controls and actions you have access to. Jumping, attacking, and a dodge ­type move, depending on the character you are currently playing with. To begin with, you only have the Knights to play, but after you progress to a certain stage the next character (the Rogue) is unlocked. The game is divided into Acts, and each act focuses on a specific character. Act One is strictly for the Knight, Act 2 is for the Rogue, and Act 3 is for the Mage. Each act consists of many scenes, and in each scene it's your goal to play it out until you can reach the red platform, ending the scene. There isn't much in the way of story here, but each character has a small motivation to keep them moving forward. For example, the Knight is on a quest to obtain a better helmet!

The scenery shifting is really interesting. The floor of the stage is set up on a wheel-­like device, and it will rotate set pieces up and down onto the stage. At the start of each scene, you will have the first set piece up, and as you traverse that piece and reach the "rotate" pick up, the scene will shift to the next set piece. You continue in this fashion many times per scene until you reach the red platform at the end, completing the scene. Along the way, small, bright candies will appear and guide you on a "suggested path" in most scenes, but in some set pieces they are simply stationary and begging to be picked up. As you play each stage and collect candies, you accumulate a larger and larger score. At the end of the scene, you are graded on the amount of points you accrued. The points don't really matter for anything, except self-satisfaction. If you want to maximize the amount of points you earn you can, but the game doesn't set any point milestones to unlock anything further...which I believe may have been a missed opportunity.

The game looks good for what it is, and everything is well animated. It has a fresh, clean look that's easy on the eyes, and most of your objectives are very colorful and easy to discern. Traps are highlighted with red and white, while enemies have health dots displayed over their heads, indicating the amount of attacks needed to defeat them. Each set piece is pretty detailed, often using the floor for obstacles or hazards. Sometimes the floor looks like a bright red, rugged texture, indicating lava. The floor will also raise and lower, and you can sort of see the gears and cogs that operate it.

The game features a very light soundtrack, often upbeat and happy sounding. It matches the stage theme very nicely. Your character will grunt every time they jump, which is a nice detail but it gets a little annoying after awhile. Weapons swings sound good, and weapon clashes with enemies sound great as well. There isn't much else here, except for a little jingle when you pickup candies and when the set piece shifts. The game ran beautifully on my mid ­tier PC build, with no lag, stuttering, or frame drops. Perfect 60 FPS across the board. My controller worked by default, no fiddling with settings was required. Good news for controller users indeed.

Talent Not Included is a great way to pass an afternoon or evening, with simple mechanics that appeal to players of all ages and skill levels. The challenge does ramp up as you go, but it shouldn't be too difficult for most players. I definitely recommend this game if you like platformers, and are looking for something new and fun to try out.