Tentacular Review

The sounds of the ocean lapping the shore, the puttering of vehicles trundling along town roads, the screeching roar of a giant squid being burnt by rocket boosters, the babble of townsfolk as they chat… The quiet island of La Kalma certainly lives up to its — oh, you noticed the squid? Well, I suppose you would, since that’s you.

Tentacular has you in the soaking wet VR shoes of a giant squid who has just turned 16, found out that he’s adopted, and has to get a job. Rather than have one specific vocation, you’re given tons of odd jobs around town after you help discover some powerful crystals. Then this crazy rich guy butts in with his talk about throwing a car into space, and it’s a whole thing.

Perhaps needless to say, Tentacular doesn’t take itself too seriously. As said giant squid, you wind up having to do a lot of heavy lifting, and since you don’t have hands because you’re not human, the silliness translates to the control scheme. Your tentacles stretch out away from your physical hands, so you will lose control of things regularly, and often knock down the very objects you’ve spent ages stacking up. Heavier things will require two tentacles, or at the very least you’ll need to pick them up using the thicker part of your appendage.

The game seems designed for a seated experience as moving around the levels is done with the thumbsticks. You can move yourself physically up and down, but the game also allows you to simply press up and down on the right thumbstick.

Thankfully, the crystals (which you helped discover) are used by a local scientist to create M.A.G.N.E.T.S.; I don’t remember what that stands for, but they basically let you stick two objects together. Or stick people to objects. It certainly makes stacking things easier when you can use a couple of M.A.G.N.E.T.S., especially as you’ll soon unlock different types of them, all dispensed by a machine that can also alter their size. I’d describe some of the different ones, but I guarantee it’s much better to discover them as you go!

While the main storyline already has loads to do, the optional side missions offer plenty more content. Amongst other things, they include rebuilding a restaurant, becoming a stacking champion, and redecorating the inside of the mayor’s house. These are usually trickier than the main missions, requiring the utmost concentration and fine motor skills. No, they’re not basically impossible — despite what I may have said in private — but they’re certainly not easy!

If you get too confused, run out of items, or are just plain angry, you can always rely on Signor Resetto, who has a little house on every level. Inside his house (which flips open) are two levers; one lets you reset the level, while the other exits it. However, if you tap on him, he’ll offer to help! Usually, it’s by drawing a diagram to tell you what to do, and it’s almost always pretty useful. It’s not like I used him for every single level, and I’d need to reset my progress in the options if I wanted to go and check them all…

Resetto isn’t the only character you’ll meet, as I’ve already mentioned the professor, the mayor, and the crazy rich guy Mollusc; there are also others beyond these, and everyone has their own personality. This is a baffling thing to behold, as they all only babble nonsense! Luckily, text also appears in speech bubbles with actual words, and you can configure the speed at which they appear through a variable in the options. You can also tap on people’s heads to make them speak faster or repeat what they just told you to do.

If you ever have enough of Tentacular’s story or side missions, there are two sandbox areas. These have two machines, one of which produces M.A.G.N.E.T.S., and a second that can create basically any object in the game once you’ve unlocked them. Build a racetrack, an airport, a dockyard… the options are endless! I don’t usually use sandbox modes (because I lack imagination), but they’re perfect for setting up a target practice range for slingshotting tankers at helicopters!

Honestly, I’d love to go into detail about levels that I particularly enjoyed, or puzzles which I had amusing solutions for, but Tentacular is a game that you need to experience with as few spoilers as possible. The story is decent, there’s a lot of humour, and even some dramatic moments. The only thing stopping me from resetting my progress and playing through again is that I really do want to finish these tricky side missions.