Keita Takahashi has a big heart. TheKatamaricreator’s work has always been a lovely mix of the absurd and surreal, with esoteric visuals, larger-than-life characters, and bizarre concepts you’d likely stare at in disbelief. But that’s what makes them so amazing, as they explore themes like climate change and human-induced destruction through the eyes of cute little aliens rolling sticky balls across Japanese living rooms. Nobody does it like Takahashi.
To a Tmight be a more direct narrative adventure than his previous outings, but that doesn’t make it any less compelling once you step into the shoes of a T-posing teenager and watch the world unfold through their shoes. This is essentially a story about a disabled person in a world where they are perceived as imperfect because of the things they can and cannot do.
Teen - or ‘John Cena’ as I lovingly called them - and their assistance dog Bella must attend school, deal with bullies, and confront a strange mystery beginning to make itself known in the centre of town. While To a T can feel mechanically stifled and oddly paced at times, it’s hard not to fall in love with everything it does so well.
For the rest of this review, I will be referring to the main character as ‘John Cena’, so please stick with me. It’s easier than saying ‘Teen’ every other sentence.
You Are The Perfect Shape!
With their arms stuck in a permanent T position, John Cena isn’t able to do everyday things we take for granted, like going to the toilet by themselves, getting dressed, or washing up and eating food without specialised tools like incredibly long spoons or specialised faucets.
Many of these daily routines are ingrained in the moment-to-moment gameplay of To A T, but it’s the unbridled joy our protagonist finds in the simpler things that make their outlook so damn infectious. I couldn’t help but crack a smile as they giggled after reading the cereal box each day or celebrated the increased difficulty of banal tasks because it meant spending time with the people they cared about.
To A T might be filled with Takahashi’s signature oddities, like talking animals acting as normal parts of society, or giant mushroom forests in the distance hardly being a big deal, but this is still a human story built on touching themes. Most of these begin to surface when John Cena attends school for the first time on the eve of their 13th birthday.
Their jovial morning spirit descends into a slow crawl across town thanks to an irrational fear of being bullied simply for being different. It would be easier to stay home instead of facing a world that doesn’t understand your perspective, but it’s by pushing through this hardship that John Cena can make new friends and find themself.
The campaign is split into multiple episodes, complete with an opening and ending song that makes it feel like you’re the main character of a slice of life anime. There is even one song about a giraffe making sandwiches sung by none other than Steven Universe’s Rebecca Sugar.
Most of To A T involves exploring a cutesy town made up of John Cena’s home, their school, and a handful of shops and key characters you can interact with during quiet spells when the narrative isn’t progressing. There is a shop that sells shoes shaped like a shoe, a crab who cuts hair down by the lighthouse, and a rabbit selling tote bags covered in adorable designs.
Everywhere you look there is an excessive charm that oozes personality, and it’s hard not to fall in love with it more and more with each step you take. At times, the boring task of backtracking through town to reach objectives or revisit shops can grow tiresome, but it’s a small hindrance well worth persevering through.
There Is Undeniable Beauty In Our Imperfections
You’ll also engage in minigames by visiting a quartet of giraffe merchants spread across the town. I assume they are siblings, considering all of them are in the business of making food. One makes sandwiches for John Cena to take to school each morning, while another mixes up ice cream for lunch.
The minigames involve you catching or eating as many as you can in a certain time limit to earn unique prizes, adding a decently interactive distraction from what is otherwise a fairly linear narrative adventure, especially if you don’t fancy exploring the town in search of secrets. Which you should, because there are so many to be uncovered in the unlikeliest of places.
To a T shines most when you sink into its absurdity and begin to appreciate that anything could happen at any time, whether it be John Cena learning to fly or the school exploding thanks to an alien dropping wind turbines upon it.
As for navigating the town itself, you can walk, run, ride a talking unicycle, or rotate the right analogue stick to fly into the air using your perpetually perpendicular upper body. There are coins to collect, friends to talk to, and vibes to appreciate. You can even press a button just to hear John Cena’s inner thoughts and observations.
I made a habit of trying to run around town once per episode to ensure I didn’t miss anything, since To a T makes small yet fascinating changes to characters and locations as the story moves on. In terms of where the narrative goes, I won’t dare spoil it, but it continues to touch on this idea of human perfection and how we should be striving to be the best person we can be. But in turn, this ignores the fact that flaws are what make us, and without appreciating those, it means life isn’t everything it could be. Nobody is perfect, and that alone is wonderful.
One particular highlight is a standalone adventure your dog embarks upon as they find themselves trying to complete tests to join a bizarre ninja clan. All while John Cena and their mother are combing the town in search of you.
To a T is a delightful adventure, and the most accomplished we’ve ever seen Keita Takahashi as a fully-fledged storyteller. He is far more than absurd scenarios and strange mechanics, proving here that he can combine both of these with excellent storytelling that is simple yet effective in its characters, themes, and how it makes us sympathise with different ways of looking at the mundanity of life we might have never considered before. Few games this year have so much heart.
