Lucky's Tale is a simple platformer with a few scattered challenges and a heartwarming narrative. Developed and published by Playful Studios, Lucky's Tale offers players a few hours of charming adventuring as they make their way through 14 levels that increase slightly in difficulty. There are a few different side activities players can complete that make Lucky's Tale replayable after it's beaten.
Lucky's Tale follows the story of the titular character as he traverses various worlds on a quest to save his best friend, Piggy. At the start of the game, Piggy is taken by Glorp, a ruthless tentacled monster looking for a tasty treat when he finds Piggy fast asleep by Lucky's side. After Piggy is taken, Lucky follows his trail of golden coins through 14 levels, including two boss fights, to rescue him.
Each level in Lucky's Tale, excluding the boss levels, has three sections: the story mode, a time trial, and a challenge to collect 25 red coins. Players need to complete enough challenges in each of the first four chapters to earn golden paws and unlock the next set of levels until reaching the final fifth chapter. The main goal is to track down and defeat Glorp, but players can also try to complete extra challenges to get 100% completion in Lucky's Tale.
At its core, Lucky's Tale is a modern 3D platformer reminiscent of 90s games like the original Crash Bandicoot. Lucky can jump and be moved from a maneuverable camera angle that players control. Players will complete each level by running, jumping, and defeating enemies to reach the goal. There are some combat opportunities with different types of creatures, but they are easily dealt with by tail swiping or ground pounding. Each level also has bonus areas for players to find gifts or gain extra points to increase their high scores.
Lucky's Tale in VR can be slightly disorienting, because, unlike older platformers, players can actually look around corners and physically move their camera position in the game by moving in real life. Although this can seem helpful, it can also lead to some motion sickness or loss of depth perception when it comes to controlling Lucky in Lucky's Tale. This can make it somewhat frustrating to make Lucky jump or land in the right spot, especially in areas where there's only a small platform or an enemy to use to get across a large gap.
There is a story in Lucky's Tale, but it's only relevant in the opening and during the last level where Lucky attempts to save Piggy. Otherwise, players can enjoy a fairly simple set of platforming levels with enemies that are easily disposed of. The biggest issue with Lucky's Tale is the lack of difficulty even in later levels of the game. Players with a small amount of platformer experience can complete Lucky's Tale in just a couple of hours.
Playing Lucky's Tale in VR on the Quest 2 is a fun and delightful experience with a story about friendship. The extra activities that unlock after completing the story mode in each level increase the replayability of Lucky's Tale and break up the otherwise repetitive gameplay. With Lucky's Tale, players can enjoy a few hours of platforming and guided exploration as they make their way through each chapter and complete their quest to save Piggy.
Lucky's Tale is available for Valve Index, HTC VIVE, VIVE Pro, VIVE Cosmos, Oculus Rift, and Oculus Quest 2. Screen Rant was provided a digital Oculus Quest 2 download code for the purpose of this review.