Ah,
the
humble
fetch
quest.
Staple
of
RPGs
looking
to
pad
out
their
hundreds
of
hours
of
content
by
making
you
run
back
and
forth
like
a
glorified
courier
but
with
even
less
benefits
that
an
Amazon
delivery
driver.
It’s
often
criticised
as
being
a
lazy
way
of
handling
quests,
and
yet
it
has
also
become
a
genre
itself.
There
are
heaps
of
games
out
there
built
around
delivering
parcels,
and
Mika
and
the
Witch’s
Mountain
is
the
latest,
inspired
by
the
classic
Japanese
1990
animated
move
Kiki’s
Delivery
Service.

The
game’s
development
and
release
is
worth
commenting
on
before
we
delve
further
into
this
review,
though.
You
see,
Mika
and
the
Witch’s
Mountain
actually
launched
on
PC
and
Switch
in
2024.
Weirdly,
though,
it
launched
on
PC
as
an
Early
Access
game
while
the
Switch
version
was
sold
as
normal.
The
explanation
was
that
more
content
was
going
to
be
added
so
developers
Chibig
and
Nukefist
felt
it
made
sense
to
launch
it
as
an
Early
Access
title.
Now,
it’s
coming
to
Xbox
and
PlayStation,
with
all
of
the
planned
content
included,
meaning
aside
from
updates
for
bugs
and
glitches
this
should
be
the
full,
final
game
in
all
of
its
magical
glory.

Available
On:
Xbox,
PlayStation,
PC,
Switch
Reviewed
On:
PS5
Developed
By:
Chibig,
Nukefist
Published
By:
Chibig

Review
key
provided
by
the
publisher,

The
game
stars
the
titular
witch
Mika,
a
young
lass
of
indeterminate
age
and
seemingly
infinite
cuteness.
The
beautifully
animated
opening
sequence
sets
the
scene:
armed
with
her
broom
and
a
hat,
we
find
her
heading
to
the
top
of
a
mountain
where
a
old
witch
lives
and
will
supposedly
teach
Mika
the
secrets
of
magic.
But
instead
of
imparting
wisdom,
the
old
bat
explains
that
there’s
an
important
tradition
to
take
care
of
first,
designed
to
teach
witches
a
lesson.
And
with
that,
she
yeets
Mika
off
the
mountain.

Tossed
from
the
mountaintop,
little
Mika
finds
herself
in
an
idyllic
village
and
the
owner
of
a
broken
broom
in
desperate
need
of
repair
before
she
can
hope
to
make
her
way
back
up
the
mountain
to
her
potential
mentor.
Luckily,
she
has
landed
in
a
town
full
of
kind-hearted
people,
and
the
first
woman
she
meets
agrees
ton
help
mend
her
broom.
She’s
going
to
need
a
few
coins
to
fund
the
repairs,
though,
and
that
means
getting
a
job
with
the
local
courier
company,
delivering
parcels
to
the
varied
and
colourful
inhabitants.
Before
long,
Mika
finds
herself
caught
up
in
all
the
stories
of
the
people
around
her:
the
loving
bond
between
a
grandfather
and
his
grandson;
an
artist
struggling
to
find
inspiration;
a
loner
who
hides
herself
away;
a
scientist
who
thinks
her
passion
bores
everyone
else,
and
so
many
more.
And
she
learns
more
about
the
people
and
is
welcomed
into
the
community,
Mika
begins
to
enjoy
her
new
job.

Thus
the
core
of
the
game’s
loop
is
formed:
grab
parcels
from
either
the
depot
or
directly
from
the
people
themselves
and
deliver
them.
Some
cannot
be
got
wet,
some
cannot
be
damaged
and
a
few
might
have
to
be
delivered
at
a
rapid
pace,
such
as
some
tasty
ice-cream.
As
the
story
progresses
the
deliveries
become
trickier,
requiring
you
to
visit
new
areas
of
the
small
island
or
reach
places
that
can
only
be
accessed
by
using
ancient
floating
fans
or
by
finding
handy
funnels
of
wind.
It’s
never
particularly
challenging
stuff,
mind
you.
The
hardest
it
ever
gets
is
maybe
figuring
out
where
get
some
height
from
to
make
it
out
to
a
boat,
or
needing
to
spend
a
bit
of
time
exploring
to
find
a
path.
The
simple
nature
of
the
gameplay
is
part
of
the
charm,
though,
letting
you
sink
into
the
cosy
warmth
of
cruising
around,
enjoying
the
scenery
and
finding
a
few
collectibles
along
the
way.

Mika’s
big
advantage
in
package
delivery
is
her
magical
broomstick
which
lets
here
cruise
along
the
ground
and
soar
through
the
sky.
Well,
kinda.
She
may
be
a
witch
but
Mika
isn’t
capable
of
flying.
Instead,
her
broom
floats
a
few
feet
above
the
ground
and
can
perform
a
little
hop
for
added
height.
But
should
she
fly
off
something
tall
the
broom
is
capable
of
gliding
for
a
considerable
distance,
and
its
flight
is
aided
by
various
boost
rings,
winds
and
more.
You
may
not
be
able
to
fly
fully,
but
you
can
get
close
to
it.
The
controls
are
simple
and
easy
to
grasp,
and
while
Mika’s
broom
isn’t
the
most
precise
tool
in
the
world
you
can
usually
pull
off
pin-point
landings
or
breeze
through
gaps
with
ease.
Of
course,
it
helps
that
Mika
can
fall
from
great
heights
and
be
perfectly
fine,
too.

The
writing
does
drop
the
ball
a
little
in
the
form
of
two
people
who
live
on
the
island,
both
of
whom
serve
in
a
more
antagonistic
role.
There’s
no
enemy
or
villain
to
fight
in
this
relaxed
delivery
game
as
such,
but
those
two
are
meant
to
be
some
mild
opposition
to
the
otherwise
friendly
vibes
of
the
game.
Unfortunately,
they
just
kind
of
vanish
at
a
certain
point
in
the
story,
leaving
their
narrative
thread
dangling
in
the
breeze.
It’s
not
a
massive
problem
but
I
would
have
liked
more
closure,
especially
since
the
story
would
seem
to
naturally
push
Mika
into
a
situation
where
she
competes
with
one
of
these
people
directly.
That
never
happens,
though.

The
issues
aside,
the
writing
does
a
decent
job
of
painting
its
characters
as
charming,
simple
people
whose
lives
are
improved
by
Mika,
just
as
Mika
finds
her
life
bettered
by
their
presence.
It
does
a
good
job
of
capturing
that
classic
animated
feel-good
factor.
Yes,
it’s
fair
to
say
that
the
writing
and
characters
lack
any
substantial
depth
or
nuance,
but
given
what
the
game
is
aiming
for
that’s
perfectly
okay.

I
was
also
surprised
that
Mika’s
witchiness
didn’t
come
into
play
more.
Aside
from
her
broomstick
and
a
pointy
hat,
Mika
is
just
a
little
girl.
It
would
have
been
fun
to
bring
some
more
magical
elements
into
the
gameplay
for
Mika
to
use,
but
alas
she
has
all
the
magical
ability
of
a
Muggle.
But
then
again,
I
guess
that’s
why
she
needed
to
go
to
school.

As
satisfyingly
simple
as
the
gameplay
loop
is,
I’m
glad
Mika
and
the
Witch’s
Mountain
doesn’t
overstay
its
welcome.
You’ll
probably
wrap
up
the
game
in
3
or4
hours.
You
can
tack
on
a
few
more
for
side-quests,
and
if
you
want
to
chase
the
Platinum
Trophy
like
I
did
you’re
probably
looking
at
under
10
hours.
The
point
is,
the
gameplay
couldn’t
really
support
anything
longer,
so
I’m
glad
the
adventure
ends
when
it
does.
That
said,
if
feel
that
good
value
equals
how
many
hours
a
game
lasts,
Mika
and
the
Witch’s
Mountain
might
not
be
for
you.
And
it
does
feel
as
though
there
was
room
to
expand
on
the
gameplay
a
tad
more,
providing
room
to
expand
on
the
characters
and
maybe
even
have
a
few
more
of
those
gorgeous
cutscenes.

Mika
and
the
Witch’s
Mountain
did
hit
me
at
the
right
time
as
I’m
going
through
a
phase
of
reading
a
lot
of
cosy
fantasy
books,
so
the
low
stakes
and
warmth
of
the
game
remind
me
a
lot
of
that
genre.

Mika
and
the
Witch’s
Mountain
is
a
heart-warming
game,
a
warm
hug
transformed
into
a
delivery
game
packaged
up
in
a
cutesy
wrapper.
It’s
the
kind
of
game
I
can
see
appealing
to
a
very
specific
crowd,
the
kind
who
are
just
looking
for
something
cosy
and
cute,
easy
and
fun.