The elements of intimacy and frightening nights bring an unforgettable narrative in Little Goody Two Shoes.
If you were to ask me about what life-changing game genres are out there, I would say role-playing games could easily make it to the top three of my list. Like other genres, role-playing games typically do not include one type of gameplay; they span quite a lot in subgenres, like action, turn-based, Japanese, Western, and so forth.
In those subgenres, Japanese ones are always considered to be highly valuable and worthy to check out, though sometimes people can come across language barriers that stop them in the middle of their interest in checking underrated gems from Japan. And when it comes to role-playing games, indeed, Square Enix has become a pioneer, paving the way for countless other studios to follow in their footsteps.
When taking a look at the history of JRPG games, one of the most notable things that hit you in the face is how the story flows without no interruption and characters tend to have a significant impact on the game, big or small. Let’s not forget what makes a JPRG a proper one, that is the graphic and sound design, which makes the genre unique among other subgenres in the RPG category.
There are some very well-known franchises, like Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Chrono Trigger, and even Earthbound, that built upon the rules of JRPG we know today. A particular game, Little Goody Two Shoes, drew my attention back in the day due to previous reasons I have stated, and it did not disappoint as it tries to be different in the seas of new and even remakes of old JRPG titles.
Little Goody Two Shoes might appear as one of the cutesy games out there with its very friendly pixel art. Still, as you keep playing, you will understand it is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the story and what is exactly going on with our protagonist.
Elise, our main character, was found in a forest by an older woman called Holle when she was just a baby. Granny Holle takes care of Elise until she passes away, and Elise finds herself the maid of the entire townsfolk after her passing. Since she is pretty much stranded in terms of financial stability, she has to help people in town to earn her keep.
Although it might just sound okay to look for work, Elise is still a teenager, and she instead wants to have a dreamy life where money flows and she commands everyone around her. Like a princess that never runs out of money and does whatever she wants. Since she was never exposed to a middle-class lifestyle, it is understandable that she would ask for a bit more of a serene life.
Our story of Little Goody Two Shoes begins once the game ends with the backstory of Elise, where we are late to our home due to working overtime at the town. Some of the townfolk find us and tell us to be aware of the witch wandering around.
Just a quick note, the story takes place in a small German town with devoted Christian citizens, and the art style is of the early 80s and 90s anime. It’s not the mix I would expect, but it works perfectly enough to draw my attention even further.
Once you get control of Elise, a simple tutorial shows up, showing you which buttons to control her actions. The first thing to do is head back home after a hard day’s work, but little does she know, it is the night that will change her life completely forever.
In the story, we get a tiny portion of Elise’s background, and her current status is given throughout the narrative, such as her relationship with the town and her love interests. That’s right, even though Little Goody Two Shoes follows a horror game aesthetic, a romance factor has been added into the background, making it a mix of unique choices together.
Elise returns to her house and finds it smashed into the ground, and she starts looking for a possible thief, only to find a traveler in her granary instead, even though their first impression of each other is quite hostile.
They get to know each other later on and start a companionship, where this time around, the traveler becomes the maid of Elise instead. Named Rozenmarine, she causes a bit of concern as she could be the very witch everyone talks about. But she is too naïve to be a witch, so my assumptions slowly died out as I played.
Now for the story, it is best if you were to experience it yourself because Little Goody Two Shoes plays like a very delicate role-playing game where you have to take care of every single detail as you keep living through the events. Later on, there is quite a bit of advancement in the story, involving witches, unreachable desires, and spooky flashbacks to let Elise know something is not right about her.
A map is available when you start exploring the lands properly. It is quite useful as it can show available tasks or love interest activities. Talking about love interests, Elise could be very hostile towards anyone who tries to mess with her, but she is soft on the inside once people get to know her.
Her quiet behaviors are shown when she chooses a love interest of her choice, including Lebkuchen the Nun, Freya the town girl, and the lost Rozenmarine. I wouldn’t tell you who you could choose for dating as it depends on you, but I went with Lebkuchen because she is fun to hang around and cares about Elise enough, which made me happy to care enough about her.
Other options for dates did not sound well to me as Rozenmarie is just a traveler, and Freya tended to be a fangirl of Elise, which was close to being a sickness. As much as you want to be closer to your love interests, you sometimes need to do a few things to keep the suspicions down.
Some townsfolk or your friends could see you as a threat or even a witch, but you need to come up with explanations and sometimes lies to keep your suspicion down. This is also true for the relationships you are having so that nobody tries to be a nosy person to start following you for no reason.
Regarding general gameplay, Little Goody Two Shoes feels similar to any RPG Maker title in the past, but with heavy work and soul added to its exterior. While the game has its own design and aesthetic choices, when horror bits hit, it terrified me nonetheless.
There are quite a few horror elements at the beginning, and despite its charming looks, they caught me off guard. Especially the times when some creatures appear out of nowhere. With the 90s theme of the game, seeing creatures that obviously did not belong to that world made me uneasy, but not in a terrible way.
During the day, Elise can opt to choose to hang out with her friends or help with the chores of the townsfolk. These actions take time, and doing so will advance the day further until you have other activities to do. If you decide to spare your time for your friends, you are greeted with a cutscene, but if you decide to earn money, the game gives you retro-style minigames to finish instead.
Days in Little Goody Two Shoes are generally divided into six parts, from morning to night, and morning and evening take place in the town, and you are free to explore other bits of the map as you please. However, when midnight falls, Elise finds herself in a very creepy, chateau-like place to find what her actual purpose is.
What I really like about Little Goody Two Shoes is that the narrative might be very charming and understandably good. Still, sometimes, it catches you off-guard with twists to the tale of Elise, making her completely unable to make a sensible choice.
She has the personality of being kind and helpful, inherited by her grandmother, but as soon as any opportunity to put herself in the spotlight, she takes the chance. In the later part, discovering the red shoes turns her faith around as townsfolk get skeptical about her behavior, and it is when the story unfolds to a bigger plot.
Adding to the mix, the game offers a nice blend of psychological dilemmas in our protagonist. It makes you feel that even if you are doing the right thing, your faith might be on the wrong path. Not every day you will be doing a favor to everyone; when time strikes, you will be forced to execute wrongdoings just because you chose it to be that way, which adds pressure to both our protagonist and her love interest. That’s where that suspicion list also comes in as well.
With a double-edged-sword playstyle, Little Goody Two Shoes also provides a fitting sound and visual design. Of course, the look they are going for is the vintage anime, but there is also the fact that the visual style of the game also pays homage to classic titles in the PC Engine, Super Famicom, and even Sega Saturn to some extent.
When the horror elements are thrown into the gameplay, it manages to escape that barrier, but that is nothing too shabby as they appear infrequently- unless you are at the very end of the game.
Little Goody Two Shoes provides ten unique endings, meaning the replay value is quite high. In each new game, you can opt for different choices to steer to a different route and find Elise to be in, let’s say, different shoes.
With the appealing visual style, a well-built story, and likable characters, the title gives the impression of a solid RPG title with actually nothing to be complained about. Sure, controlling Elise was rough from time to time, and sudden events forced you to find your way out without telling you what to do. Since the game offers you infinite lives, dying is not big of a big deal.
Overall, Little Goody Two Shoes is a very cute RPG that holds quite a lot of secrets, and it will undoubtedly be worth your time to check out. It is uncommon to see a blend of different approach styles, but once in a blue moon, it appears and drops a unique experience. This title is undoubtedly one of them, and if you are looking for a JRPG that will invest your time in, I would say look no further than Little Goody Two Shoes.
