Platform(s): PC (version reviewed), PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch
Genre: Adventure, Open World, Malaysia

I find it admirable that a game studio wishes to make an open-world adventure title aimed at children (ie: Nintendo’s demographic) and taking place in a Southeast Asian village with its unique aesthetics and values. If anything, developer Streamline Studio’s heart is in the right place. It really takes effort to make an open-world game that entertains you for the few hours it has.

However, reality is pretty cruel. Not only is Streamline Studio a company with particular manpower and HR issues going on still, it also has proven that it cannot handle such a monumental task. If you cannot nail your controls and feel for your all-ages game, the battle is already lost. Such is the case with Upin & Ipin Universe, an open-world kampung-locale adventure game based on the hit 3D animated series by Les Copaque.

Not-So-Fresh Durian Village

The only positive thing I can bring up in this title is its look; it is accurate to the long-running animated TV series with its bright colours and exaggerated kid-proportion feel. The game’s locale -the village of Durian Runtuh and its many sub-“kampungs”- are recreated in the best way possible.  So yeah, it’s show-accurate; points for that, I guess.

It’s a pity the game feels awkward and janky to play. Right from the start when you’re chasing the show’s rooster Rembo, the third-person camera gets jittery and the brothers duo do not move or jump right. I was hoping things would change after the first few hours, but alas, the rest of the village isn’t exactly the most lively of all places. It’s soulless and automated, with NPCs not really interacting with our village boys and most objects and obstacles not feeling organic and “right”. It’s almost like as if everything is thrown in haphazardly after following some guidelines or two about the game’s look.

Obviously, I cannot compare this with the likes of other open-world cities like Vice City (the 2003 version) or the various versions of New York from the Prototype games and the Hulk: Ultimate Destruction titles from years ago. However, the developer clearly bit off more than it could chew because Upin & Ipin’s universe is a pretty shallow rendition of an open-world title: hollow with a bunch of simple minigames tacked on to pass the time along with some bugs and jank for good measure.

The whole game’s structure also feels aimless. I get that there should be freedom in an open-world title, but the barebones objectives given here do not make players feel a sense of meaningful progress. All we have here in this digital Malaysian kampung is just a (kinda) aimless playground that you will just tire of after a couple of hours of minigames and the occasional glitch & game freeze-and-restart. There is a semblance of a plot here where Upin & Ipin dress up like legendary Malaysian heroes, as well as some bouts of magic in-between, but they don’t feel fun going through unless this is your first time playing a video game.

Some “reviewers” say that this game is nostalgic. I agree, because it reminds me of the old Unreal engine asset garbage games you see being sold for a cheap buck or two on Steam. Only in this case, Streamline Studio has the balls to charge RM177 for it. I do wonder if Upin & Ipin Universe would have been better as a 2D game with “indie” aesthetics.

Doing Malaysia Proud?

If you think Upin & Ipin Universe gets a pass because it’s a kid’s game, your logic is flawed. Super Mario Bros. 3 is a “kids game” as it’s an all-ages title, yet there’s a lot more love and care being put into that old-ass title than this Streamline Studios creation.

If you want to use that as a crutch, use SpongeBob Squarepants; Battle for Bikini Bottom Rehydrated and Bluey The Video Game as comparisons. They’re both targeted at kids, and playing those didn’t make me rethink my life choices as a video game critic.

One can argue that this game is a result of not paying your game developers on time to get a project go beyond the bare minimum. At least that is met, even with bugs and all. If Streamline Studios is happy with just a participation prize for making a game like this , then more power to them.

Good luck finding people willing to pay its current RM177+ price tag though, even if it’s for supporting locally-made games. Because I feel most children with taste would be incredibly insulted by this broken-down offering that lasts about 3 hours tops. And if you want to support said locally-made games, have some good taste please, because you should not be rewarding companies for lacklustre efforts like this.

Final Score: 30/100

Review code provided by third-party distributor.