Did you know that the last 2D animated film released by Disney was Winnie the Pooh in 2011? It’s strange to imagine that an entire generation of teenagers are part way through secondary school having never experienced the release of a traditional Disney movie, but even as the corporate powerhouse moves away from its roots, many seek to revive and rebuild classic 2D animation; from 2017’s Loving Vincent and its astounding use of rotoscope animation – the best of its kind since 2006’s adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s A Scanner Darkly – to 2021’s Sundance Festival favourite Flee, this glorious revival in traditional animation is a much needed breath of fresh air.
Where movies and TV have begun to embrace unique animation again, video games have thrived on it for years – Harold Halibut’s stop-motion stylings, the Studio Ghibli inspiration for Forgotton Anne and Cuphead’s rubber-hose cast of characters all embody this idea, but none have sought to tackle the majesty of early Disney quite like Bye Sweet Carole.
Before talking about the game, it feels rude to simply compare the style to early classics such as Sleeping Beauty or Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, as the game unabashedly leans into elements of horror and tension to engage players, feeling much more akin to earlier versions of The Black Cauldron and Don Bluth’s The Secret of NIMH in how it presents itself.
Despite this heightened fear contrasting its cutesy surface style, Bye Sweet Carole also goes to great lengths to remind you to take your time – there are the expected chase sequences and minor jump scares (rest assured, even cowards like me manage with them, so don’t expect anything too harrowing) and gripping moments littered throughout, but as the game progresses, it becomes very important to look at your surroundings and learn more about the world you are in. Additionally, silent checkpoints are activated at numerous points throughout each area, meaning there’s never any great peril holding you back from enjoying the story.
Gameplay comprises of a fairly player-friendly 2D point-and-click platformer, requiring you to guide the main character, Lana, up, across and through obstacles where you will use and combine various items to progress – you won’t find anything staggeringly new in terms of the gameplay here – though later sections will give your platforming skills slightly more of a run (or more accurately a hop) for their money – puzzle solving tends to be secondary to the story: there is definitely a degree of difficulty to the puzzles, but nothing that prevents you from moving forward.
It may not be so strictly centred around quick inputs, but Bye Sweet Carole also shares some of its DNA with one of Rick Dyer’s unsung classics – where previous releases from RDI Video Systems were fast and frenetic, like Dragon’s Lair and Space Ace, it’s clear that the more deliberate pace of Thayer’s Quest lent itself better to more adventurous players, those looking to use their wits instead of just their reactions. The classic, emotive art style, as well as the steady pace and sparing use of action sequences, can be very clearly seen in how Bye Sweet Carole engages the player.
Many of the characters are also incredibly expressive, resembling caricatures in a sense, with Lana’s princess-like features, Mildred’s gurning face and milk-bottle glasses, Mr Kyn and his sinister (and superbly twirlable) moustache, and Ms Hinman, who exudes the energy of a harsh school mistress. All of these characters are tied together by a story that exaggerates characters to further deepen the player’s understanding of Lana’s own emotional state, as well as the desperate anxieties of the world at large.
Although I won’t be spoiling any major details of the game, it is worth recognising and indeed praising how the game cleverly uses its subtext to address the anachronisms of the period it is set in, particularly surrounding mental health, women’s suffrage and our good friend rampant capitalism during the age of mass industrialisation and its effects on nature – I’m sure I could write an entire article about that last point alone, but I have a word count to adhere to and would prefer not to turn you away before I give my verdict on the game.
It’s safe to say that Bye Sweet Carole manages to excel itself in many areas, from its stunning score to superb voice acting, which is why it’s disappointing to see a number of visual issues throughout the game – nothing that would make the game inherently unplayable, but which may knock a player out of their immersion. The most pressing of these tends to be zoomed shots, which aren’t rendered but are instead reframed using the in-game camera. Under normal circumstances this wouldn’t pose an issue, but being a hand-drawn game, the zoom instead just magnifies the images, showing segments of poor compression and pixelisation – admittedly this isn’t a major problem point, but there can be a reasonable frequency to these shots being used to convey important information.
Aside from this, the UI can also be lacking at times – despite a lovingly designed set of menus and elements, including the character portrait and health bar (a utility that is rarely used but proves effective at ramping up tension), there are certain interactive elements that tend to be difficult to parse. This largely comes down to objects such as stairs having needless interactivity when they can clearly just be walked down but can prove a menace when you think another object is nearby.
For all its faults, as minor as they may be, Bye Sweet Carole is an achievement in both art and gaming, succinctly telling a story that doesn’t leave the player wanting in terms of gameplay.
