Being the victim of theft can often leave oneself feeling sick. Not any sickness that stems from a bug or a virus, but a sickness in the pit of your stomach brewed from anger and fear. The victims of such crimes will find many different ways to cope; some just carry on as if nothing happened, others lock themselves away too scared to return to normality, whilst people like Leo seek justice. Leo, like me, was, unfortunately, the victim of theft, his vast fortune taken from him as he slept (hence the name Leo’s Fortune). What makes it worse is the fact the main suspects were amongst members of his own family. Leo though was determined not to let this get him down and began on an adventure to retrieve his stolen fortune and catch the thief who had betrayed him.
Making his way through lush forests and swimming through mine infested rivers, Leo (who is a little ball of fluff with a magnificent moustache) follows the trail of gold coins hoping it will lead him to the culprit. Along the way, he must face many puzzles and use his specialised skills in order to navigate the tricky terrain he must cross. Inflating himself allowing him to float through the air and somehow making himself heavier to sink to the bottom of the river bed, Leo risks his life every step of the way.
There are twenty-four levels in total for Leo to get through, which span five chapters that are the story of Leo’s Fortune. Each level will not only bring you a step closer to finding the perpetrator but will also reward you with stars to mark your performance. There are three objectives in each level; to collect all the coins that the thief has dropped, to beat the target time and finally to make it through each level with zero casualties. The stars not only look great to show off to friends alongside your high scores on global leaderboards, but they also unlock bonus levels which test your skills in a whole new way. For example, in the first world, you’ll unlock a race track, the aim to complete as many laps as possible before the time runs out (I managed to just get over two in).
The developers at 1337 & Senri LLC have done a magnificent job putting Leo’s Fortune together, and having played it on the iPad, the new enhanced 1080p graphics look amazing on the Xbox One. Everything is so detailed, from the strands of fur on Leo’s squishy body to the hand-crafted backdrops of the 2.5D platform levels you make your way through. If I had to compare it to another title, it’d probably come close to something like Little Big Planet, there are obvious differences between the two games and the graphics are made to be less lifelike and more animated in Leo’s Fortune, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t as impressive. The gameplay though feels very similar, with the main difference being Leo’s skills that help him to navigate through the numerous puzzles that try to prevent him from reaching his stories’ conclusion.
One of the only downsides is that the puzzles within the game aren’t the most difficult, they’re fun to a point but they can all be solved with simple logic. I played this with my twelve-year-old brother and even he didn’t struggle much, with the slight exception of him dying more times than I did. The difficulty does get harder the further you make your way in the game, and puzzle variety increases too, but there aren’t any real mind-bogglers that should prevent anyone finishing the game. The only other downside is that because you are in a rush to complete levels as quickly as you can, the game goes by and you just wish there was more of it to play. You can go back and get all the gold stars you’ve missed I guess, and compete for level high scores, but it would be nice to see some additional levels and more bonus challenges which act as a nice distraction from the main story.
Overall, Leo’s Fortune is a really well-built game. It’s been a while since a puzzle platform title has gripped me so much that I didn’t want to put it down, only this time I had to as my girlfriend was complaining I was ignoring her. Graphically the game is a work of art, the worlds are so beautiful and the detail is immense. I would like to see some trickier puzzles and more levels too, even if they were just bonus challenges, like the weekly changing ones on Rayman Legends. Having said that, for a port from what was a mobile game; this has transitioned over remarkably well.
Leo’s Fortune overall score:
92%
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