Crime is a slippery slope. One minute you’re evading taxes and the following you’re becoming a member of a gang and pulling off the most important heist of your little veggie life. That’s the place we’re at now in Turnip Boy Robs a Financial institution, a sequel that delivers a heist each sprawling and suitably snack-sized.

Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion launched in 2021 as a cute and snappy Zelda-fashion journey, clocking in at a breezy couple hours at greatest. It got here off as each sendup and parody, continuously breaking the fourth wall in an nearly “I’m somewhat nervous to be a online game” method. Flash ahead just a few years and we’re clearly working with a extra assured workforce at developer Snoozy Kazoo. Turnip Boy Robs a Financial institution doesn’t precisely flip the idea of the primary sport on its head, however it goes about its construction in a extra novel and cleverly disguised method.

Turnip Boy Robs a Financial institution (PC [reviewed], Change, Xbox)
Developer: Snoozy Kazoo
Writer: Graffiti Video games
Launched: January 18, 2024
MSRP: $14.99

The warmth is on

Gone are the halcyon days of traipsing via the Weapon Woods, passing sundry objects from veggies to fruits and again once more, and openly ripping federal paperwork in twain. If Tax Evasion is a bite-sized riff on The Legend of Zelda: Hyperlink’s Awakening, Turnip Boy Robs a Financial institution is Phantom Hourglass and the Botanical Financial institution is the Temple of the Ocean King.

After linking up with the Pickled Gang, Turnip Boy rapidly begins the loop of crashing their van into the financial institution, snatching as a lot primo loot as potential, and escaping earlier than the timer runs out and the peach fuzz drops in full power. Put together to get very conversant in this place, as a result of outdoors of the single-room hideout it’s the one location within the sport. 

After I busted into the financial institution for my first few runs, I received the impression that this was going the procedurally-generated route. Turnip Boy does tout its roguelite parts, in spite of everything. That’s not the case, although, and the financial institution is fastidiously designed and laid out such that you just’ll quickly know each loot-filled nook just like the again of your hand. The act of going deeper and deeper into what’s, truly, a quite simple and easy map is essential to Turnip Boy‘s enchantment. After the primary dozen or so instances you ram via these partitions, the sense of familiarity turns into refreshing and the will to search out one thing new is invigorating. It doesn’t damage that all of it goes right down to the tune of a thumping soundtrack that’s a far-cry from the quaint earworms of the primary sport.

Exterior of this core loop, the development system is definitely fairly much like Tax Evasion, with numerous food-based critters asking Turnip Boy for more and more absurd favors. A few of them may be dealt with fetch-quest fashion, however the bulk of the issues may be solved by absconding with sufficient dough to purchase new objects from the darkish net. Prices improve as you open up extra of the financial institution, however so do the spoils as you attain the depths of what this mighty cash bin has to supply.

Mr. Shakedown

Getting the products goes past somewhat smash ‘n seize motion. You’ll blow up vaults with C4, chisel statues to unveil the hidden gems inside, and method hostages to actually shake the cash and payments out of their shallow little pockets. You’ll finish financial institution runs with just a few thousand {dollars} early on, however by the tip you’ll be pulling in hauls within the tons of of tens of millions. There’s loads of opposition, from snails and bunnies to baton-wielding bacon and gun-toting donuts. There are much more methods to get rid of them, beginning with a typical sword-and-gun combo and transferring on to all the pieces from fish to music-blasting conch shells, lasers, and a rocket launcher that may match proper in with the climax of a Resident Evil sport. 

Turnip Boy Robs a Financial institution places the lite in roguelite with some very floor stage, however nonetheless efficient, style trappings. Most weapons are discovered within the wild, and you’ll spend some money to up the chances of discovering the great things. It’s all random, so some financial institution runs will yield more practical outcomes than others. Taking new discoveries again to the hideout gives you an opportunity to supply them to one of many Twins for weapon analysis. The extra you elevate your analysis stage, the extra weapons you’ll discover completely added to your loadout choices. 

There are possibly a pair moments I’d describe as reasonably annoying at most over the course of the 4-5 hour marketing campaign, however the fight is rarely grating. Even when the mighty grenade launcher has you dying repeatedly to one more culinary cop, there are a handful of fight problem choices obtainable from the very starting. There are additionally loads of accessibility choices when it comes to the way you method the meat of the motion. In case you simply wish to chew on the expanded Turnip Boy lore and revel within the late-game twists, you possibly can toggle God Mode on and off at any time. It’s also possible to change the outlines of enemies and interactive objects, elevate or decrease the injury you deal, and activate auto intention and an intention laser for extra exact capturing. 

4 principal bosses await within the financial institution to check these capturing expertise previous to the ultimate showdown, none of which require a lot within the mind-set to topple. On the very least, they supply a chance to serve up extra of the Turnip Boy-model humor established within the first sport. This is among the key areas by which the workforce is clearly extra assured. Even when the jokes don’t land, there’s no collar-tugging reliance on references to drained online game tropes. As an alternative, Snoozy Kazoo doubles down on the absurdity with a small group of central characters, with the gruff and decided Dillitini guiding Turnip Boy via the labyrinth that lies forward. 

Turnip the amount

Turnip Boy Robs a Financial institution is a fast-paced steal ’em up that wears its purposefully repetitive hook on its sleeve. There’s a real sense of discovery in these steel-reinforced partitions, and it’s good to see Snoozy Kazoo enhancing upon the artwork of the primary sport to create a extra unified pixel aesthetic that extends from the gameplay to the character artwork throughout dialogue exchanges. It’s additionally dumb as hell, which appeals to me in probably the most primitive method potential. 

I’m not fairly certain how typically I’ll pay it a repeat go to, because the concentrate on incomes cash to buy key objects makes for a extra predictable and rote means of constructing it from one space to the following. I’m very completely satisfied to have performed it completely not less than as soon as, although, and this vault is value busting into no matter whether or not or not you loved the primary spherical of food-based federal crimes.