Wow, some of the ideas to come out of the B/X community are just pure fun. Let's do a game where the Wild West meets anime meets traditional B/X fantasy gaming? One where all sorts of silly Old West stereotypes bump shoulders with dragon men, elves intermixed with native tribes, furries, cowboys, and silly costumes and manners of speaking straight out of a Mel Brooks movie? I could have a hog-man named Oinker as the camp-chef for my wagon train, a wolf-girl school teacher, a wise lizardperson tribal shaman, a cowboy that talks like Slim Pickens, alongside a cast of crazy people ripped from anime and given cowboy hats and boots and told to ham it up?
Yes. One-thousand times yes.
This game is just fun.
Anime and Anthro Art? Love it!
The art is just too fun. It has this silly, anime quality to it that goes over the top in all sorts of hilarious and cool ways. Am I triggered by a sexy native style dress? No, because this is fantasy and it riffs on pop-culture, movies, and Wild West stereotypes in a way we can laugh at how silly they all are. We know in real life what is wrong and what is not, but in a game where we are making fun of pop-culture and skewering what we see in TV and in movies? As an anime where everything is so hilariously over the top we laugh at how wrong it all is?
That sort of fun is laughter and good for the soul. It also helps us deal with things in real life by letting us laugh and recognize them in a safe setting. But it doesn't mean we can't have fun and parody what Hollywood sells to us - they market the tropes and stereotypes to earn billions of dollars and somehow they are off-limits for us to poke fun at? Not happenen' here pardner. You come 'round these parts and you can get made fun of like all the rest, just like you can do to everyone else here.
And if you can laugh at yourself then it shows your heart is in the right place.
Also, Anthro?
Hey, I love the anthropomorphic and furry-style art in this game. There isn't too much of it, but you get the point. You can play with it or without it, but I like the mix. The game is open for everyone, and if you want to play a sly fox-man gambler in a purple top hat and four aces hidden up your sleeve go right ahead. The world sees you as normal, just another settler in the Wild West, and you can interact and bump shoulders with humans, elves, cowboy dwarf miners, natives, dragon people, and anything your heart desires. This is inclusiveness that isn't forced, but open to your interpretation. I feel it also creates a silly, wild, fun, and dynamic world pulled from a Pixar movie like Zootopia meets Blazing Saddles meets Red Dead Redemption and I just love it.
This game is every bit as wacky and gonzo as Gamma World but set in the Wild West with play actin', movie quotes, and western catch phrases galore. What is not to love?
The Monster List is Inspired
Cactus dragons should tell you everything. The monsters are a mix of Old West lore, genre-specific content, tropes, slang-as-monsters, and a whole host of imaginative ideas of Wild West adventuring and goodness. The monsters are far out there and silly, but they fit that sort of Pixar animated Wild West movie feeling mixed with anime, talking anthro animals, and all sorts of wacky and crazy ideas. This isn't some standard B/X monster list with cowboy hats and spurs attached, these are setting and genre supporting critters that enhance the experience and feeling of the setting.
Similarly the spells and gear have been gone over and have that genre-supporting feel. Few games do this, where instead of just copy-pasting the designers here went over every spell and item and made sure it fit the world and larger experience they were delivering. I wish more games did this. If you were making a "dark and gritty" B/X game and did this to the content you supplied with the game, like adding weapon breakage rules and all sorts of other supporting redesigns and rules? That is good stuff, and it shows you that you can take B/X and change it a little to help support your world and the larger feeling of your game and rules.
Is it not B/X? Sort of, but it is still compatible with a little work. Are the changes worth it? Definitely.
A lot of B/X games could take some pointers from this game on aligning flavor with content delivery.
Cute and Fun - Plus Attitude
Overall, a fun game with a lot of spirit and fun. I like this game, it has a cute factor to the art that makes me think of manga and anime. The world feels alive, and everything is just so well mixed and blended together. This is not "D&D monsters invade the Old West" but more of everything we love about B/X style fantasy blended with Old West myths and tropes and crafted into a fun, unique setting will all sorts of cool possibilities. Highly recommended.
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