I wanted to review Holy Cap’s Promenade because I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this recently, but I’ve been pretty invested in the indie scene.
Promenade initially hooked me with its endearing art style, but I found myself falling in love with just how earnest it was as a low-frills platformer. At almost every turn, Promenade wasn’t exactly surprising me, but it was consistently making me say, “Oh, cool!” What results is a game that’s incredibly approachable and incredibly playable, with tons of charms and good ideas.
Promenade starts, somewhat unceremoniously, with a little boy named Nemo—it’s never said, but you find out in-game—falling down a deep cavern into a pool of water. He’s quickly saved by small Poulp, and the two become fast friends. However, after hanging out and playing in the cave, they decide to set out on an adventure, approaching The Great Elevator. However, the two are confronted by a nightmarish creature resembling both Nemo and the Poulp, who shatters the cogs that power The Great Elevator and scatters them across the world. The two must work to get the pieces back and ascend to The Great Elevator once and for all.
“Promenade is a fairly straightforward platformer with some light puzzle elements, presenting players with simple challenges to unlock Gear Pieces for The Great Elevator.”
It’s a sweet—albeit simple—story that wears its inspiration on its sleeve. While it’s fun and whimsical enough that younger players will enjoy it as a “boy and his creature go on an adventure,” older players will see some of the fairly clear theming at play. There’s some fairly obvious indication early on that this is a boy playing pretend in his pillow fort or travelling through a dream—made more obvious by the name Nemo—that gives the story an added layer of childlike wonder I couldn’t help but resonate with. It’s not trying to be overly complex or subversive—as far as I could tell—and it doesn’t need to be.
The gameplay is equally uncomplicated and yet incredibly nuanced. Promenade is a fairly straightforward platformer with some light puzzle elements, presenting players with simple challenges to unlock Gear Pieces for The Great Elevator. This might involve sinking basketballs, completing obstacle courses, or fulfilling simple requests. But Promenade is constantly shaking things up, leading to that aforementioned, “Oh cool!”
The first thing Promenade really nails is its movement. While Nemo controls fairly simply, the game is consistently showing players his wide range of movement—which is present from the start, but never explicitly explained. One obstacle course teaches you how his roll, which initially seems like a simple speed boost, can actually be used as a jump-extender, giving you a small window when going off a cliff to jump out. This keeps the game feeling always fresh without the constant necessity to unlock special abilities.
Furthermore, Nemo’s range of movement is assisted by the Poulp, which Nemo can throw at enemies and objects to grab. While holding an enemy, Nemo can throw them at obstacles or vault off them during a jump, giving him added height—sort of like a conditional double jump. This adds a unique perspective to how you interact with enemies, and some of the most fun platforming segments are when you need to quickly vault off an enemy and grab another mid-air for added jumps.
But throughout the game, Promenade gradually changes its mechanics, adding new elements to flesh out the gameplay in small, easy-to-understand ways. As soon as you become familiar with vaulting off enemies, it adds ones that give you a hover mechanic, so now you’re working out extended falls and timing your jumps just right. Once you become comfortable with throwing the Poulp, it gives it the ability to act like a grappling hook.
“Promenade gradually changes its mechanics, adding new elements to flesh out the gameplay in small, easy-to-understand ways.”
But it’s not just the way the game moves that changes or adds creative new ideas. Each area is full of little surprises that are always genuinely refreshing to see. The first “world” starts off as a little seaside area, but once you unlock the grapple ability, you’re able to find a little rocketship that blasts you into space. I initially thought this would just be a little side challenge where you navigate a rocket through some obstacles, but it was its whole little level.
And it was genuinely full of creative ideas. One little planetoid had a small lab with a professor and a galaxy map on the wall. There were a few little round objects in the room that could be placed on the map, and I thought this was a puzzle specific to the room. Imagine my surprise that everything you stuck to the map—including the professor—became a planet out in space that you could fly to and interact with. This is just one example, but the game is FILLED with little moments like this.
If I have one criticism of the gameplay, it’s that throwing things can be a bit of a crapshoot, and you never fully feel aware of where something’s going to land. While it’s not impossible, getting a feel for the momentum can take a bit of time, and even after hours of playing, I was still missing shots and feeling a bit unconfident with my throws. I think the game definitely would’ve benefited from a Yoshi’s Island-style arc line to really get a good sense of where things are gonna go.
Like I said at the start of this review, Promenade’s visuals are incredibly captivating. It utilizes a playfully cartoonish aesthetic similar to shows like Adventure Time or The Marvellous Misadventures of Flapjack. Its worlds are brightly coloured and have interesting details like patchwork and quilting in the background—adding to the idea this is a kid playing in a pillow fort. If I have one criticism of the visuals, it’s with some of the game’s animations. There’s a certain snappiness to animations like throwing the Poupl or the way the Poulp grabs you from hooks, and I think if they were animated a bit more fluidly, it would add a lot more to the game.
“Promenade’s visuals are incredibly captivating.”
Adding to the visuals is a playful soundtrack that adds a lot of fun to the game. While the main theme combines synth and xylophone for a childlike, ephemeral sound, it constantly changes to fit the game’s environments—the Beach area adds steel drum to the mix, while the Space area utilizes drawn-out and echoey notes to sound more mysterious and grand. Outside of the mixed main theme, there are so many unique and atmospheric tracks that make Promenade’s adventure feel genuine—reminding me of some of the sounds from classic SNES games like Yoshi’s Island or Joe and Mac.
Promenade is a game that consistently surprised me, and every time I went to play it for the purpose of this review, I ended up playing it far longer than I needed to. It is so incredibly wholesome, so earnest in its endeavours and above all, so genuinely fun. I honestly think its creativity, charm and accessibility can be enjoyed by everyone. Promenade would be a perfect introductory platformer for younger gamers, or even ones who have maybe advanced past Super Mario—it might even be the game that gets them INTO games.
