West of Loathing Review

Reviewed on Nintendo Switch

The charming and hilarious RPG West of Loathing is a real treat on the Switch. It’s one of the funniest games that I have ever played, and many parts of the game had me in hysterics. You play as a character with a randomly generated name that you somewhat have control over (after enough tries I got the name “Dick Littlefield”). and you are thrown into the wacky wild west. The comedy of this game is hilarious and innovative, throwing in many pop-culture references, breaking the fourth wall, or criticizing you for searching spittoons. A good humor comparison would be to Deadpool, just with the jokes more family friendly.

The story of this game is also wacky. With no clear goal in mind, the only thing your character wants to do is explore the West on their own. Various encounters with evil clowns and demon cows show that the world is definitely to be treated as fictional by all means. The “art style” of the game suits it nicely, as you can’t even take that seriously. The combat of the game is somewhat deep, requiring some strategy, but the focus of West of Loathing is the comedy. Combat consists of standard turn-based rpg combat, where you attack followed by the enemy, until either one succeeds. There are many different classes which you choose at the start of the game (I chose bean wizard) which grant you different abilities, skills, and attacks. The game actually can be difficult at times. I actually found myself getting multiple game overs in a specific portion.

I would personally rate West of Loathing 88/100 and I highly recommend it to anyone wanting a hysterical 15 hour single player experience that is unforgettable. It's a pretty good bargain, and you are definitely depriving yourself if you don't at least give it a try. I promise you won't regret it!