I was a bit reluctant to pick up and play Pupperazzi at first. It seemed weird, silly, and I can’t say I approved of the “share pics, gain followers” concept, but I was looking for an easy, casual distraction that didn’t give me too much to think about. I found it on Xbox Game Pass and was convinced by positive user feedback.
Pupperazzi, as the name states, is a game where you take photos of dogs. And that could be the entire review in one sentence, I mean, what else could I possibly say? Fear not, there is more to do that just go around stalking the poor pups all over the place.
You play as a camera. No, not a photographer, you ARE the camera. A camera with arms and legs, who walks around and pets the doggies to befriend them. The town map offers five locations to explore at different times of day, and a final bonus location. Lighthouse Cove, Buppy Boardwalk, Muttropolis, and Mellowstone can be visited during morning, afternoon, evening and night. Progression and unlocking the different areas and times is done by completing objectives in the available areas and times of day.
Most objectives are little quests that require you to snap a particular photo. This can be anything ranging from a dog doing a certain type of activity (ex: fetching a stick), wearing a particular clothing item or accessory, a dog in a certain scenario, or photographing a dog at a certain angle or time of day. A few others include a variety of tasks revolving around exploration, such as cleaning up the skate park or re-opening an old arcade.
As you snap photos, you can save them to your gallery, mark them as favorites and, most importantly, share them on dogNET to gain a follower base. It was this same social media aspect that initially nearly turned me off the game, but I understand its purpose. When uploading to dogNET, you will notice your photos will appeal to particular groups depending on content: traditional, goth, friendly, extreme, fashion and so on. However, there is a limit to how many photos you can upload per day to gain followers, and any extra will be considered spam. You won’t be penalized nor will you lose followers, but you will see some comments about spamming, so try to upload your best photos. You can “recycle” what you don’t want to use (deletes the photo) and are able to save your favorite photos. Since I played through Xbox Game Pass on PC, those I marked as favorites were saved to my computer.
There are some features to appeal to the completist gamer. Collectible golden bones, called Bonks, are scattered throughout the game and are used to purchase camera upgrades. You can spend them in the Shop location on the world map to buy different lenses and film, and since some of them are required for specific quests, this is what you should be saving for. There are plenty of different upgrades available, such as lenses that turn your image pixelized, have a slow-motion effect, or that allow you to zoom in and out, as well as various film types with color filters for some artistic effects or black and white photography. Don’t buy random ones right away; instead, wait to be prompted to purchase some for a particular objective.
For extra completion satisfaction, the Puppypedia will collect entries for all dog breeds, some activities and fashion items. You don’t necessarily have to purchase the fashion items from the vending machines scattered through the game, since you can just take them off any dog and place them on another, assuming you spot one wearing what you need. You can also just approach a dog and dress it up with hats, glasses, shoes and other accessories, and customize colors – to a degree.
Ok, sure, the game could use some improvements. There were a few times when the objectives weren’t clear that I would have to go back to a different area, and I’ll admit that I felt lost for a long time in Muttropolis looking for something that wasn’t even in that area. My main issue was with the Mellowstone stage and the alien artifact event. At some point in this area, you will come across a door in a cave and find a way to open it. The objective asked me to snap a photo of the alien artifact, and I still haven’t been able to complete that because even after opening the door in the cave, I never found it. After searching, it seems an event is supposed to take place during which I can take this photo, but in my game, it didn’t happen. Fortunately, it wasn’t necessary for any achievement and it didn’t prevent access to the final area.
A cute and colorful laid-back experience that may become repetitive to some but has the potential to appeal to all ages, Pupperazzi ended up being a lot more enjoyable than I expected. Now if only Sundae Month and Kitfox Games could get together again to make a Cattarazzi… *wink wink*
