Grow Up

Grow Up doesn't feel terribly different from Grow Home other than its larger world, but its main achievement is to strengthen some of its predecessor's weak points. The drive to climb to the top of everything remains, but here it's improved on with new methods of climbing and flying, and the option to toss down plants that serve as tools for any situation. The camera sometimes complicates this, but not enough to bury the charm of the original.

Grow up was a uniquely calming experience, from the soft colors and bioluminescence, to the ethereal music that played along with the visuals. I highly recommend it as a refreshing break from more conventional high-paced, thrilling, adrenaline pumping titles that fill the gaming industry.

Reflections takes procedurally-animated robot BUD to new heights.

An acceptably quirky adventure, Grow Up is an enjoyable experience that could have used a lot more polish, especially with regards to its movement, camera system and overall performance.

It was perhaps a little surprising to see a sequel to last year's botanical platforming adventure Grow Home, especially one that would release so swiftly. Grow Up released less than 12 months after its predecessor, and we were curious to find out what could've changed in that short space of time. As it turns out, that's a tricky question to answer. BUD's new adventure is bigger, broader, and more open, but equally, it doesn't wander too far from the beaten path.

Those are the issues that are easy to pin down. But really, Grow Up suffers from all the downsides of not giving the player structure. It just feels like less of a problem here because the developer is wholly transparent about that fact. Grow Up is as Ubisoft as a Ubisoft game can get. It may be a lot of bloat, but at least the game’s comfortable enough to carry it proudly.

Some of the new features could’ve done with pruning, but Ubisoft’s willingness to nurture indie style experiments continues to bear fruit.

It's important to keep in mind the price point for this petite adventure ($9.99 USD) makes it an ever-enticing opportunity for gamers to explore the world B.U.D. finds himself on for those looking to kill some time and take in a world so lovingly pieced together by the studio Ubisoft Reflections. Even then, it's important to keep in mind that the excitement peaks alongside Grow Up's invisible ceiling – failing to ascend to bigger heights from that point on.

Even with a limited fast travel system, this grows exhausting early on. Failure in games is best handled when the player takes the rules and conventions handed to them and makes an honest mistake with their lack of skill, but Grow Up feels antagonistic toward the player, constantly undermining their every move with clunky platforming, almost gleefully launching them back to the start of a particularly challenging section. Bud is adorable, the world is visually stunning, and the game itself enticingly oozes whimsy. But those pure moments of bliss are undercut by Bud’s frustrating controls in a ...

Clumsy, but cute.