Pipistrello and The Cursed Yoyo on PS5 were sent to me by PM Studios, which is always great. You may know them for their more popular titles on PS5, Black Myth Wukong, and Honkai: Star Rail. So it’s always appreciated to work with them.
The cursed Yoyo has you playing as Pippit, a young yoyo star in training living off his family’s wealth in an attempt to live his dream of being the greatest yoyo star ever. He isn’t very good, comparatively speaking, but he tries hard. One day, he visits his aunt, probably to get more money, and his family home is under attack. Using his skills with a yo-yo, he fights his way to his aunt’s side just in time for her to be shot with a soul-stealing laser.

I won’t lie, the story is very basic. Your aunt gets trapped in your yo-yo and helps you get her soul back by destroying the batteries that trapped her. To do this, you defeat her corporate competition, which happens to be evil, more evil than she is, at least. The gameplay is a lot of fun, though. There are side quests, dozens and dozens of items, abilities, collectables, and such to collect.

The game also feels like a great throwback to the old days of action gaming, with four different sections of town to explore, and if you die, you just restart the room you were in. Stepping into water simply makes you lose your heart. The difficulty isn’t punishing, nor is it easy. Even better, at $20 it won’t break the bank. While the game does have some issues, many of the passive upgrades need to be bought, and you do this by collecting money in-game. However, the woman you buy them from is a germaphobe, so she won’t take money you already have. This means when you want an upgrade, you get a debuff, and she takes half the money you collect. When you pay her off, the debuff goes away, and the upgrade is yours permanently. Money lets you buy other stuff in the game, so it does serve other purposes.
Would I recommend the game? Sure, for $20, if you like games like this, it is a 7/10 experience. I don’t think this will be the game that brings you around to the genre, however. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.