Bipo: Mystery of the Red Panda Demo

Sometimes, mysteries come out of nowhere and you are caught in the middle of them, with no other choice than to follow through and try to unravel them. Well, not really, but that’s the way it goes in movies and video games, at least. Secrets and mysteries are intriguing to the human mind, on the other hand, so people usually go along with it to satisfy their curiosity.

Bipo: Mystery of the Red Panda is a casual adventure game in which you have to explore an interesting environment and try to use your imagination to solve a mystery. Since the main character appears to be a bear of some sorts, the action is not exactly serious, so you should take everything with a pinch of salt. On the other hand, a few wild ideas every once in a while can open your mind to new things.

As such, the story talks about a cute little creature by the name of Bipo, who one day decides to investigate a weird manor. Naturally, things get out of hand and the estate appears to be haunted, which means there’s a ghost to catch and a paranormal event to explain. Not only that, but a cloaked bandit is on the loose as well, which means more trouble for the busy panda.

The gameplay mechanics are about as simple as they can get, since all you have to do is move around, explore the environments, and try to interact with certain objects. There are plenty of puzzles to solve as well, none of which require too much brain power to begin with anyway. However, they are fun and engaging, so they should keep you interested for a decent amount of time.

Visually, the game sports a rather beautiful top-down perspective, with some nice level design to go with it. Unfortunately, not a lot of work went into the environments, because they lack detail and they can feel rather barren in certain situations. The same is true for the soundtrack, which is dull and uninspiring on most occasions.

In the end, Bipo: Mystery of the Red Panda is a tad too childish to entertain an adult for too long, but the simple puzzles should be just the thing to make children happy. Hence, the game has its purpose and it’s certainly a good choice in the right circumstances.