Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass PS5 Review
Strange Days
Kasey Ozymy’s Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass is one of the strangest RPGs I have ever had the pleasure of playing. It wears its influences, such as the SNES classic Earthbound, on its sleeve, sending players into an eight-year-old boy’s dreamworld, which, in fact, is a sinister nightmare. While the game is chock full of humour and strange sentient objects to fight, Jimmy’s narrative and his world are among the most uncomfortable I’ve encountered in a video game in a long time. It mixes elements of horror and a coming of age story, crafting an uneasy experience where something always feels off, and it’s up to the player to find out what that could even be. Electric Airship and Starseed have ported Jimmy’s crazy adventure to PlayStation 5, and while it’s not a perfect port, it’s definitely an experience for any RPGamer who loves colourful worlds that are cute on the outside with creepy overtones.
Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass is a game that starts with humble beginnings. It’s about a boy, his older brother, and a request from their mother to get some honey. The moment Jimmy leaves his house, players are whisked into a colourful dreamworld where nothing is as it seems. There are talking frogs, gangsters trying to sell you on their lifestyle, and even an 8-bit kingdom in need of saving. When Jimmy and his brother, Buck, arrive at the hive to collect the honey, they are greeted by dead bees and a sinister entity that wants to play. Jimmy joins forces with his family to explore the dreamworld, save everyone in it, and come face-to-face with the dreaded Pulsating Mass, who may be more than they seem.
There is something uncomfortable about taking on the role of an eight-year-old boy and entering his dream world. Visually, Jimmy’s dreamworld is vibrant and colourful, but everything feels off in a way that is hard to describe. It’s a game where revealing too much of the plot takes away from the entire experience, because it’s nonstop surprises in how the story unfolds. There is a darkness in Jimmy’s tale that is so shocking that one wonders if the game needed to go as hard as it does. There are constant horrors, a surprising amount of gore, and a lot of story beats that make it hard to predict the game’s direction. Although the game is quite linear, there is always something or someone lurking around every corner of Jimmy’s world, and none of it is good.
Some of the oddities Jimmy and his family will fight.
Since the game takes place in Jimmy’s dreamworld, imagination is a core theme throughout. All of the characters Jimmy encounters throughout the narrative are often kind but strange, with a lot of them knowing him and reminding him that he is just a good boy. Kasey Ozymy’s writing is excellent, as it amplifies the absurdity of Jimmy’s encounters, making everyone feel like a caricature rather than a character. Even Jimmy’s own family feels just slightly off enough to make the player question their sanity, as Jimmy’s mother, Helga, borders on toxic positivity, and his Uncle Lars behaves like a literal lump until his story unfolds. The writing invites the player to participate in Jimmy’s subconsciousness so they feel as if they, too, may be going insane. The world is both sinister and full of childlike wonder, so the juxtaposition can feel almost jarring, but that is what makes Jimmy’s world and his story so compelling.
Imagination and absudity is also a large part of the game’s combat and exploration systems. Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass uses a traditional turn-based combat system with Jimmy’s character sporting a unique twist: the ability to imagine himself as something else. Jimmy can transform into a scary bear, a lumpy slime, a weird 50’s vampire, and even a happy-go-lucky flower. Throughout the story, Jimmy will encounter different objects that he can then imagine himself as, and each form has unique skills both in and out of combat. Unfortunately, combat is a slow experience, as enemies feel far more overpowered than Jimmy and his family can often handle, and some of Jimmy’s family members’ abilities are a mixed bag. In particular, Uncle Lars, whose abilities require him to lump on the spot and mainly be a punching bag for the enemy. The same goes for Helga, who plays the role of healer fantastically, but can’t do much else. While players can equip manuals onto every character to give them additional skills, it’s frustrating that each character’s base skills never quite feel enough, with combat never having enough oomph to be interesting. Jimmy is also an incredibly grindy experience, which takes away from the more powerful narrative moments in the game.
That being said, there are kernels of great ideas here. Jimmy starts fairly weak at the beginning of the game, but as he acquires Imagination forms, each can be leveled up to provide Jimmy with some additional active skills and passive ones. As Jimmy levels up each form, he can mix and match skills from each so that certain skills can be used in any form. For example, the Pumpkin Ghost has a handy Mana Drain skill that can beef up Jimmy’s spell casting, and once unlocked, can be placed in an active slot marked by a star that can be used by any form during combat. As forms level up, they will also provide passive abilities that, in a starred slot, can be used by any form, though those marked with a bullet point can only be used in Jimmy’s natural state. While Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass is a grindy game, grinding is encouraged to gain all of the new skills that each form has to offer. Some forms are more dynamic than others, and with the right setup, Jimmy can become far more powerful than any of his allies.
Helga is always full of kindness.
Thankfully, exploration fares a bit better than combat, as Jimmy can use his different imagination forms to solve puzzles in a dungeon or locate hidden areas. Exploring and trying different forms in different scenarios is quite engaging, though the game isn’t great about providing hints to the player on what they may need to do to solve a puzzle. Most puzzles tend to be straightforward, and it’s usually easy to figure out which form one needs; others can feel frustrating, on top of the player trying to wade through the high encounter rate in the game. However, there are times when exploration can be a real treat, particularly when in the Low-Level Goon form, which lets Jimmy push people around to get some fabulous bits of dialogue from the NPCs. There is so much to uncover in the game, as finding random mirrors can allow Jimmy’s vampire form to go through them and be in the mirror-verse, potentially reading people’s not-so-secret diaries. There is a large plethora of side content that players can enjoy once they get access to the spaceship, though many of the special dungeons require Jimmy and his family at higher levels because they are quite the challenge. There are also hilarious and difficult special bosses that can be uncovered, so while puzzle solving isn’t always the most fun, being able to go into some of these hidden areas offers excellent opportunities for better gear, grinding, and seeing some of the game’s funnier NPCs in crazier situations.
Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass isn’t without a few blemishes, as the PlayStation 5 version had a few instances of crashing during play. It was also difficult to know what mode the player was on if they chose to switch difficulties at any point, though a difficulty indicator was patched in during the review process. The game is quite difficult at times, though never impossible, with some boss fights feeling like the player is banging their head against a wall, which also definitely adds to the game’s runtime. Although the main story can be completed in around twenty hours, doing the side content and grinding can easily bump that number higher.
I knew I shouldn’t have taken that left turn at Albuquerque.
In terms of score, Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass has a lot of pleasant and idyllic tunes that illustrate the themes of imagination and childlike wonder well. That said, most of the music isn’t particularly memorable. Similarly, the game’s visuals are also enjoyable; being colorful, simplistic, and doing a great job of showcasing the game’s absurd world. Characters are cute and round-looking, though everyone has the same vacant look in their eyes that reminds the player that there’s something darker in this world. Environments are quite linear, but each revolves around a theme or concept that gives the locations a lot of personality, even with RPG Maker’s limitations.
While Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass has its share of problems, I cannot deny how intrigued I was by the game’s characters, story, and world. Kasey Ozymy has crafted such an intriguing, yet sinister world that makes you want to follow the game’s mysteries to the very end. While the combat is serviceable and the puzzles are passable, these are not the elements that will attract players to pick up the game; rather, it is the absurdity, humour, and sharp writing that will keep them exploring. While the PlayStation 5 port has a few crashes, Starseed has done a decent job of porting the game to modern consoles. While Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass is an imaginative experience filled with nightmares, its combat and grindiness hold it back from being a truly exceptional experience.
Disclosure: This review is based on a free copy of the game provided by the publisher.
Imagination system is a fun concept
Lots of side content to complete
Interesting themes and metaphors
Combat isn't engaging
Other characters in combat do not feel balanced
Puzzles are not always well explained
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