What is the true meaning of home? Is it the place you grew up? Is it the place where you feel wanted? That question still stuck in my mind after I was finished with Copycat. Personal questions and feelings are present throughout this heartwarming story of a cat’s journey to find its true home. Copycat does not hold back in its storytelling aspects, exploring beautiful, emotional, thought-provoking avenues in this charming story.
Copycat does not hold back in its storytelling aspects, exploring beautiful, emotional, thought-provoking avenues in this charming story.
Copycat is a passion project from a small couple’s studio in Australia, and this passion is shown in bunches throughout its short 2-3 hour runtime. It begins in the animal shelter. You control a newly adopted cat named Dawn on its way to a new life in the peaceful, quiet suburbs.
Dawn’s apprehensive nature due to past experiences slowly builds into a peaceful adaptation to a new home. However, not everything is a cozy ride as Dawn’s home is thrown into question, reminding why they were so hesitant to trust in the first place. This struggle explores many personal areas and is not afraid to ask the hard stuff. The story is beautiful, relatable, and touching and had me on the verge of tears during its many heart wrenching moments.
The story of Copycat takes center stage with many meaningful story cut scenes supported by small minigames such as swatting at a cat toy, button input challenges, and bounding down alleyways reminiscent of an endless runner. These minigames are all full of indie character, with Dawn often imagining herself in the wild, swatting fish instead of a toy. These moments pulled me into the activities even more, appreciating their simplistic charm.
Copycat also presents small explorable areas such as the house, backyard, and quiet street, to name a few, allowing Dawn to run around and investigate, offering cute and often cheeky input on the environment around. These small areas are relaxing to take in, often giving a peaceful respite before the next heavy beat in the story. Controlling Dawn around these environments does feel a bit clunky, playing down the true acrobatic feel of how a curious cat should feel, sometimes getting caught on the environment or feeling stiff when exploring the many nooks and cranny’s that Copycat entices you to explore.
These small areas are relaxing to take in, often giving a peaceful respite before the next heavy beat in the story.
Dawn’s many meows throughout this adventure are all perfect sounding, matching the situation and bringing the little adorable one to life. Meowing in agreement or disbelief, a meow truly is worth 1000 words. The voice performances of all the characters that Dawn runs into throughout this journey are all lovingly voiced, especially the adopter of Dawn, a sincere voice that brings comfort and a true sense of belonging. The music throughout accentuates the playful nature of exploring the house, backyard, and beyond, providing a great underscore throughout our furry friends eventful journey. Copycat is not much of a looker, and that’s OK; it does not need to be. Environments are lovingly designed and add more heart to a story that takes precedence.
Copycat provides many thought-provoking questions, such as the place of home, abandonment, and the emotional struggle when this is threatened in its many simple relaxing environments and mini games. The passion in this story is everlasting; although it is rough around the edges, it is one of the more heartfelt stories I’ve experienced this year.
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