Later Alligator

Later Alligator
 I have been meaning to play this game for a good while. I had seen lots of posts and humor from the developers regarding this game and its charming style and characters. I had high hopes going in and was not disappointed.

The plot to kill Pat
 Later Alligator has you helping the anxious alligator Pat, who has enlisted you to unravel a plot of his family to murder him. It has you traveling around alligator city and assisting the family members in a variety of tasks to loose their lips. These tasks are normally through a variety of mini games such as helping run a complicated grill, getting a bird swole in a flappy bird esqe game, and protecting a baby from getting possessed.

Charming Gators
I found quickly into the game that you can not possibly meet all family before the end of the game due to a time limit set. It is short enough to not be a problem though and you keep your progress with the family which is important to get the true ending. There are two standout members for me in game.
 
 Mona : Helping a teenager make a “non-biased” zine is a great concept for a game. I had a good laugh from all her cut and pasted comics, memes, and k-pop fan pics. I find some nostalgia in bits like this of internet culture of sharing and making content at a young age.
 
 The Knife : Literally is Goro Majima from Yakuza/Like a Dragon. I thought it was a subtle nod until seeing some of the comments that are made in his mini game. I love Majima so obviously I would like this character but it is taken to a whole new level with his mini game – a dating sim. I honestly love parody dating sims and a good bit of work was put into this one. The faces and commentary are fantastic.

The Party – Spoilers

Most of this section is spoilers for the end so if you have not played Later Alligator I would skipping this and going to play it.
 
 It is immediately clear that Pat is just too anxious for his own good and that there is no murder plot. Family members recount previous times he has let his anxiety and imagination get out of hand. Pat goes to the party at the end and all the family you have completed tasks for at this point are there to celebrate with him. You get to be in the family picture and create your gator-sona at the end of the game. Except for if you get all of the family….
 
 The horror I felt when I saw my character crossing off the last item on their list and pushing Pat off the ledge before fading to black.. that was a good way to get a true end. I was relieved to see that you do save Pat last second and get a silly recap of how Pat brought this on himself. I was worried I would have to find all of the puzzle pieces for the TRUE true end. The hinting towards this in the game were clever. Bobby Blue Eyes’ mini game being the biggest hint asking why you have so many big and scary knives, cleverly passed over as just humor. The pin stripe suit being mentioned and the your thick gloves. Heck the game even makes your true reason for being there at the start unknown.
 

I get why I saw so much hype for this game. A lot of work and creativity went into it. It is not very hard with the exception of a few mini games and a quick playthrough to get completion. The only thing I did not complete was the puzzle pieces but with a guide I could see it being easy enough. I would recommend playing it if you want a quick, fun, and easy game to play.