My Little Pony: A Zephyr Heights Mystery Review: Powerful Ponies
Platform reviewed on: Nintendo Switch
Pros
- Variety of magical abilities to play with
- Pony customization
- Voice acting in cutscenes and main missions
Cons
- Long loading times when traveling to a new area
- Crystal Brighthouse is underutilized
ESRB Age Rating: Everyone
Review code provided by the publisher.
Family-friendly games publisher Outright Games is inviting players to once again visit the magical world of My Little Pony with My Little Pony: A Zephyr Heights Mystery.
The follow-up to 2022’s My Little Pony: A Maretime Bay Adventure, A Zephyr Heights Mystery takes players back to the land of Equestria, where they’ll embark on a new quest with Sunny, Hitch, Izzy, Pipp, Zipp, and Misty. Magical anomalies have appeared in the cloud kingdom of Zephyr Heights, transforming objects into food and causing ponies to become trapped, suspended in midair. It’ll be up to players to help the ponies save the day.
Designed for younger players, A Zephyr Heights Mystery features simple 3D-platforming gameplay and allows players to complete story quests and optional objectives across multiple hub areas, like a theater district and mall.
Each of the game’s six playable ponies has different abilities and tools at their disposal, and players can instantly switch between the ponies they’ve unlocked at any time while playing. Sunny, for instance, can make flowers grow and move around environments more quickly using roller skates, while Hitch can charge through boxes to break them, Izzy can move items using telekinesis, and so on.
Players will begin with access to a single pony (Sunny), and they’ll unlock additional characters as they progress through the game’s story. This gives the experience a nice flow, as new features and characters are introduced slowly, giving players time to adjust to each new piece of content.
At the same time, each environment is full of items and restricted areas that can only be interacted with or accessed using a specific pony’s ability, which will encourage players to revisit “completed” environments to access items and areas that were previously unavailable.
Unfortunately, this backtracking ties into the game’s biggest flaw: significant loading times on Switch when moving between areas.
©Drakhar Studio / Restart
As players explore Zephyr Heights, they can collect a star currency called Magic Bits that can be spent on cosmetic items for the ponies (things like sunglasses and neck ties), as well as furniture items that can be used to decorate the “Crystal Brighthouse.” This interior design mechanic feels more like an afterthought than a core gameplay mechanic, but it’s there for players who want to see and do everything the game has to offer.
As A Zephyr Heights Mystery was designed with younger players in mind, the experience includes features that will help them make progress, such as a butterfly guide that will tell them which way to go next. The game also features a variety of fetch quests, but rather than forcing players to search for items across large environments, the game will typically highlight the location of each key object in a short cutscene, and players simply need to make their way to the correct area(s) and collect the required item(s).
©Drakhar Studio / Restart
Breaking up the platforming gameplay, A Zephyr Heights Mystery features a handful of simple mini-games, such as a rhythm game that challenges players to tap the correct buttons as prompts move across the screen, and a game that asks players to deliver as many smoothies to hungry patrons as possible in a limited amount of time. In addition to being featured during the story, these mini-games can be played repeatedly from the game’s main menu.
Finally, full voice acting is available throughout the game’s cutscenes and main story missions, though some side quests lack voiceovers. Drop-in, drop-out cooperative multiplayer is also supported for up to two people in the same room.
My Little Pony: A Zephyr Heights Mystery may not appeal to many older gamers, but there’s something to be said for simple experiences that don’t require lots of thinking or skill to enjoy. We enjoyed our time in the magical world of Equestria, and think the game’s target audience will too.