Truck-Kun is Supporting Me from Another World?! Review (PC)

I thought it was going to be just another Wednesday. But, it wasn’t anything like a Wednesday. Or at least, it wasn’t like a Wednesday that I’d ever had in thirty-two years.

Initially, I was all for the idea of a Crazy Taxi clone, as was I for the idea of boarding a vehicle and delivering things from A to B. After planting myself behind the wheel of a milk truck, however, the kookiness began to take hold, and the JRPG elements gradually started to swallow an otherwise ordinary driving sim whole. A magical truck was introduced to the world, and then an elf, and then a skeleton, naturally. A bubblegum-wrapped battle soon followed, and before long I was mowing down unsuspecting pedestrians and accruing XP to power the “Galactic Gate.”

I can’t help but blame myself for thinking that Truck-kun is Supporting Me from Another World?! would be an ordinary experience. Even when it was staring at me between the eyes—the colossal weeping man—I convinced myself that it was a simple driving game with light vehicular combat elements. But, it wasn’t anything like that. Oh, it was definitely about driving and ferrying things from one place to another, but it was also about killing mythical beings and smashing billboards to smithereens for the sake of appeasing an anime-obsessed warrior.

I get it. You’re confused. But, that’s sort of the point, as is it the life force that makes a game like this tick. In other words, if you’re expecting all of this to make sense, then frankly, you might as well pilot your truck into an alternate dimension. If you can accept it for what it is, though, then you shouldn’t have a problem with waging a few otherworldly wars in the chaotic hollow of Wenvale. Stick with us, and it might just start to make sense.

To call Truck-kun is Supporting Me from Another World?! a strange game would be putting it mildly. If anything, it’s a mixture between two things: We Love Katamari, and Crazy Taxi. The only difference here is that you don’t deliver passengers or absorb objects to create one enormous cluster, but rather, sadistically mow down civilians and items whilst obtaining XP to eliminate imaginary foes that flutter around a second world. And if you think that sounds a little odd, then wait till you hear the plot.

It goes like this: you have accidentally mowed down the VP of Marketing of a prestigious company, and have, for some reason, drawn them into a fantastical realm of magical infusions and otherworldly things. As a result of this, the VP has made a decision to use her vast wealth of anime-based knowledge and RPG experience to construct a new timeline—a scenario that ultimately rejects death and embraces an easier, less gruesome path. Rather than accepting her fate, she decides to pull you into a world where mythical beings orbit two distinct biomes, and a great skeleton king holds the power to resurrect the fallen. With that, you have your objective: to accrue XP, complete tasks, and to pull the Scroll of Resurrection from the bony hands of a skeletal deity.

Truck-kun is Supporting Me from Another World?! is a lot of things. However, what it is at its core, really, is a chaos simulator that primarily consists of flattening innocent civilians, bulldozing random objects, and gallivanting through an overtly bright world in search of XP. As you have two worlds to juggle—the primary one and the make-believe biome that centers around monsters, pixel-crafted battles, and skeletal beings—the task at hand seems relatively daunting. The truth is, though, that there isn’t much for you to fret about. In fact, the sole purpose of the game is to hit things with your truck and, on occasion, make deliveries.

As you mindlessly carve through the sleepy hollow and obliterate billboards, pedestrians, and ordinary objects, you earn combat-related pick-me-ups, which are essentially used in various battle sequences below the screen. For example, if you smash through enough vehicles on the road, then you will boost your attack power, which can increase your overall damage. And, for the most part, that’s all that the game asks of you: to wreak enough havoc to ensure that the odds of each battle ends on an all-time high. There’s a deeper plot behind all of this, but honestly, it’s best not to spend too long thinking about it. It’s all a little far-fetched, and it doesn’t exactly do much to explain itself, either.

Blended with a ska-inspired soundtrack and a faithful anime aesthetic, Truck-kun is Supporting Me from Another World?! certainly stands out as a one-of-kind arcade-like experience. It’s an odd game, as is it one that doesn’t tend to shy away from its own quirkiness and eccentricity. But, to be honest, its self-awareness works well in its favor. Given that it wears its heart on its sleeve and embraces the silliness of its plot, its world, and its characters, it makes for a genuine treat to the casual observer. Perhaps not for the broader demographic — but for a niche audience, nonetheless.

With its dual worlds in tow and a sizable banquet of deliveries, obstacles, and roadblocks to plow through, Truck-kun is Supporting Me from Another World?! delivers a niche journey that is surprisingly easy to learn and gel with. It might strike you as being a little messy and half-baked, but I think that’s what it wants to accomplish with the assets it has at its disposal. For what it’s worth, though, I will say one thing: it’s a heck of a lot cleaner than Goat Simulator. You can take from that what you want, folks.

It won’t come as much of a shock at this point, but the gameplay itself is just as chaotic and as silly as any physics-based sandbox soapbox game. Oh, it isn’t slick, and it definitely isn’t beautiful. Although, it is a lot of fun to carve through. With vibrant worlds and comic book-like visuals that pop with each collision (and not to mention the humorous dialogue and ska-influenced soundtrack) to keep it afloat, it does make for a surprisingly entertaining game. It’s utterly bonkers I’ll admit. But then, if Crazy Taxi can get away with it, then so can Truck-kun is Supporting Me from Another World?!

Verdict

Truck-kun is Supporting Me from Another World?! openly embraces its eccentricity in a way that might not appeal to the die-hard crowd, but is likely to make the common Crazy Taxi fan bend over backwards and fall in love with the concept. As strange and as unruly as it is, it clearly showcases a great deal of promise, as does it make a good effort to blend arcade gameplay with anime and RPG-like tropes. Oh, it’s a bit of an oddball, but it’s also an incredibly entertaining game that can and will make you smile from ear to ear.

Provided that you can approach a game like this with a sense of humor and relatively low expectations, you should be able to enjoy it for the simple pleasures that it coughs up. Don’t think any more of it. If you’re itching for something that can glue the gaps between Crazy Taxi and Hi-Fi Rush, then consider this as an ideal short-term solution.