I realize I might be a bit too biased to properly review RPG Time, the new RPG from studio DeskWorks and Aniplex. It's not because it's steeped in JRPG lore or because so much of its iconography brings Dragon Quest to mind—rather, I see way too much of myself in Kenta. I never was a wiz-kid with cardboard, plastic straws, and sketches like he is, but I know what it's like to share wild, expansive worlds with your friends after school. I was the kid with the notebook twenty years ago. I didn't dream of getting into game design, but still had reams and reams of pages I couldn't wait to share with my friends once the bell rang. It's rare to find a game that really captures that spirit of creativity that could only come from a kid, and DeskWorks really nailed the tone.

Somewhat similar to Retro Game Challenge on the DS, RPG Time has two layers to it. On the upper level, you play as yourself, and your best friend Kenta (age 10) rushes over to your desk every day after the bell rings to show you his own made-up RPG: The Legend of Wright. Through a combination of table-top roleplaying, interactions with real-life toys, and a lot of ambitious craftwork involving simple buttons and lights, Kenta guides you through the adventure of a silent hero named Wright on his journey to rescue Princess Lay from the evil demon-lord Dethgawd. On the deeper level, you control Wright in the game-within-a-game, with Kenta serving as an energetic narrator-cum-dungeon-master. Constantly swapping hats as he voices the other characters, Kenta controls all of the aspects of the game as he guides you through obstacles and battles, unlocking new parts of the game (i.e., the desk) as the game goes on. God only knows how he lugs around so many props in his backpack, bless his heart.

The overall interface for the game is not quite photorealistic, using somewhat cartoonish bits of cardboard buttons, paper cut-outs stapled to straws, and painted rocks to simulate the many new props and dioramas that Kenta sets out before you. It would have been interesting to see these parts rendered in photorealistic props, but there's charm nevertheless in seeing Kenta “temper a sword” by sharpening a pencil in a decorated pencil sharpener.

Everything is accounted for: your menu is beadwork arranged to look like an 8-Bit menu; the music is entirely diegetic, and Kenta's MP3 player consists of his favorite songs from his favorite games; your health meter is a repurposed tape ruler. Cutscenes can either be a fanciful kamishibai sequence, or a fold-out comic propped up on straws. And the “game” proper is Kenta's notebook where each stage, battle, map, and room is an elaborate sketch made by Kenta's hands.

Kenta's got a good, unique style, with each character simple and archetypal in their design but nevertheless recognizable. Wright is a watered-down Dragon Quest protagonist, because that's what he has to be. Princess Lay is a beautiful blonde princess, because that's what she has to be. So on, and so forth. And just when you think you know how something works, Kenta brings out a new mechanic. Flipbook animations. Changing maps hidden under post-it notes. Erasing and redrawing maps to introduce new threats.

Despite this, it never feels like a wild game of Calvinball where the rules are just arbitrarily changed on you, but rather an elaborate game where new obstacles and tools are constantly presented to you. Even booting up the game sends you immediately to some mini-game where you have to sharpen a pencil or play with a toy with Kenta before going to the “title screen” (i.e., Kenta puts the notebook on your desk).

The title RPG Time is a bit of a misnomer because Kenta's favorite games include shooters and horror games, too: plenty of sequences involve off-the-wall genre changes like Wright hopping into a tank and having to explore a simple Zelda-esque dungeon or having to find your way through a maze. The battles are entirely scripted, more akin to interactive puzzles than raw fights of attrition: while ostensibly "turn-based," players must pay attention to the enemy and the area they're in to suss out the enemy's weak spot.

Even interacting with the game is creative; while battles and navigation can be done with the controllers, you can also touch the Switch's screen to interact with things. It's great fun with some of the drawing pages or literally “drawing” your sword strokes in fights. It's also easy to just tap on the on-screen buttons for things like accessing your food items or engaging an enemy in a match of Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots (long story).

That said, it can be a bit confusing with controllers; in a lot of cases, your instinct is to hit “A” for accessing things, but that'll just take you out of a menu. Or you might try using the analog stick to move Wright only to find that he only moves when you use the D-Pad. These little mix-ups aren't so bad, but because of all the little flourishes the game throws at you when you switch from Search mode to moving to accessing your food items, it's easy to press the A-button one too many times and force you to spend a few extra seconds just trying to access the menu.

The movement in the game is also quite slow: Wright takes his time plodding around maps when you move around, and given how some areas require a bit of back-tracking this can make exploration take more time than it should. A simple “Run” button here would've been extremely useful.

But the result of all of this is still an incredibly charming game, and an amazing ode to a child's imagination. Maybe you weren't Kenta. Maybe you didn't have a friend you shared your own personal world with and weaved miles and miles of yarns that you explored together. But I was, and it was special to see that in this game. Every page is a new adventure, dripping with love and care from a child who is just bursting at the seams with how much he wants to share with his friends. There are a lot of Kentas in the world, would that they could all come to have their stories told like this.