This has always been true, the best costumes are made by moms. When I was young, my favorite costumes were always homemade. I was Superman twice (I loved Superman, as a kid) with two different costumes that my mom made. I was also an Errol Flynn style swashbuckler while my younger brother was a pirate. My favorite costume was a Ghostbuster made from of a brown sweatsuit. Nothing beats a costume made with heart, nothing.
The best thing about dressing up for Halloween, as a kid, was being the perfect opportunity to become the characters they dress up as. When we grow up, that magic dies. It's just some crappy costume we put on. The personae we used to don as children are discarded - they're no longer socially acceptable, unless you're a dork, like me. The most disappointing thing about this year is that costumes are so unimaginative. So many companies always do the same old shit every Halloween - not just the costume companies. This holiday is made for creative individuals. The fact that banal repetition is the business in Halloween is depressing.
Despite my bleak outlook, I did get something to alleviate my Halloween blues. My wife bought me Costume Quest, an XBOX Live game by Double Fine, the makers of Psychonauts and Brütal Legend. The premise of the game is about these twins, brother and sister, go Trick-or-Treating. You pick one of them as you character, while the other gets abducted by grubbins. It's your task to find out how to get your sibling back, which involves gaining new costumes, Trick-or-Treating to get candy for buying upgrades, and defeating creepy monsters. The best thing about this game is that it captures the magic of Halloween perfectly with a wit and humor that is characteristically Double Fine. The graphics and sound are appropriately cartoony and spooky and it has a fun system of using different costumes and the power of imagination to become mighty heroes, magical beasts, and... the Statue of Liberty (which is actually pretty funny).
On the downside, the game's not a very meaty. For starters, it's too short - only about six hours, or so. The side quests, which try to fill out the game, are repetitive. You basically end up playing hide-n-seek, bobbing for apples, and trading Creepy Treats cards with others every time you reach a new area. These are a lot of the same problems that Brütal Legend had, which is a shame, because Psychonauts was a really deep game. Also, the rpg battle system is very rudimentary. There are some elements to the system, such as using quick time events for every attack and defense and battle stamps, which give a character extra life, defense, damage, or new attacks to use against your enemies. Still, battle feels really basic. Also, the quick time events really determine how easy of a time you have with the game. If you keep missing them, you're going to get your ass kicked, but if you keep making them, it becomes way too easy. There really is no middle ground on difficulty. You're either going to dominate this game or be crushed by it, which I feel misses that "sweet spot" of a good challenge. One other thing is the dialog can be hard to read, at times. There is no voice acting, mostly due to being a XBOX Live title and a limited time frame to make it. The dialog is done through static word bubbles, comic book style, but, sometimes, it goes too fast. You'll be trying to read a big line from someone and they'll move onto the next line before you can finish reading. If they just used the A button to advance the lines all of the time, instead of only in certain parts, this wouldn't be a problem.
Despite the rough parts, Costume Quest is still a lot of fun for those who love Halloween. A game this short may seem a bit pricey at 1200 Microsoft points ($15), but it is good for getting you into the Halloween mood. I don't see myself playing this again anytime soon, but I could definitely go for breaking this game out around this time, every year, with a bag of candy corn, just to get into the spirit of the season.
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