The graphics represent the most amazing aspect of the whole game. Not only the way each character is designed, but also the way it’s animated makes you think of a typical Disney’s cartoon. You may like it or not, but the style is very appropriate for this game: super deformed bodies and fanciful environments. Every character and animal is wonderfully built, being also very different the one from the other. Adding to this, their gestures and postures are very smooth and enjoyable for the eyes. Environments are suggestive and create the right atmosphere to get involved. Particular effects, like butterflies, taraxacum petals floating around the screen or other little details, add a refined touch to the whole game. It’s evident the developers wanted to created a game that looked like no others, and somehow they succeeded in their purposes. Nothing like this has been tried before in a videogame to make it look so similar to an interactive cartoon.

The only bad issue regarding graphics is the slow framerate, that makes the game less fluid than it could have been: it’s particularly evident during some parts of Herdy Gerdy. It’s a great shame, because with an higher framerate the game would have gained a lot more, speaking of animation. Also, sometimes, without reasons and especially during dialogues, the characters seem to lack of some basic animations (lips movements and so on) that are really well done during the rest of the game.

Other bright aspect of this game, the sound completes the atmosphere of Herdy Gerdy’s world. Every character has a peculiar voice that fits its role in the game. For example, Gerdy’s voice is a bit childish and reveals the curiosity of the young boy regarding the subject of herding, while Granny’s voice is trembling, or Yggdrasil’s voice underlines his wisdom etc.etc. The voice acting in general has a typical cartoon style, somewhat exaggerated, but never annoying. Actors did a good job giving each character its own personality, also when only pronouncing few words. The player can exactly guess the type of character he’s talking to just listening to the dialogue, as it happens for the greatest part of classic cartoons.

Sound effects are very well done too. Every species of animals, along with its physical characteristics, “expresses” itself with its own cry. For example, if a Gromp somewhere in the level is eating the Doops you’re keeping in a pen, you’ll hear a peculiar noise…

On the contrary, the music of Herdy Gerdy is never exaggerated, also to give the player the opportunity to pay more attention to noises and sound effects. It’s an interesting choice for an adventure game like this one, and even if the music in itself is nothing particularly original, the decision to leave it only like a background element is not so common.

Herdy Gerdy is not an easy game and that means you’ll need to restart several times some levels to get used to it: herding the right amount of creatures to enter some new areas will require a very long time and also easier quests can be difficult the first time. For its complexity it’s a long game, but someone could be bored after few hours and find it repetitive. Boredom in a game like this one it’s mainly a matter of taste. For those who will find it amusing, it’s for sure a good choice, speaking of length and replay value. Herdy Gerdy is not one of those adventure game that last very few hours and that take very little time to be mastered.