I despise Halloween. I blame it on being 3 years old and having the heebies jeebies scared out of me by two teens dressed as a werewolf and a commando. Ever since, I have hated the holiday. Would I care to dress up as anyone or anything? Forget it! But I have gotten my hands on a game that everyone can probably get behind. That game is Costume Quest on Xbox Live Arcade.

Costume Quest follows the misadventures of young twins, Reynold and Wren. The game takes place on Halloween night, and you choose which twin you’ll command. One will dress up as a robot while the other dresses as a piece of candy corn. However, just as the game gets started, the other sibling is kidnapped by goblins because the goblins need candy and lots of it. And your twin is, unfortunately, considered the biggest and best prize of them all. So it’s up to you and your new friends to save Halloween, rescue your twin and return all of the candy to the kids.

Overall, it is a really well-written and has a funny plot. I love the fact that a little girl wears a princess outfit “ironically.” I like that all of the proper elements are shown to the player and that the characters emote. The problem with the game is simple: There’s no real characterization. The various characters play their respective archetypes to a T. There is a reason Costume Quest gets away with it; its intended for children and those young at heart.

The graphics support this notion. It is cartoony and imaginative. Who didn’t want to believe that one couldn’t transform into a massive robot, ninja or unicorn? (OK, that last one is a major stretch of the imagination even for me.) And no one really cares that the girls can be ninjas and boys can pretend to be unicorns. Apples float in the water during a minigame, ghosts zoom off in the background during battle, jack-o’-lanterns are waiting to be destroyed and explode into little bits of wonderful candy. The downside is that everyone looks alike. Kids have the same facial structure with different haircuts and skin tones. The same few adults wear the same few outfits. The same is true for the enemies. There are about eight different “monsters” to beat up.

So how does this game flow? It is essentially an adventure game masquerading as a role-playing game. You run around the various environments (city suburbs, the mall and the countryside), solve people’s problems, gain candy, buy stamps and equip them for different effects, find costume pieces for a new outfit, beat up goblins, and repeat the process. And if you can get into the game’s groove, it is a lot of fun. It is somewhat soothing to play for its duration.

Combat, on the other hand, is a bit more generic. Remember, Costume Quest is geared toward the young and inexperienced. Anyway, you’ll control up to three different party members, and how they behave depends on, drum roll please, their costume! Everyone has the basic attack and your “special attack” depends on the costume. The robot has you pressing a button during charge up, the unicorn and knight have you pressing a specific button and the statue of liberty (she has the date “Oct. 31” written on her tablet) has you rotating the control stick. Then there’s the special attack/move, and it takes three turns to charge before it is used. The robot fires missiles, the unicorn heals, the ninja cloaks an ally in darkness and French fries (I kid you not) paralyze with salt. Defending is also simple affair: Press the proper button in time.

The sound design is done well. There’s the smashing of pumpkins, the jittering “lightning” for costume transformation, solid smacks and slashes and robot noises (yes, I probably like the robot a bit too much). Music is also present, but it is far lighter. During the adventure portion, you’ll just hear some light tinkling as you explore. Combat has this wonderfully intense combat music and fits perfectly in its world. Plus, there’s an Easter egg for fans of Psychonauts: The camp music plays in the background in one particular store. And that’s all there is. The game lacks voice acting to help lend it some gravitas and keep things interesting. It’s a shame that the sound design isn’t more because what is there is well made and certainly deserves more news than “a three-track pony” and “basic sounds.”

So how does Costume Quest stack up overall? The $15 price would have one think that it is of cream-of-the-crop quality in downloadable games. Presentation is a bit weak considering that this is a next-generation download. Everything should be much stronger so people feel like they’re getting a treat and not some type of trick. Furthermore, the game only lasts about three to four hours. On the plus side, it doesn’t overstay its welcome, and the achievements are not difficult to obtain. This is a game that is meant to engage the imagination, offering an opportunity that many a child has most probably dreamt of at some time or another. Although Costume Quest is not worth the 1200 Microsoft Points, it is a steal at half the price. There is a demo available on both PlayStation Network and XBLA so you figure out if this is something that belongs in your library. Regardless, go dress up and try to find all of treats you can.