Review: Merry Walrus Party 2014

Doesn't adding "Merry" back into the title deem changing this franchise into the Holiday Party years back pointless?

So, here we are.  Another month, another fresh coat of a paint over August's establishing party template.  I welcome you to the Frozen Party, Part 5.

This party does everything the past four parties did except with a vague Holiday accent.  The new music and free items aren't memorable, there are too few rooms decorated, and there's a new puffle that's not bad on its own but is awful when you consider when we got the last new one (this particular one comes just barely two weeks after more than half a dozen puffles were dumped onto our laps through Puffle Wild).  It's all so mundane.

If I sound like a tired out guy, devoid of hope for the future of this site, then my true feelings have been successfully conveyed; at least when Violetta sang her song in all but gibberish to most of us, it was a mistake that I could point out for a new, interesting point.

But, alas, there are still a few things to say.

The rooms at this party that are decorated are cool, though some are recolored (the Town), unchecked (half of an object is erased on the roof of the Coffee Shop), or slightly refurbished (the Mall).  Speaking of that Mall, a part of me died inside when I saw that September's "Enclumes, Ect." sign was changed to "Anvils and More."  This completely runs home my previous point that CP just continues to dumb itself down.

While I was happy that an interior room was finally once again decorated, I strongly believe that CP should have brought back old designs for the rooms that ended up not getting a single decoration.  Some rooms (like the Pizza Parlor, Gift Shop, and Ski Lodge) had Christmas music playing with no decorations, which just seemed cheap.  

Something else that was cheap was the lame Forest tree decorating.  I found it quite stupid that the ornaments had to clip into place and couldn't be thrown anywhere like what we saw in previous years.

Meanwhile, much controversy came from the lack of an evening setting.  While I won't say I wasn't disappointed, I really feel this is a non-issue.  Would night have been nice? Yes.  But this is Merry Walrus, not Christmas, remember?

This really brings me to a big point of mine.  This party doesn't feel very Christmasy....but it doesn't need to.  I feel that the Merry Walrus concept is actually quite a creative idea, especially considering the cliche stories we often get these days.  There may be no real plot, but that's the thing: there doesn't have to be.  In Club Penguin's case, setting the scene with a brief, creative introduction (AKA: not Music Jam or Frozen setup) is a far better route than acting like you're planning this story with a satisfying conclusion.

Creating a brand new holiday allowed Club Penguin to be zany and colorful and to add things that would've seemed out of place otherwise.  Could they have done more?  Yes.  Lots more.  But, what we got wasn't awful.

There were other new ideas which seemed to be glazed over by most people.  Coins For Change donations coming from quests and Penguin Style purchases were actually pretty cool concepts.  And, while we are on the subject of quests, bare in mind that while these tasks still weren't fun or even challenging at all, they didn't stretch out forever, they were different every single day, and the bells caused some fun interactivity.  Also: I truly did get a kick out of new character Merry Walrus and didn't miss Rockhopper or Aunt Arctic at all.

Wow....I'm actually writing a somewhat positive review.....

...which brings me to my final point.

This party has gotten the most criticism from CP fans since the truly awful Music Jam and has started a "Save the Club Penguin" movement.  But I have to ask: why?  The Merry Walrus Party of 2014 isn't a great party, but its miles ahead of almost everything else we saw this year; in fact, as you will see momentarily, it has the highest rank of any party this year.  It's quirky, creative, unique, and it tries new things.  Where was this level of animosity when CP made us come back every single day for a week to do the exact same thing last month?  Where was this heated response when Elsa forgot her lines in August?  

This party's worst sin is that it has a new puffle once again.  These days, that's a problem at every party where a new type is present, but it's a minor problem compared to other major errors.  This party really isn't that bad.

Maybe there is hope, after all....

Score: 7/10