Ooblets (2022)

(En vrai ? On est sur du 3,5 étoiles)

Imaginez l'enfant de l'amour entre Harvest Moon, Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh! et Pikuniku. C'est Ooblets !

Dans ce jeu vous devez collectionner des petits monstres appelés Ooblets, pour se faire vous devez combattre d'autres ooblets pour obtenir la graine de leur espèce, disponible en plusieurs raretés, et la planter dans le sol de votre ferme pour en faire pousser un nouveau spécimen. Les combats entre ooblets prennent la forme de duels de cartes, chaque ooblet de votre équipe ayant ses propre carte "signature", des techniques spéciales !

Le jeu prend le partie d'être très mignon et pastels mais les blagues sont très clairement destinées à un public d'adultes. Ici ça tacle le capitalisme, ici les influenceurs, là le greenwashing... Assorti à un vocabulaire argotique très présent (et bien traduit en français !) on est face à un jeu qui a une identité très forte ! Personnellement ça a marché sur moi mais j'ai vu que certaines personnes étaient agacées par le vocabulaire employé dans les dialogues.

Le jeu n'est néanmoins pas exempt de défauts. Déjà, il manque d'une véritable fin. Il y a bien une trame principale mais elle se conclue sans crédit rien. J'ai même été vérifier sur reddit si j'avais bien fini le jeu. Idem même si la traduction est très bonne, de nombreuses erreurs de localisation subsistent. Le tout donne une image de jeu pas/mal fini...

Certains choix d'ergonomie du jeu sont surprenant. Par exemple, même en ayant de la nourriture dans votre barre d'équipement, vous serez obligés de repasser par le menu principal pour la consommer. Votre inventaire est très limité mais les ressources de craft ne sont pas mis en commun. Il n'y a pas de garde robe pour vos ooblets et les pettis accessoires finissent fatalement par encombrer vos poches...

Le jeu manque aussi de spontanéité. Je m'explique. Chaque matin vous avez la liste des ooblets que vous pouvez attraper dans chaque zone du jeu. Plus l'ooblet est rare, plus l'objet que vous devez lui donner pour lancer le combat est complexe a crafté et demande beaucoup d'ingrédients. Problème: ces ingrédients mettent plusieurs jours à pousser. Vous allez donc devoir attendre que cet ooblet revienne pour l'attrapper et tant pis si il revient dans une rareté inférieure.

Plein de petits détails qui montrent que le jeu manque de maturité. Je suis néanmoins certaine que le prochain travail du studio sera plus abouti ! Des développeurs à surveiller.

The farming/life sim has always been a match made in Heaven. Farming has a built in progress system and game loop that compliments the meandering completionist impulses that life sims ignite. I haven't played too many modern farming games (Stardew Valley is too ugly!), but Ooblets does scratch this ape desire inside me to be a farming tycoon who has a fabulous kitchen. Ooblets even adds an element on top of this winning combination- Creature Collector! The titular Ooblets theoretically add a dash of Pokemon to this already rich genre stew, but in practice I found Ooblets (the creatures) to be the worst part of Ooblets (game). This is for three reasons-

1. They are ugly. There is no Ooblet with the charm of Bruxish. And Bruxish is a D Tier Pokemon when charm is considered.

2. Their dance competitions are not fun. You always go first in this competition to see who can get a point value first. This makes the battles painfully easy. I only lost a dance competition once throughout my entire playthrough which I lost because I was just mashing A through my moves.

3. They are cumbersome to get. In order to get an Ooblet, you must first bring them items they desire. This may involve making them a dish made of hard to acquire items. Then you battle them which is not fun. Then you plant a seed version of them which you must water for days. Then you get the Ooblet. This longer process completely deleted my desire to Catch 'Em All.

However the game does give you one compelling reason to get Ooblets anyway- they'll work on your farm. This allows you to change Ooblets into a management game. This I love.

Ooblets does this delicate balancing act of being a game I hate and a game I love. It is honestly impressive.

Two other complaints and I'll end on something nice.

The music is fine at first but there is so little of it that you get sick of it long before you finish. The was no Last Surprise earworms to carry you. I was playing the finale of this game in silence because I just turned the volume off.

There are two sections that send you on fetch quest after fetch quest and they are so obnoxious. One of these sections is the finale. Why? Who said let's have the player run up and down a mountain to make stew? And why didn't the game end when I reached the top of the mountain? Why are we dragging this out?

Ooblets has good outfits. I wish I had sweaters this nice in real life.

Ooblets is an indie effort. I first became aware of it during an Indie World Showcase and was fairly excited for it. After finishing it, I can't help but feel let down. Even if you take away some of the limitations an indie studio has (this game is buggy too), there are core issues I have with the design. That being said, I did play this game for over 40 hours. I would probably play an Ooblets 2! I just want them to take some of these Creature Collector ideas back to the drawing board and have them compliment the game rather than combat it.

I was hesitant to buy Ooblets - another farming / creature-collecting crossover didn't spark joy. I was completely wrong. Ooblets leans heavily into offbeat humor in everything from the townfolk to crops.

The premise is a tale as old as time: you've moved to a new town that is on the brink of closure, overrun by garbage, when you're asked to figure out which club you'd like to join. Each club has a different flavor but choosing one will introduce you to the real MVPs of the game: Ooblets, creatures which you harvest that will follow and dance battle other Ooblets. Dance battles are moderated by cards (your moves) and beats (your number of actions) - but as you battle your way through multiple environments, you'll uncover the sick, twisted plot against Badgetown.

I wasn't expecting this game to grab me as much as it did, but MAN this is quite the time sink. There's a lot of cool things about the game, and I like how it's casual but a twist on the genre. My favorite part are the dance battles which are VERY original and super FUN! It's basically a simplified card game and I love it!

My only gripe is the music is soooo repetitive and sometimes out of place (like there's piano music for dance battles sometimes?). But that's what the mute button is for. This game is really solid otherwise.

I really enjoyed Ooblets for its effervescent presentation, its Saturday morning cartoon vibes, its nonviolent take on RPG battles, and its balance of creature collecting, farming/crafting and light social links. The common refrain of "Pokémon meets Animal Crossing meets Harvest Moon" is apt, but I think it stands on its own in terms of overall feel.

My one critique: While Ooblets seems to have all the ingredients of a solid "10-minute daily check-in" sort of game, once the main story wraps it can feel a bit hollow. The focus shifts to the more repetitive farming/crafting aspects and it becomes challenging to fill each in-game day. You can repeatedly nap (or drink craftable teas) to quicken the daily spawns, but I felt little incentive to do so when I was already earning and encountering a lot of the same collectibles over and over.

While Ooblets may not be my new Animal Crossing, it was still a fun and relaxing way to spend 30-ish hours over several weeks, an impressive feat for an indie game. I dig it!

(Played on Switch)

I had my eye on this game for ages. When it finally dropped on switch I decided to get it. Sadly it didn't live up to the hype for me.

Narrative

You are, well you. Moving to an island full of creatures called ooblets. From the moment you arrive, and installed in the abandoned farmhouse, you are put to work helping the mayor. Doing all sorts of odd jobs, restoring the town. In the meantine you can also farm, get more ooblets and do quests for other residents.

Gameplay

You are on a farm, where you of course can farm food but also ooblets. Ooblets are pokemon-esque creatures that you take with you and use in dance battles. This is how you solve various conflicts. In the town you can take on various quests. Most of them come down to, do a fetch quest, and a thing will be repaired. Some of them, do some ooblet battles and a thing will happen. You can also decorate your house, and get clothes and that sort of thing.

Setting

It takes place in an adorable little town, with colorful residents and many ooblets. Every thing is coloured in nice pastels, and everything looks cute and detailed. I did really enjoy the artstyle. Music is ok, but forgettable. There is also quirky and cute animations all over.

Other

No bugs found.

Conclusion

I really was looking forward to this game, but it was way too grindy for my taste. Yes, these types of games tend to be that way, but often there is at least several different grindy things to do. Like in Stardew Valley, there is farming, husbandry, mining, foraging, fishing, and if all else fails there are very fun characters to socialize with. Ooblets, while it does have farming and fishing, they are both very shallow. The fishing is not a mini game it's just throw in line and wait. There is no mining. There is the dancefights but they are incredibly easy and a tad boring. The characters in town, not very interesting and no fun interactions with them as you improve friendship, they just give you stuff. In the end all the game really boils down to, is fetch quests. Even decorating the house is not really doable because it's hard to get money. So you would have to grind again. I really tried for a long time, probably 15ish hours, hoping it would become more fun. But sadly it didn't. Luckily I can always go back to Stardew Valley or My Time At Portia.

I'll write a review at some point, but it is between a two or a three. It moves at a snail's pace, and none of the stuff it gives you to do is that engaging. That being said it does give you a lot to do and it makes up for its deficiencies by being visually bright and cheery. But even that isn't without shortcomings, albeit the shortcomings seem related to an indie budget. Lots of rough edges on this baby... But they updated it recently?

I'm going to finish Shovel Knight Dig. If I come back to Ooblets when I'm done, it is a three. If I forget it and go straight to some other game, this is a two.

So I picked up an item or something and now I'm stuck in my inventory. I don't have room and you can't drop or discard so I can't exit because it just keeps saying to "condense my items" but there's nothing to condense so I literally cannot do anything.

Won't let me use an item that I swap to hold either. Could make room if it would let me eat this cupcake but none of the options come up.

This is stupid. ;--;

This dropped on Switch today. So cuuute.

There's fishing, but I think it's a fishing mini game even @BMO could get behind.

You turn random stuff you've picked up into bait and then go "sea dangling" by simply approaching the pole on the pier, and automatically getting an item without any actual fishing mechanics. They're items like speedy growth for your crops and other bits and bobs.