OlliOlli World (2022)

I rolled credits on this a few weeks ago after picking it back up after not playing it for like a year or more, and I thought I would play a bit of the post-game/try to pick some achievements before I wrote my review and then I just didn't, so I should probably write this now before I forget.

OlliOlli World looks like a game for children, which does make it hurt a little more when you start to realize it's actually quite difficult. As with Rollerdrome (whose main character's outfit is an unlockable pretty early on in OOW, which was fun), OlliOlli World is definitely Doing A Thing and doing it well, and your enjoyment of that thing will really depend on where you hit the wall. For me, the challenge of doing the whole level in one combo was interesting enough but also achievable enough to keep me going even as I increasingly ignored the other increasingly impossible challenges requiring increasing mastery of the increasingly complex mechanics (IIRC there's a tutorial level in the final region of the map, like 3 levels before the end). And the level design is deceptively complex, with multiple, often intersecting, routes and various destructible elements that change how a section plays when you loop back through it. All with a fun, vaguely "family board game"-inspired art style.

Aside from the hand pain (which honestly should be more of a dealbreaker for me then it is, under the circumstances, which maybe speaks to how fun the game is) my main complaint was that wall-riding is difficult to execute with any kind of consistency, particularly in the jump-off at the end, which frequently saw me failing to get enough air to clear a gap. For whatever reason "letting go of the stick" is less precise than "letting go of a button", at least for me. Then again, I feel like I've had similar problems with wall-riding in THPS/THUG, so maybe it's just me.

Anyway, fun game, neat ideas, dead studio, fuck Take-Two.

OlliOlli World is better AND worse than its pixelated predecessors. World introduces style, splitting routes, and satisfying difficulty but at the the cost of the original games' sharp edges. While I like a low stakes story, if you are gunna make your plot this inconsequential, just don't include it.

Regardless of the positive or negative changes, OlliOlli remains. The arcade skateboarding bliss is as potent and addictive as ever. Every level (the best designed in the series so far) is a growing joy- improving in quality as mastery enters the periphery. And the game gives you plenty of excuses to reach for that mastery.

*the required difficulty to complete the game is lower than the previous OlliOllis but the level required for completion is higher

This review is going to sound negative, but I want to state up top, that I really liked it and it was a good game.

This game is built for someone that isn't me. I didn't feel that I could get all I could out of the game because:

1. I'm bad at the game and don't want to spend the time to get really good...because
2. I don't have any friends to score-chase with that would make this game even better.

Overall, the art style was great, the play control felt fluid and it felt like something I could learn and get better at over time. The plot was meh, but it was still cute. There's more customization in appearance than anyone could ever want....

But I found my fun with it. Appreciated it for what it was. And let it go back into the world for others to enjoy.

~David.

This is one of those games where I wish we were on a 10 point scale or I could give 4.5 stars. It really pushes my buttons in all the right way but doesn't quite hit a 5/5 due a few general interface issues and Switch-specific nitpicks. The TLDR is that if you enjoy series like SSX or THPS then you will feel extremely comfortable with OlliOlli World.

Behind the chill vibes and the story-mode are a slow burn of tutorials and mechanics that eventually add to a very complex set of options and ways to attack each level. You don't even finish all the tutorials in this game until near the very last level of the campaign. This isn't a criticism - in fact the progression is paced out very well. As you learn and unlock new challenges, it incentivizes you to go back and replay levels to beat the challenges you missed, the new ones you've unlocked, to score higher with your new knowledge and to try and beat your friends. I constantly found myself intending to pick it up for 20 minutes and then realizing it'd been 2 hours. There is never a lack of things to do and improve on.

The few issues I had that kept me from giving this a full five stars was mostly interface related. The Switch isn't the fastest console out there and it really shows here. OlliOlli World really wants you to listen to its characters babble about basically nothing and the controls to skip dialogue or move through the menus are not particularly intuitive. The number of times I wound up entering or leaving the wrong menu or level on the map and then waiting for the Switch to load is countless at this point. A more intuitive interface and the ability to completely turn off character dialogue would be very welcome for those of us that want to be able to easily go in and out of levels during the endgame. Also - get ready to accidentally restart your run when you don't mean to a bunch until your fingers get some muscle memory under them. The gameplay itself is smooth and responsive but everything around it is pretty slow and clunky.

Overall, I really have enjoyed my time with OlliOlli World and I see myself returning to it pretty consistently to get better, improve my scores and keep up with the the online Gnarvana League. Definitely recommended if skating or this type of game is something that interests you.