Owlboy (2016)

This game is a visually stunning indie platformer, set in a floating world, the MC is called Otus, a mute owl boy, on a journey of self-discovery. The game features charming pixel art, a heartfelt narrative, and inventive mechanics where Otus can carry companions with unique abilities, adding depth to both combat and puzzle-solving.

Critics have praised Owlboy for its emotional storytelling and nostalgic appeal. The level of quality in the artstyle and pixel-art of this game really sets itself apart from anything we had seen up until that point, immensely raising the bar when it comes to these aspects in the indie gaming industry. However, some reviewers noted that the game lacks significant challenge and may feel slow-paced compared to other action-platformers.

Overall, Owlboy is a beautifully crafted game that offers a unique and touching experience, making it a standout title for fans of narrative-driven platformers. If you like pixel-art to any extend, or puzzle games in general, this one is a must-play in my opinion, one of the best indie titles that I have played regarding these genres.

Despite its relatively simple difficulty curve, what truly makes this game a memorable is how cohesive every element feels. The OST perfectly complements the tranquil yet melancholic tone of the adventure. Exploration is rewarding not because of punishing challenges, but because of the care put into each handcrafted area, filled with expressive animations and subtle environmental storytelling. It’s the kind of game that prioritizes atmosphere and heart over intensity, and while that slower pace may not appeal to everyone, it allows the story and characters to resonate long after the credits roll.

Owlboy is gorgeous. There is a great deal of love and craft that went into this game, especially in the art and the music. Of all the pixel art games made in the last few years it is undoubtedly one of the greatest pleasures to look at.

Sadly, it’s not quite as enjoyable to play as it is to behold. While the game excels in art, it fails mechanically. The controls are frequently a hindrance to progress, where trying to achieve one thing often leads to the wrong result. It would be easy to blame the Switch for the wonky controls, if I hadn’t just completed Hollow Knight and experienced some the the tightest controls on the very same system.

Too often the same sequence of button presses led to a different result. You’ll find yourself grabbing the wrong item, or not grabbing at all. Or one press of the A button sometimes leads to a jump (which it should) or sometimes directly to flight (which it shouldn’t, you should double tap A to fly). The latter was particularly annoying during a final platforming section where the exact same button presses resulted in sometimes executing a jump correctly and other times to falling to your death.

The lack of consistency made It difficult to actually enjoy playing Owlboy. The layout of the controls also made for one of the physically most uncomfortable playthroughs I’ve ever experienced. I know the Switch can contribute to that, but this is the first game I’ve played where I experienced actual fatigue while playing.

I wanted to love Owlboy. I was enthralled by the world created for it because I love anything with floating islands (Kingdom of Zeal anyone?). I adore the art and I wanted to spend time in that world. But the frustrating controls and gameplay, coupled with a very disjointed yet cliche narrative left me wishing there was more depth to both the mechanics and the story.

Owlboy reminds me a great deal of Iconoclasts, another game I was excited for during the lead up to its release but ultimately disappointed with. Both are beautiful games full of gorgeous pixel art and the product of years of sweat and passion poured into an indie project. And both lack depth in story and mechanics, leaving you with games that are exemplary of the pixel art rennaisannce while simultaneously delivering a subpar gaming experience. Neither game is terrible, and both have their charms that help the player endure the tougher parts. But both games so effectively dazzled me with their art design pre-release that I couldn’t help feel the gameplay never reached the highs of their visual design.

A mediocre platformer with stunning pixel art and somewhat interesting story.

Starting with the good things. The visuals are amazing. The whole world is well crafted with unique characters. Everything is lovely animated, vibrant and full of life. The sound design is on point as well. Everything looks like a perfect ingredients for an amazing game. And the story somewhat old school but interesting and good.

So what's wrong? Well this is not a paltformer. Not in a strict sense of it. There are some elements but it's more of a twin stick shooter than anything else. With main characters ability to fly and ability to move vertically the game suffers a lot.

Starting in an open space with ability to fly - it's so easy to get lost. Additionally they did introduce a quite artificial boundaries so you don't fly off the screen. So it's not always easy to tell if you can go certain ways or not.

While flying you can carry one of the three companions joining you along the way but most of the times you have no more than two at once at your disposal. With their different abilities you get to solve puzzles and fight your way through a really interesting story. But the fights feel most of the times as side scrolling shooter and the puzzles feel way to easy.

The whole difficulty feels unbalanced. It's super easy for a long time, then it turns really hard suddenly. And they add to it a dark portion of the game, where you simply can't see almost anything and you need to travel through the maze. That was really annoying an unnecessary.

On the good side though - the boss fights were quite nice and interesting.

Overall this might have been a game like Ori but is not. The story is nice and probably worth the play-through but the game-play is not doing it for me. Hard to recommend it fully.

Owlboy wants to be the most amazing thing. It boasts a gorgeous world, nearly ten years of development, and a story that appeals to many an indie game fan. It's not without faults, but it's a lovely little thing that might be worth your time.

The game is essentially about a mute owl-boy, Otus, who quests with his newfound friends to save the planet from evil pirates stealing mysterious relics. Obviously not all is as it seems and the main plot has a few fun twists here and there, but it's not necessarily deep or filled with characters who get more than one-note contributions.

The gameplay involves Otus and three friends who each have an ability involving projectiles that attach to Otus when he flies around. They have a teleport ability, so switching between them and getting them to your location is a cinch. As for usefulness, most of the team has their strengths but one in particular is rarely used and feels like a bit of a gameplay imbalance. As for Otus's movement and controls, things can get a little floaty and frustrating to manage. You'll be dropping when you want to float, and precision movement is not a thing in this game. There's a quick roll to move across the map quickly, but there's no fast travel to speak of. This is made up for by the fact that the game is otherwise quite small, around 5 hours to beat.

As for music and visuals, D-Pad Studio went all out to make this game gorgeous and it shows. Music is a sweeping orchestra, a rarity for indie games. The pixel art is masterfully done and looks great.

Overall, Owlboy has some hiccups and isn't necessarily the finest, deepest, or even most emotionally moving game of 2016. But it's a nice chunk of gameplay that deserves to be noticed, especially with the amount of work that went into it.

8/10

I enjoy Owlboy and I'm happy to see that even after the long development time that it's good. I have noticed a lot of 9s, however, and I just can't agree. This is a great game, but it doesn't reach that level for me. Don't feel like writing a proper review so here are bullet points:

Pros:

- Gorgeous pixel art. Seriously, the environment looks amazing and more importantly, the characters have great facial expressions. They actually got across a lot with it.

- The soundtrack feels like the most wonderful adventure movie. Really a great accomplishment here.

- Story can be really emotional at times, but I won't spoil anything (but there's a con here as well).

Cons:

- One review said that it takes an unexpected turn, and I'm not sure what that is because I waited for a while and it didn't happen. Sometimes the plot is just going through the motions, but ultimately the narrative is more of a pro.

- The systems involved could be a little deeper and more satisfying. People calling this a great Metroidvania are a little mislead, I think. It's more linear, though there are other things to do, and there isn't that satisfaction when you accomplish a task.

- This con is more for people craving a bigger challenge than myself: the puzzles are really easy.

Mixture of pro and con:

- The gameplay is fine. Not great, not bad, fine. Critics have overrated it in saying that you can approach situations differently; sure, you can, but it's not that endearing or deep. It does about what most games do in that regard. Seriously, it's like praising a FPS because you can choose to stab the guy, kill him with a gun or blow up a barrel. Inspiring. With that said, it was never boring either. Hit detection was a little wonky, but there was a decent variety of enemies in the game.