As a result there's no map, no fast-travel system, and, apart from a shop that exchanges coins for trinkets and an adorable side-quest to save wayward Boguins, not a lot of reasons to bushwhack off the beaten path. While the game (again, like Iconoclasts) might look like a Metroidvania, it's really more of a straightforward action-adventure title, where back-tracking is not a priority. This dynamic allows for a lot of on-the-fly experimentation in battles with bad guys, and adds a few clever wrinkles to your standard action-platformer puzzles.Įxploration, too, is enjoyable - although a few more dungeons and optional secret areas would make Owlboy even more attractive. So, instead of cycling through weapons or items, Otus cycles through friends, each of which is handy in specific combat and problem-solving situations. One such character owns a blaster, another a blunderbuss, and yet another a handy web-slinging ability. Players will control Otus - who can run, jump, and fly through the air indefinitely - for the entire game, but they will also gain access to as many as three partner characters, who Otus carries beneath him. These diversions are thankfully uncommon across Owlboy's eight to ten hour running time so, for much of the game, players can experiment and explore.Įxperimentation and exploration are two of the many joys of Owlboy. Consequently, there are more than a few frustrating sequences where players will sit through a conversation or a cut-scene, move the character to the next screen, and trigger yet another scripted event. If you're going to tell a scripted, linear story in a video game, you're going to contend with scripted, linear gameplay. On the minus side, the story can, at times, interrupt the gameplay. Moreover, just as in Iconoclasts (which has a lot in common with D-Pad's game, not least of which is a long development period), heroes and villains don't always fall into simple buckets of "good" and "evil." There's a healthy middle ground, where moral ambiguity is allowed to germinate. Otus himself, born mute and subjected in his early years to constant second-guessing, is a truly sympathetic character. Its locations, events, and characters have personality and purpose.
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On the plus side, the mythology of Otus' world is fully-realized and ever-present. When sky pirates attack the town, Otus and his best friend Geddy head out on an adventure to stop the pirates and, just maybe, save the world as they know it.Ī lot of care and attention went into the story of Owlboy and, as always, it's a blessing and curse.
![owlboy logo owlboy logo](https://www.spriters-resource.com/resources/game_icons/6/5499.png)
Set in a sky filled with floating islands, Owlboy tells the story of Otus, a young owl-boy who lives in a sleepy hamlet called Vellie. However, the nuts and bolts of the game - movement mechanics, level design, enemy encounters, and player progression - are only satisfactory by comparison. So how does it fare? Among the many pixel-art platformers popping up on Nintendo's hybrid, it's easily one of the better ones, thanks to extraordinary art design, music, and story-telling. Developer D-Pad Studio must have thought the same, as the game landed on the Switch eShop last week. 3 and Kid Icarus, the action-platformer Owlboy always seemed like a perfect fit for the Nintendo Switch. By Evan Norris, posted on 19 February 2018 / 4,548 Views