As a longtime lover of Olli Olli 2 (and to a lesser extent, 1), I was initially a little concerned and intrigued when seeing the trailer for World for the first time. I think my cautious optimism served me right, because even though this game does a lot right, it also feels like it actively spits in the face of series die-hards like myself. To preface, if someone never had any experience with an OlliOlli game before, I would wholeheartedly recommend World. It's super packed with content, with every level feeling unique enough to earn it's place, and the amount of challenges to complete is rather insane. The addition of quarter-pipes and grabs makes a ton of sense and adds a lot of depth to level design, and additions like wall-rides help to really sell that sequel feeling. Another soundtrack of licensed songs is included, and while it definitely works, I don't think the energy is quite as great as with 2's soundtrack.
Onto why I feel burned. While this game does add a fair deal of new trick mechanics, some feel kind of out of place. Late-tricks are kinda unnecessary when grabs are already a thing you can do after a trick, and almost feel included to justify the existence of some challenges, which unnecessarily requires the player to start using a button that's never been a thing in these games. With some new trick types being added, it's weird to see things like grind-tweaks added, as grind switching is already a thing and essentially serves the same purpose, and revert manuals have been removed, which sucks as they'd be perfect for landing onto quarter-pipe slopes. Plus another big gripe (even though it was an issue from 1 to 2) is how a lot of the special tricks don't match up with 2's inputs at all.
The way I see the design approach is that they needed to move music skipping to the shoulders to allow the right stick for grabs and such, and since the shoulders are now taken up, trick modifiers can't be a thing anymore. But then you could ask, "well, why even have a skip music button altogether? Or why not just put it on something even more out of the way like the d-pad which isn't used at all in game???" The trick system in this game really feels a little 'one steps forward, two steps back' sorta deal, not to mention how terribly spammy one has to be to remain competitive on the leaderboards
I think this game's biggest sins is just having outright unreliable momentum mechanics, and a lot of challenges pertaining to keeping your momentum in check. Too many times a jump will feel perfect only for the player to completely miss the landing and need to restart the level. Some levels in the game are over 2 minutes in length for some of the riskier players, and having a full-combo run get trashed by one speed related mistake the player made earlier in their run can be frustrating as all hell. Also, while I appreciate a respect of players ability to take risks, requiring some jumps to be taken AFTER a grind rail ends feels so strange and poorly communicated. The timing can be finnicky and sometimes you'll think you earned a jump only to divebomb into a ravine.
Weird that I have so many things to bash on this game but still feel like it's worthy of a positive score. It's just a lot of fun to play from any angle, just goes against what my beliefs are when it comes to how to progress the franchise. This game is a challenge and it's harder challenges to complete really feel like a crash-course in advanced problem solving. Do yourself a favor, and if you're up for it, go try and 100% this game with no guides. It's a full-ass video game and well worth the price of entry. Let's just hope Roll7 returns to OlliOlli with a little more refinement of the core gameplay. I feel like they could have a new classic on their hands!
Onto why I feel burned. While this game does add a fair deal of new trick mechanics, some feel kind of out of place. Late-tricks are kinda unnecessary when grabs are already a thing you can do after a trick, and almost feel included to justify the existence of some challenges, which unnecessarily requires the player to start using a button that's never been a thing in these games. With some new trick types being added, it's weird to see things like grind-tweaks added, as grind switching is already a thing and essentially serves the same purpose, and revert manuals have been removed, which sucks as they'd be perfect for landing onto quarter-pipe slopes. Plus another big gripe (even though it was an issue from 1 to 2) is how a lot of the special tricks don't match up with 2's inputs at all.
The way I see the design approach is that they needed to move music skipping to the shoulders to allow the right stick for grabs and such, and since the shoulders are now taken up, trick modifiers can't be a thing anymore. But then you could ask, "well, why even have a skip music button altogether? Or why not just put it on something even more out of the way like the d-pad which isn't used at all in game???" The trick system in this game really feels a little 'one steps forward, two steps back' sorta deal, not to mention how terribly spammy one has to be to remain competitive on the leaderboards
I think this game's biggest sins is just having outright unreliable momentum mechanics, and a lot of challenges pertaining to keeping your momentum in check. Too many times a jump will feel perfect only for the player to completely miss the landing and need to restart the level. Some levels in the game are over 2 minutes in length for some of the riskier players, and having a full-combo run get trashed by one speed related mistake the player made earlier in their run can be frustrating as all hell. Also, while I appreciate a respect of players ability to take risks, requiring some jumps to be taken AFTER a grind rail ends feels so strange and poorly communicated. The timing can be finnicky and sometimes you'll think you earned a jump only to divebomb into a ravine.
Weird that I have so many things to bash on this game but still feel like it's worthy of a positive score. It's just a lot of fun to play from any angle, just goes against what my beliefs are when it comes to how to progress the franchise. This game is a challenge and it's harder challenges to complete really feel like a crash-course in advanced problem solving. Do yourself a favor, and if you're up for it, go try and 100% this game with no guides. It's a full-ass video game and well worth the price of entry. Let's just hope Roll7 returns to OlliOlli with a little more refinement of the core gameplay. I feel like they could have a new classic on their hands!