[Reposting my old reviews from another site for archive, and updating them if needed]
This game has been quite the rollercoaster ride for me. Leading up to its launch, I wasn't very interested in playing it because there's nothing that struck me as being something special. I pretty much ignored this game until I checked out one of the story trailers near its release out of curiosity. The trailer I saw had showed some phenomenal minimalist animations that served a love story arc that I didn't expect at all, and because of that I decided to try this game out. Now, I'm happy to say that I love this game. It's consistently fun and engaging to play, and there's some lovely story moments sprinkled throughout.
I'll get the story out of the way first. The main character is a ship captain that got stranded in a unfamiliar land after a storm hit his ship and wrecked everything, and he need to find a way to return home with his fellow castaways. The game leaves a lot to the imagination, since most of the dialogues are pretty vague, little is explained, and it's the main way of building its world and setting. The thing that impressed me the most is how well the game conveys emotion and detail in many of its story scenes (mostly through the animations), while being constricted by its simplistic nature and art style. It also uses interactivity to great effect at certain points. There's a very intimate interactive moment between the main character and his lover at the very end of the game that actually made me shed a tear.
This game is essentially a semi-linear action platforming game that takes a lot of cues from 2D games of recent years. It channels that metroidvania-esque feel of discovering new areas and solving obstacles along the way, while staying true to its simplistic nature. Each of the main areas in the game has a dungeon that you need to go through in order to get keys that'll unlock the next set of areas. Every once in a while there are boss encounters after each dungeon, while other times there are only puzzles.
The levels themselves are quite varied in terms of aesthetics, from dark caves full of mindless slaves to beautiful yet not-so-peaceful forests. The levels are designed around your trusty harpoon's ability, which allows you to teleport to wherever the harpoon is thrown. The best thing about the level design is that it strikes the balance of being not too stressful and confusing, but also not too straightforward which would make it feel boring. Maybe the only criticism I have about it is that the levels doesn't feel so different compared to each other in gameplay, outside of the visual aesthetics.
Speaking of using the harpoon, the combat in this game is quite fun. The impact of hitting the enemies feels satisfying, and you'll often see their bodies explode with surprisingly gruesome detail as you smack them against a wall, which adds a lot to that satisfaction. The combat really shines during the boss battles, especially the later ones. I was quite impressed by how frantic and intense some of the bosses are, and most of them have really cool visual designs.
There's also hats that provides unique abilities, such as allowing the harpoon to accumulate lightning energy. The hats are only obtainable through crafting, and the resources you need are scattered in the main areas, with some resources only appearing later on. Some of the hats are certainly more useful than others, but at the very least they're fun to try out at least once. I do wish that obtaining these hats doesn't feel so random, it can feel like you just got these resources accidentally while exploring.
The difficulty of the game is a bit on the easy side (I think I only died three times), but the game never got boring, mostly because of how well it keeps you in check by putting all sorts of hazards and situations that'll eat my health away if you get careless.
While it's not the most unique game out there, Olija makes the most out of its minimalist approach and it even punches above its weight in some aspects. It's not a long game, and I expect people to take issue with that, but I had a great and satisfying time with it.
This game has been quite the rollercoaster ride for me. Leading up to its launch, I wasn't very interested in playing it because there's nothing that struck me as being something special. I pretty much ignored this game until I checked out one of the story trailers near its release out of curiosity. The trailer I saw had showed some phenomenal minimalist animations that served a love story arc that I didn't expect at all, and because of that I decided to try this game out. Now, I'm happy to say that I love this game. It's consistently fun and engaging to play, and there's some lovely story moments sprinkled throughout.
I'll get the story out of the way first. The main character is a ship captain that got stranded in a unfamiliar land after a storm hit his ship and wrecked everything, and he need to find a way to return home with his fellow castaways. The game leaves a lot to the imagination, since most of the dialogues are pretty vague, little is explained, and it's the main way of building its world and setting. The thing that impressed me the most is how well the game conveys emotion and detail in many of its story scenes (mostly through the animations), while being constricted by its simplistic nature and art style. It also uses interactivity to great effect at certain points. There's a very intimate interactive moment between the main character and his lover at the very end of the game that actually made me shed a tear.
This game is essentially a semi-linear action platforming game that takes a lot of cues from 2D games of recent years. It channels that metroidvania-esque feel of discovering new areas and solving obstacles along the way, while staying true to its simplistic nature. Each of the main areas in the game has a dungeon that you need to go through in order to get keys that'll unlock the next set of areas. Every once in a while there are boss encounters after each dungeon, while other times there are only puzzles.
The levels themselves are quite varied in terms of aesthetics, from dark caves full of mindless slaves to beautiful yet not-so-peaceful forests. The levels are designed around your trusty harpoon's ability, which allows you to teleport to wherever the harpoon is thrown. The best thing about the level design is that it strikes the balance of being not too stressful and confusing, but also not too straightforward which would make it feel boring. Maybe the only criticism I have about it is that the levels doesn't feel so different compared to each other in gameplay, outside of the visual aesthetics.
Speaking of using the harpoon, the combat in this game is quite fun. The impact of hitting the enemies feels satisfying, and you'll often see their bodies explode with surprisingly gruesome detail as you smack them against a wall, which adds a lot to that satisfaction. The combat really shines during the boss battles, especially the later ones. I was quite impressed by how frantic and intense some of the bosses are, and most of them have really cool visual designs.
There's also hats that provides unique abilities, such as allowing the harpoon to accumulate lightning energy. The hats are only obtainable through crafting, and the resources you need are scattered in the main areas, with some resources only appearing later on. Some of the hats are certainly more useful than others, but at the very least they're fun to try out at least once. I do wish that obtaining these hats doesn't feel so random, it can feel like you just got these resources accidentally while exploring.
The difficulty of the game is a bit on the easy side (I think I only died three times), but the game never got boring, mostly because of how well it keeps you in check by putting all sorts of hazards and situations that'll eat my health away if you get careless.
While it's not the most unique game out there, Olija makes the most out of its minimalist approach and it even punches above its weight in some aspects. It's not a long game, and I expect people to take issue with that, but I had a great and satisfying time with it.
cowboyjosh
11 months ago