i mean, this is definitely a Vibes-Based Game. the production values on this thing are absolutely unbelievable - it's not just about how detailed the graphics are, but how the textures work in tandem with the color palette work in tandem with the instrumental choices in the score. it's really rich, sumptuous stuff, and it goes a long way towards selling this game world as a place.
i feel like this game carves out the gradation between "side-scrolling zelda" and "metroidvania," because while those terms tend to be used interchangeably, they actually connote different things - a metroidvania will have a singular coherent space, where a zelda (in the ocarina/lttp mold) has distinct areas connected together. owlboy is more of the latter than the former, so while it looks like metroid it feels like link to the past. i think this is actually a very cool idea, and i like that the game explores a lot of different tones in its dungeon crawling. the side-on view makes dungeon layouts feel a lot more obscure, so you really get the sense of these spaces as mysterious and dangerous, and the game's focus on player disempowerment via the partner system and its setpieces combines with that very convincingly. it ties back into the story, too, and i think the overall writing and design coherence here is really strong...
...except when it comes to the actual, played experience. it just doesn't feel that great to control. it's not horrible - and lord knows that metroidvanias (which i know i just said this game isn't, but it is related, and these terms are imprecise and genre isn't real anyway) tend to suffer from overburdened control schemes. but it definitely feels compromised. shooting with geddy, for instance, feels like a twin-stick shooter; that's fine. move with the left stick or d-pad, aim with the right stick, fire with the right trigger. the issue is that holding the right trigger fires more slowly than pressing it repeatedly, while both otus and the bullets geddy fires also move very slowly. so it encourages you to press the trigger repeatedly in order to keep up with fast moving enemies, while nudging the stick with your thumb, and it started to physically hurt my hands during intense fights.
there's a lot of stuff like this in the game, just little areas where it's clear that there wasn't quite enough polish or time spent on how it feels to play. the focus here was clearly on thematic consistency, written and environmental storytelling, and production values. that's fine. i wouldn't say this is a classic, but i think it's pretty solid.
i feel like this game carves out the gradation between "side-scrolling zelda" and "metroidvania," because while those terms tend to be used interchangeably, they actually connote different things - a metroidvania will have a singular coherent space, where a zelda (in the ocarina/lttp mold) has distinct areas connected together. owlboy is more of the latter than the former, so while it looks like metroid it feels like link to the past. i think this is actually a very cool idea, and i like that the game explores a lot of different tones in its dungeon crawling. the side-on view makes dungeon layouts feel a lot more obscure, so you really get the sense of these spaces as mysterious and dangerous, and the game's focus on player disempowerment via the partner system and its setpieces combines with that very convincingly. it ties back into the story, too, and i think the overall writing and design coherence here is really strong...
...except when it comes to the actual, played experience. it just doesn't feel that great to control. it's not horrible - and lord knows that metroidvanias (which i know i just said this game isn't, but it is related, and these terms are imprecise and genre isn't real anyway) tend to suffer from overburdened control schemes. but it definitely feels compromised. shooting with geddy, for instance, feels like a twin-stick shooter; that's fine. move with the left stick or d-pad, aim with the right stick, fire with the right trigger. the issue is that holding the right trigger fires more slowly than pressing it repeatedly, while both otus and the bullets geddy fires also move very slowly. so it encourages you to press the trigger repeatedly in order to keep up with fast moving enemies, while nudging the stick with your thumb, and it started to physically hurt my hands during intense fights.
there's a lot of stuff like this in the game, just little areas where it's clear that there wasn't quite enough polish or time spent on how it feels to play. the focus here was clearly on thematic consistency, written and environmental storytelling, and production values. that's fine. i wouldn't say this is a classic, but i think it's pretty solid.