Owlboy

Owlboy isn't Final Fantasy XV, it's not the new Zelda, it's not the next Metal Gear Solid. Owlboy is a small and willing game, one of those flag bearers of the indie world to whom it is impossible to want badly and after all you can't see why you should want it. But Owlboy is not even that champion of ideas, style, refinement and inspiration that would have given the perfect final brush stroke to this picture full of commitment and many hopes. No, Owlboy is certainly a good game and a more than recommended purchase, especially if you belong to a certain category of lovers of an almost beautiful "beauty", but it wastes many opportunities in its handful of hours of duration.

Let's start from the basics: Owlboy is a game entirely made in 2D, with the display of a pixel art at times really irresistible. The idea of the game combines rather bland exploratory elements, with long sequences in which the stages of the shooter are most enraged, with a splash of assorted jumps and hops. The D-pad experiment sounds more exotic on paper than with the controller in your hands. The two-dimensional shooter dynamics take advantage of a rather peculiar approach, with the weapon to be used represented by a second character close to the legs of the protagonist (a real anthropomorphic owl) ... but in the end it is simply a matter of aiming with the stick right to a certain amount of enemies and to fire.

There is nothing wrong with that, strictly speaking. What is missing in Owlboy, rather, is a level design capable of making all these phases in which it floats around and hammers on the back buttons to make fire really fun and interesting. The speed of movement of the protagonist + friend / weapon pairing, also due to the size of the "chain", is rather reduced and the challenge proposed by the enemies rarely pushes to show off a real skill or the ability to rely on who knows what movement choreographic. However, the system works enough to push until the end of the adventure and during the hours of the game you have the opportunity to make friends with three different secondary characters, who in turn represent three different weapons to be used. The basic blow, the powerful explosion with its reload times and, finally, a hook that allows you to reach points otherwise inaccessible.

When it comes to jumping and exploring, on the other hand, we limit ourselves to a few switches here and there, with a single, true sequence that requires precision that at times is frustrating, also due to a cleaning of the control system and of reaction times not exactly faultless. It happens in the last minutes of the game and represents one of the peaks of difficulty of an adventure, otherwise, rather simple. The bosses that you find yourself having to face are conceptually all very well thought out and put on the pitch, but in the end only in one case are they able to give a hard time, especially if you have a little experience in the field of old school shooter.

Owlboy also suffers from shortness of breath: his story, his characters, his breath would suggest that he is facing an epic journey. The truth is that the sense of progression is very limited, considering that the protagonist, Otus, has no access to real improvements, if not a simple increase in the capacity of the energy bar and an enhancement of each of the three "hits" , however totally negligible (you can complete the game without any problem even without getting them). That's all.

So is Owlboy a half disaster? Absolutely not. First of all, there is an elegant and vaguely melancholic atmosphere, transmitted by every single stylistic choice (or almost): from the sinuous and delicate graphic design, to the soundtrack that in some passages becomes really powerful and evocative (especially in the the final). Then there are some characters who all seem perfectly thorough, even on the few occasions when the game has the opportunity to do it. The idea is that there are really stories behind it, however simple and a bit stereotyped maybe, but they are really intriguing figures: both to see and to move. Then there is the game world and the story, both with enough character to push up to the (very short) sequence of final awards.

Even the physicality of the shots and some puzzles reveal a certain care on the part of D-pad Studio in all these small but essential elements, if we talk about an action game like Owlboy. In short, there is no doubt that the story of Otus is the result of months of sleepless nights and years of dreams, finally crowned. The final feeling, however, is that in addition to a lot of good taste, there are really interesting game ideas and a certain depth.

MODUS OPERANDI
I played Owlboy thanks to a code obtained directly from the developer. I completed the game in just under ten hours, facing the whole adventure with a controller.

If only someone could tell him for consolation that the game starring him is one of the Steam hits of the fall season.

After all, it happens often enough that a game looks retro, but the look is only supposed to hide the terribly lame game mechanics. However, Owlboy stands out from the retro-indie monotony in many ways. And not just because of the wings of the main character Otus.

A heart for pixels

A look into the world of clouds is actually enough. In the 80s, pixel graphics were the only option, today they are a stylistic device. Owlboy combines the style of that time with the current technical possibilities and creates a beautiful, detailed world. This is partly due to the character design.

The characters in Owlboy are all a bit weird. Some because they really are owls. Others because they have a very likeable blow. I even enjoyed the enemies. Even if they want to kill me, I can't help but stand and take a closer look at them first.

The owl with a thousand faces

And then there is Otus himself. If you think that pixel graphics cannot depict emotions, you should take a closer look at Otus' face. Huge eyebrows, lively facial expressions and strong gestures ensure a whole series of emotional outbursts with the flutter cookie . Anger, concern, happiness, pride, fear or the universal expression for "I have absolutely no idea" can all be found in the little face.

If we don't move him, he'll even unpack a couple of hands from under his wings and twiddle his thumbs. Otus is more expressive than most of his Jump & Run colleagues. Even though he doesn't even have a voice. Since none of the English dialogues is set to music anyway, Otus' peculiarity is hardly noticeable.

Besides the characters, the world itself is also worth mentioning. The areas in Owlboy are not generated randomly, but rather deliberately designed. Each area differs from the previous one in terms of lighting, music and optics, plus countless small details. Gentleman fish with top hat and monocle , for example, are absolutely irrelevant for the main plot, but they give the world their very own charm. And not the kind of charm that has to keep my eye on how extraordinary and beyond the mainstream the game is, but the one that makes me pause and smile.

Platformer with Shoohooter insoles

The game mechanics have been completely adapted to the owl theme. Owlboy is classified as a Jump & Run, but is more of a Shoot & Fly. Otus flies through the world, discovers new locations and dark dungeons and fights a whole range of different enemies. But he's not alone in this.

Little Federmann has enough to do with staying in-the-air. That's why he gets fire support by carrying his (armed) friends through the air. His best friend Geddy, for example, helps him with fast, light bullets. Another blows my way with his heavy pump gun.

Death by dandelion

In order to advance, I have to fight my way through a multitude of enemies, each of which requires me to use my own attack tactics. Often it is not the enemy himself who is particularly challenging, but the combination with other villains. For example, a cloud of dandelion seeds that explode on contact is very slow and therefore easy to circumnavigate - unless you are being driven into this very cloud by another flying monster.

At the end of every dungeon, a classic boss lurks for me, who requires a combination of all tactics learned up to that point. Just throwing it on it doesn't help here. Anyone who does not first research the attack patterns and weak points here quickly sticks to the wall as an owl-shaped stain. It's animated very nicely, but the boss is still alive.

No chance for paralysis

In the heat of the moment, there is a slight weakness in the controls of the owl boy: The distribution of keys puts both the shot and the throw away command for my friends on the mouse. In theory this is logical: movements are on the keyboard, attacks are on the mouse. Especially when I want to coordinate my attacks in a fight in a confined space, I often throw my comrade away instead of attacking with him. I can call the boys back to me at any time via teleport, but then I often missed the one moment when the villain was unprotected.

Speed and quick reactions are the most important things in battles. If I don't evade fast enough or adapt to the changing attacks, Otus sails theatrically to the ground one after the other. With a little patience and brain, none of the opponents can be created, but I'm still incredibly relieved when I emerge victorious in the end.

By the way, only to be chased afterwards in a wild chase through corridors that are collapsing around me. At the end of it, the next battle awaits me, still completely stressed by the boss fight. For the fact that Owlboy looks so cute, it's pretty merciless at times.

Of screws and teacups

But Owlboy isn't just shooting. The world in the clouds is full of puzzles and hidden passages. I can only find some corridors by flying against the walls and checking whether there is a hole somewhere, and many other little things also come about by pure chance. For example, it wasn't until the second round of the game that I noticed that a bath in a hot spring permanently increased the life bar.

Some of the puzzles are obvious, others turn out to be pretty tricky. Usually it is not enough to simply press a switch. First of all, you have to find the switch. To do this, screws have to be turned, kettles confused and clouds squeezed.

That might sound strange, but it shows how much creativity has gone into the puzzles. Like the enemies, the mechanisms change with each area and sometimes even in the area itself. When I come into a room with a locked door, I don't see what to do at first glance. As a result, the puzzles form a varied and challenging counterweight to the tough fights.

Play me the song from the "hoot"

If you can find time between the fights, the puzzles and the peeking around, listen to the stellar soundtrack . It underlines each area with its own melody, boss fights, key scenes and dialogues have their own musical themes. The idyllic cloud islands are accompanied by a friendly song, while in the boss fights the music alone causes stress.

Except for the coordination problems in the language, Owlboy is a round jump & run for me, where you can see the long development time and the attention to detail on every corner of the game world. Not only does it look good, but it is also really clever and challenging than you might think at first glance in Otus' friendly face. And while that might describe the perfect partner elsewhere, here it describes one of the best jump & runs of the year