Review: Owlboy
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- čas přidán 10. 11. 2016
- I still love you.
Owlboy's on Steam here: store.steampowered.com/app/115...
Last week on the podcast, we sprinted through some fast talking about Hitman, The Witness, Peace Walker and unintentional EA Origin trade embargos: www.thatonevideogamer.com/feat...
(Spoilers: is everyone gonna hate me because I thought Owlboy was only okay?) - Hry
If the super bunny hop channel keeps being developed for 9 years will it just be a noodle?
#SuperNoodlehop2k25
Yes.
Isn't that the plan?
God...
I hope so.
/music plays
The God damn noodles return.
it just keeps noodlin'!!!
The noodles will remain as long as you spite them.
I completely lost it, out of nowhere ahaha
You were almost a Noodle Sandwich!!
I think the noodle is what is at the center of the maze in Westworld.
ah yes, I remember "noodles" from my childhood. so nostalgic
that mother fucking noodle clip
This review begs the question. Is change needed for every game? One man's disdain for retreading tropes can be someone else's nostalgia kicking in.
I say there should be a balance. relying on nostalgia is only gonna hold a series back. Especially when the series is at a better position now than before. (See Pokemon) But not realizing the original design philosophies that made it what it was to begin with can eventually lead to alienation. (see the transition of Mario World to the confusing 64)
Stop being so ignorant and patronising. He mentions multiple issues he has with the game,. His complaint about no new mechanics isn't the entire video.
"All Japanese games are the same (except Dark Souls)" ...Are you a real person?
***** Yeah. Because Sonic and Mario sure play alike, don't they?
"all japanese games are the same". Wat.
Well that depends on the execution of the ideas and concepts in the game. It might have a lot of nostalgia bait moments but if you can see through the nostalgia and see only meh puzzles and okayish game design then it's not a great game even if the nostalgiabait moments lead some to believe this is a modern 16-bits classic. Mind you, I haven't played this game so I'm just assuming, but I don't think that nostalgia alone makes a game good, you also need an interesting and well designed take on the ideas from the classic games that inspired you, it needs to stand on it's own.
By the way : all the art was done by 1 artist, Simon, the art director. Otus only has 104 different animations.
Breaking news: george keeps loving us.
"cause I dont want to live on the streets again."
nickONtheNET332
Buy his socks!
9 year development cycle holy damn
The hardest laugh I had at the noodles so far.
Great job George. I love you too.
George, The Mood Killer.
The Noodle Killer
George holds back no punches, that and his nuance is what people like him for.
There is still joy in aesthetics to be found in this game. It wasn't george's thing (and not mine either), but if you're looking for something visually and thematically rewarding to accompany a podcast or something, this might be a game you'd love. It's kinda like Journey in that way, where it won't blow you away with its mechanics, but there's still a one-of-a-kind experience there.
It's valid criticism. I feel it strange to see so many praise it with no restraint when I found it to have a lot of glaring and obvious faults. It's not a bad game and the pixel art is great, but I don't feel like this is what we should strive to achieve.
I think the biggest problem of this game is the gameplay itself is too unconventional. We are not used to flying all the time, and flying in 2d space feels less fun/engaging than jumping.
totally agree
gorgeous game, but for all the nice things it has going for it (style, art, sound), never felt like more than the sum of its parts. just so many missed opportunities for interesting puzzles and gameplay
You have a good taste when it comes to channels, I'll give you that.
Agreed.
It's YOU. I miss your work :(
Shouldn't you be making new videos about ganking gankers with some underpowered but incredibly humiliating weapon?
Metal fruit, you magnificent bastood. Still making those awesome raves in the chapel?
"90s adventure happening" *shows 2 games from the 2000s/2010s*
10/10, well done, George.
You can actually move as fast as air rolling by holding down the same button.
Also, you forgot the biggest problem with the game. The fact that it turns into a wall-fucking simulator, since it introduces secret walls that often have no context for their being a secret. Leading to what turns into hours of going through the same dungeon, fucking every wall to find that one secret to get the last of the coins or the medallion. The latter of which is required for the entirety of the story.
You don't. I figured it out randomly.
It's kind of a dick move on their part.
Actually, this's optional, but yeah.
If I remember right you get an item which lets you spot them at one point so you don't need to hug walls.
THE FUCKING NOODLES NEVER STOP!!!
Looking at SteamSpy, this game has sold 32 000-something copies on steam so far. At 20-24$ a copy, it means it made about 700,000$ so far after the first two weeks. This is usually where most of a game's revenue comes from. And steam's takes a cut, too. Yikes.
For 9 years, and 5 people, and for making one of the prettiest pixel art games ever made.
I hope this game has a very long sales lifetime and makes a lot from merch, or that at least it gives more visibility to other projects they'll make next, and pays dividends this way. Because otherwise they might have been paid for less than $15 000 per person per year. It's really kind of heartbreaking considering all the obvious passion that went into this.
There's also regional pricing. E.g. here in Russia Steam and GOG sell it for 450 р, which is less than $7.
it's less then $5
OH FUCK IT IS NOT HOLY SHIT I AM NOT THAT POOR AT THE MOMENT
They didn't work on this full time for 9 years. They've also released another game called "Savant".
The game is nothing but pretty graphics. The presentation is good but the gameplay doesn't have anything going for it.
You're an Owl now. You're a Boy now.
You're an Owl. You're a Boy.
You're an Owl. You're a Boy.
Next project: Owltoon
It's going to be a hoot!
...You're an Owlboy.
I have an owl....I have a boy....UGH...Owlboy.
Thanks for the balanced review. In my eyes, Owlboy had potential and some great ideas, and of course artwork, but it sadly plays like a very generic platformer or arcade shoot-em-up most of the time. Why introduce great features like manipulating clouds if 99% of the game is just generic combat and puzzle-solving like "find a rock to drop onto this button so that this door opens while dodging enemies"?
That fucking noodles shot.
still longing for that elusive MGS4 Critical Close Up
Can already hear him saying; "Kept you waiting huh?" at the start of the video.
He said he wont do it because he doesn't care about 4 and Peace Walker enough to put the effort into making whole videos about them.
That game really hurted George (I think even more than MGSV), he is not doing it
Jose Colella I hope it hurt him more, 4 is 10x worse than V in every way.
I'm still waiting for one on Fallout New Vegas....
Owlboy had such potential with its mechanics, but it's too focused on its aesthetics to dig deep into the interactions. If it actually WERE a nintendo game the developer would have explored every mechanical avenue their ambition and time would allow, but instead they explored every aesthetic avenue their ambition and time would allow. There is an audience for that, but for me and I think George too we're not that audience.
I see, you are also watching Mark Brown? =)
+Truemas
Please tell me you're not implying Mark was the first one to cover Nintendo's "gameplay first" philosophy. But it is probably the most comprehensive and well-produced (and recent) one.
No no, i just meant that how you worded " the developer would have explored every mechanical avenue their ambition and time would allow" just sounded like in his recent video about nintendo. =) No offense, i just recognized it and it surely is fitting. =)
Fair enough :)
Noodles will never not be good..
Gorgeous game. I wouldn't blame the entirety of the 9 year development process on the sprites, though. I do wish more indie games looked like this.
I feel that comparing Owlboy to Zelda is a bit unfair and a bit of a stretch however. There is puzzle solving and dungeon crawling in the two of them, and the Zelda inspiration is apparent in Owlboy, yet Owlboy isn't trying to be the next Zelda. For the most part I feel that it is a story of Owlboy. It's a game meant to substance the story, whereas Zelda is a story that is meant to substance and prolong the game.
Really good review as always though! I'm definitely taking in what you said when I purchase this game
got dam fucking noodles again
I love owlboy but it's just...not very fun to play. It's fairly tedious with your slow fly speed, the little nooks and crannies you fly around to find but hold either nothing or very little, the damage animations that blend with your spin attack when hitting an enemy, enemies that aren't bosses being tedious and boring to fight, CONSTANTLY picking up and putting down blocks for "puzzles" that never really evolve past "drag this thing over here"... It looks amazing, I am in love with the story but when I stop playing I have to really convince myself to go back and when I AM playing I never really feel like I'm having a good time. Aside from some very, very good set pieces I never really felt like I was having fun for the other 95% of the game. And that sucks.
chickmcjr weird, I just beat Owlboy and am planning to replay the whole game
It's not weird. That's because you're not the person who had a different experience.
"I love owlboy but it's just...not very fun to play."
That's pretty much my impression, too. I saw the first scene on CZcams (where he learns to fly, and smashes that water ), and it looked so promising. Finally bought it and was pretty disappointed. There's a decent story in there, but the gameplay and level design is just uninspired, with poor pacing and next to no creativity. Also, big moments (cough, Advent, cough) don't really feel that big or impactful.
@@safe-keeper1042 advents destruction isn’t impactful because all the npcs are still alive
This just in! George still loves every single one of us
[cuts to the Noodles video]
I mean, ok, there's one noodle meme shot.
But for me... Noodles... always come first.
I love you too! All of you!
While I agree with many of the points given in the video, the phrase "what's something new that ____ brings to the table?" irks me because if you can get down to it, any mechanic or plot twist or device has already been utilized by many games before and nothing is never truly "new". It feels like an empty question to make only when the game didn't particularly please you, even if you could ask the same about other games that you did enjoy.
I think he framed that part of the video ineffectively - because it's not so much the lack of newness or what it brings to some genre, and more so that it doesn't do a great job of what it brings (repetitive, simply puzzles, and a lack of verticality in a game where you fly constantly, etc.).
TBH, I literally have zero idea why that is a header to that part of his video - since the issues he brings up and explains are things to consider regardless of whether this game moves anything forward. Hopefully I am making some sense, I just have three glasses of wine.
I have to agree. I've always firmly believed that innovation for innovations sake is misguided effort. I didn't expect new razzle dazzle for Owlboy (that said, I've also kept tabs on it during these nine years). I expected a charming little game with gorgeous visuals and solid gameplay, and on those points the game delivered.
If that didn't measure for him, then that's his impression, which I don't begrudge him, but I don't think it's necessarily fair to expect genre breaking innovation from something that never really promised it at all.
I don't think he was asking for innovation for innovation sake moreso he was asking for something that makes it stand out more.
I mean, despite what some people might think, Undertale is not the first RPG that had an active dodging mechanic like that. I played Zone of the Enders: Fist of Mars years prior and that also had a similar means of dodging attacks.
And let's be honest here, 9 years for a pretty looking game with mostly solid gameplay won't satisfy everyone.
As an author, here's what I think he means by "bringing something new" : it's not about being innovative. It's about being personal. I faced this issue a lot while writing stories. Oftentimes, I would just "rewrite" stories from authors I really loved with the hope that mimicking them would emulate the same feelings in my readers. But that raised one question : if I'm just producing a lesser version of a great book, why would people read MY book instead of the one that inspired it ?
That's why I'm always trying to bring a new twist to well-known situations. Nothing crazy, I'm not reinventing the wheel with every new script, it's just about not being a new name in an arm-long list of other productions that all says exactly the same things over and over again.
So when I hear "it doesn't bring anything new to the genre", I understand it like "this game tries so hard to be Zelda that it doesn't ever get past that - being a a sub-par version of a well-known masterpiece".
RippahRooJizah With stellar reviews and recognition all over the place, how isn't this game standing out more? I think it's standing out plenty.
90's adventure shots....
With noodles
Otus isn't the titular Owlboy, that's Solus. Captain Malestrom and the game files call him such.
Please keep putting the noodles in every video they're amazing
While I do agree that the enemies, puzzles & etc. are lackluster, one thing I don't get is the repeated comparison to LoZ. Sure, puzzles are similar, but I didn't find much else that felt the same - more like a combination of Ori and the Blind Forest and any bullet hell game.
I loved all the characters, though; given how short the game is, I think the amount of personality they have is rather impressive.
NOODLE SHOT IS BACK!
I found the games simplistic style to fit the story perfectly. To me this game was an exercise in how well a games story, art style and gameplay can mesh to create a moving and emotional experience. The game play is very simple but challenging where it needs to be (boss fights) and that was perfect for me cause I was able to turn my brain off and just enjoy the art and story. I felt more immersed in this game than i have with any game for a long time, and while Id love it to be longer the experience is totally self contained and complete as is. Isamastapeece!
Was thinking "reminds me of metal slug" BAM! it pops up on the screen :-)
Jeez George, you're a killjoy. Not every game needs to be 'innovative' and 'push the genre'. It can just be a good game.
I'm going to give it a chance.
Yes but when "Zelda nostalgia" has been done over and over and over and over while adding almost nothing to the genre and it's been in development for nine years I think it's fair to expect something more from a game about owls than "You can fly but it doesn't really add or mean anything also I hope you like picking things up and putting them down". It can absolutely be a "good game" by your standards, but by some people's it's just the same old thing. AGAIN. So get over yourself because someone has a different opinion to you.
Get over myself....LOL.
You DO get that comment sections are all opinion, right?
I do. But I think that calling someone a killjoy and berating them because you don't agree isn't having an opinion. It's being full of yourself and thinking your opinion is worth more. "Not EVERY game needs to be innovative and push the genre". I would agree. I think George would agree, but he stated that he has seen so many of these similar nostalgia games before he's wondering when one will push the genre forward or do something new you know?
He wasn't EXPECTING Owlboy to change anything but he's disappointed it didn't. His review didn't consist of ONLY that as his issues with the game, there are still legitimate complaints. Did you actually watch the video or see that part and then jump to the comments section to express your displeasure about a game you were looking forward to but haven't played yet?
It may be a good game, but the problem is that it kinda doesn't really stand out aside from its art really. I mean it's sorta the same situation as the new super mario bros games. They're all excellent games, but they're also not really original in many ways. They do things right but they don't really stand out from something like Hyper Light or anything else in its genre. It's also not the best in terms of gameplay in its genre either really, there are better games out there aside from the gorgeous pixel art. He's not saying that it's bad, but that it's sort of just average aside from the bar standard raising art
MarkAndrewEdwards I don't disagree but it really does have incredibly samey gameplay.
There are occasional hints of something more interesting going on mechanics wise but that never develops into anything. Zelda uses story and theme as vehicle for interesting mechanics. Owl boy felt like it started with story and theme , added decent dungeon layouts and then didn't have the energy left to fill these levels with interesting puzzles or enemies.
It's never a good sign when dad starts off by saying he loves you.
the fucking noodles are back
back in black face
not enough black face
You didn't know Ultra hamster dumps is an avid fighter for more blackface?
What are you talking about? A reliable source tells me he was wearing blackface _and_ georgesocks all throughout playing and recording this.
I understood that reference.
brendon Ray George loves blackface. He is one of the foremost experts in the Sense Of Blackface Alliance.
I mean, let's be real here, not counting the yet-to-be-released Breath of the Wild, there hasn't been a Zelda game in over a decade to really be a truly amazing A+ experience. Owlboy isn't really any worse than most Zelda games, it's just that people have such a high opinion of Zelda due to nostalgia and a few amazing titles, that they give those games an A+ regardless of quality(just look at Skyward Sword) but these same people don't give non-Zelda games that play like Zelda a free pass, even when they're roughly as good.
No, Owlboy really is a lot worse than most Zelda games. Skyward Sword is a complete outlier.
So glad you're reviewing this game! Aaah all my favorite youtubers are playing an reviewing my favorite game this year
Yeah this is an interesting game to me, because It needs so much more attention.
Luc Charruau so what did you think of the review lol
***** I finished the game and I absolutely loved it (beside some hardcore boss fight), but i'm an artist and even though I do care a lot about gameplay, it's way less important than beautiful art, gorgeous music and great story to me, and I got all of that. The dash thing is very fair, I was suprised as well, it doesn't fit the spirit of the game to dash around constantly. I agree that the dungeon design aren't the best. But I don't really care that the game doesn't bring manu new things to the table. I never played thoses games, beside a couple Zelda ds games, so i'm not playing this for nostalgia. I don't play platformer games usually, so this is new to me. My point is his criticisms are all fair but I get over them really easily because I didn't go into the game looking for the same thing.
It's pretty much acclaimed by everyone, how does it need more attention?
Another GREAT editorial George! It really made me realize why I absolutely love Souls games now! It's like the progression of Zelda? Interesting
keeping dash pressed will make him fly just as fast as spamming.
Too bad I noticed that when I was nearly done though
Also I love you say "Owelboii" :)
I hear a lot about LoZ similarities, but I see a lot of shortcomings from the Gargoyle's Quest & Demon's Crest series showing up as well.
This game doesn't do much new, but does the old stuff well.
He mentioned it being repetitive so obviously the old stuffs being well done won't help the game.
I tought it was entreteining enough. It could have been better, but I had fun.
And I agree with him about this game suffering from taking to long. I had a article once talking about how this game could have been really famous if it came out back in the day. It kinda makes me wonder if taking all that time to make the graphics look this good worth it.
Gab Tv Tbf, I don't disagree but if they take a bit more time with level design then it would have been better.
Maybe if we wait another few centuries we can get a sequel that improves things.
2:00 i knew it, i knew it was coming right in the moment the music started :D
Goddamit, WHAT IS YOUR FETISH WITH NOODLES GEORGE, also luv u vids😘
he forgot the noodles last video and there was a riot.
he forgot the noodles last video and Trump got elected president
+Rezuaq still better than Hillary.
That fucking clip of the noodles
George you better include a noodle shot in this one or I'll snap.
P.S. I love you too
Lot's of great content, nicely done George!
you can hold the dash button and he will just fly faster... you dont need to spam it
i find it curious how the game never explains that...
but the animation is so good that just flying around feels good.
there's a penguin or boguin that explains the dash move in the game a little bit.
I'm glad the noodle shot is back.
If you're looking for beautiful pixel art there's also Wadjet Eye Games (all point'n'click adventure), in particular the newer ones, Technobabylon for example. I think artist for them these days is Ben Chandler (or at least the main artist, not sure if others are involved too currently)
NOODLE SHOT CONFIRMED AT 2:00 AMAZING
Stylistically it gives me a Minish Cap vibe.
The noodles are going to be a memeplex by themselves.
This game is basically Concept > Gameplay. Granted not every game has to be a legendary innovation, but execution is what is important.
Goddamn George, if you keep putting that shot of the noodle machine in your videos ill keep liking them!
9 years in development and hyper light drifter still fucks it up the ass... In terms of gameplay, story and lore, atmosphere, ost, and even pixel art.
Huh, thought the Tyranny review would be the video for the week.
Is kinda strange isn't it? Tyranny came out and nobody seemed to notice, although I did not see any big effort from Paradox or Obsidian to market the bloody thing, im a few hours into it and it has a much stronger intro than PoE did.
I couldnt find a place where Tyranny wasnt being shoved down my throat! Nevertheless im going to get it
Yeah, but that's also a pretty deep RPG experience while this is a game you can get through in a day.
xPLDxPunisher
But I highly doubt that Paradox sent Review copies the day of release, since the minute it became available there were already plenty of pre release steam reviews
I'm still interested in it, not least of which because it _does_ look fantastic (I haven't seen enough of it in motion to say if it looks gorgeous or not [I'm using those two words to mean different things here]), but I do have to say that while I do place mechanical gameplay higher than most other things in a game, I won't _always_ put it first.
That noodle clip made me laugh really hard. Hope that's ruining joke now.
Um excuse me George, it is current year and this is an indie game with a pixel art style
Therefore it is a 10/10. You probably just didn't understand it.
"adjusts glasses and ninja flips from the room"
Of course he understood it. There are plenty of legit criticisms! What; are you that shallow?
That's obviously sarcasm.
@@Lulink013 Then that just makes him an ass for making fun of people who liked the game.
ALL HAIL THE NOODLE BOWL!
I noticed while playing that if you hold the button after dashing you keep at least some of your momentum, if not all of it. Like how rolling as Donkey Kong leads into running (minus the whole increased speed while rolling through enemies thing). So I don't think you have to constantly roll to maintain speed, but I haven't tested it across the whole game so I can't say for sure if it's the same or not.
Did you ever do a talk on AM2R? Because... it's kind of incredible. The story is straightforward (and some would argue *too* simple by today's standards), but I really enjoyed it. It's currently in my top three games of the year. Yes -- it's that good.
That game also took a decade to make. So, Indie developers are making really good stuff... they just take a long time to do it. >_<
Great video. Much respect! :)
AM2R is rooted in an existing game - Metroid 2 for Gameboy. While it did improve and expand the original game, some of these improvements came from other Metroid titles. It's impressive, yes, but still derrivative.
Oh my god, Metal Slug! I completely forgot about that series but you're right when it comes to the quality of pixel art.
You can fly faster by holding down the dash button m8
This game and your description of it reminds me a lot of Child of Light, except I actually loved playing through that but it did have something a little different to offer in most areas or at least variations of things we hadn't seen in a long time (the gem system took me back to the late 90's and Materia :D) - it is shockingly similar in a lot of ways though.
One big thing I noticed was how at the beginning of the game they establish in a cutscene that Otus can't fly very well, being limited to only a certain amount of vertical distance before he has to give up and float slowly to the ground. This got tossed aside immediately when you got into the game proper where you're granted unlimited flight, and sort of led me to feel like there was lost potential there. Like those higher sections of the map may have only been reachable at one point once you had upgraded yourself enough to sustain your flight for that long, which also could've factored into platforming challenges and the like in dungeons... just sort of feels like trying to reach a broader audience through simpler play bit them in the long run.
I have been enjoying owlboy, and completely agree with everything you have said here. I had been hoping it would be more of a metroidvania with lots of overworld exploration, because I can never get enough of those, but instead it just ends up being reasonably fun
George, how could you play with my emotions like that with that intro?
TLDR: You have to be a certain kind of gamer to enjoy Owlboy.
I agree with what this CZcamsr says, It really doesn't innovate too much. However, I feel like Owlboy was made for a certain kind of person. I don't see gameplay as first in Indie games (I know, I'm THAT kinda guy) I always value atmosphere over everything else. Visuals are the least important thing for me most of the time, but I like Owlboys setting and love its soundtrack. The gameplay for me wasn't too easy, perhaps 'cause I played on keyboard, but I dunno. I agree that it gets a bit more praise than it deserves, as the story kinda just shoehorns itself in and you can tell where the team just wanted to finish the game. I love the themes of "you don't get stronger, but through friends, you can accomplish more". For me, I value themes and atmosphere more than the gameplay in indie games and I thinks its because of that that I would give Owlboy a 9/10.
People said the exact same thing about Ori and The Blind Forest when it came out. An excellent, polished, and beautiful game that doesn't really innovate. There's nothing wrong with that. Not every game needs to be the game that pushes the industry forward, and the fact that it doesn't does not in anyway diminish the games worth, or my personal enjoyment of it.
Well first off lets not make assumptions OK? I have yet to even play Owlboy, (i'm watching a review first before buying, like a good consumer should) my comment was from the perspective of Ori, which received similar criticism. Secondly, well duh, of course innovation is important. Never said it wasn't, only that a lack of innovation is not inherently a mark against a creative work.
Fez should not an example of the standard that Owlboy and other indie games should try to reach. When that game barely manages to reach Ok status itself.
I want to point out that the art is also prohibitively expensive. Otus himself is something like 80 pixels. A normal "little" character is only around 30 pixels high. A more sizable protagonist 50 pixels. You can quickly see how costs for creating even ONE character can suddenly be 8-10 times higher than your normal pixel art, because for every square up you go, you are adding another square to the size. 32x32 goes up four times in price just upgrading to 64x64. Otus is one of the smaller characters in the game, so prices for even one art asset must be insane.
It feels amazing
Can someone explain what's up with those noodles?
Nexus427 it started on his video when he visited Japan
Nexus427 he didn't have enough transition filler footage so he used the same shot of noodles too many times and now it's an injoke.
its le new funnay maymay XDXD xD XD
to be fair, its a really good shot. like cinematographically it really is.
Thank you for the review, really felt like you got the most important aspects of the game across. Its a real shame though, agreeing with you that gameplay is most important, that with that aesthetic polish which i simply couldn't help not fall in love with, the actual game seems alright at best. I was really looking forward to this game especially.
I enjoyed every bit of this game, I wish it'll have a sequel.
Perhaps the sequel will do a better job of explaining the Owl's history? And have more weapon combat choices hopefully.
Andrew Maksym yeah that would be great.
But i know, somewhere, deep down in my heart...i still love you
Great video, put into words a lot of what I was thinking. You could practically feel the development hell leaking out of the gameplay in that it was just *messy* and not tight. It made me feel like the new paper mario games do, in the sense that I'm constantly getting into combat and thinking "can I just keep exploring and looking at this beautiful world instead of getting stuck in these boring fights?".
The boss fights were pretty good though, at least.
Huey Lewis if you like the old Paper Mario games and indie games, I might have some good news. My team and I are working on an RPG inspired by TTYD's gameplay. If that interests at all, let me know. Hopefully we learn from the mistakes of games with nice visuals but bad gameplay.
CaptainNnif
I have one question:
Is the story of this game funny?
Quinten Hines There is some comedy planned, but the story is significantly more serious.
CaptainNnif
As long as it isn't too melodramatic or depressing, it'll be all good.
At any rate if your gameplay is solid, the story won't matter much anyway.
Speaking of gameplay, does it operate in the style of Super Paper Mario where there's different characters with different movesets and abilities?
And will your locations be wide open and expansive?
Or will it be just long, straight lines like in TTYD?
( Boy, I hated that!)
:(
At least we still have the Ori franchise.
Anyway, the game could easily have had a larger world and better gameplay - a larger world does not necessarily need more art, just a talented level and world designer that can make proper use of the stuff s/he has.
This looks like an obscure Japanese exclusive Sega Saturn game
Huh, now I'd kinda like to see George look at Iconoclasts, which had a similar if not even greater development cycle.
I'll still check it out.
Forget "raising standards", I would already be happy with matching them.
I wouldn't ask to Owlboy to surpass Zelda and innovate massively over iy, but as you pointed yourself there's a lot of excellent presentation "wasted" on a rather dull game here.
it is interesting, not that I see many, but the most key indie games of that age when this began were more floaty and loose moving in their control compared to what now feels more desired nes/snes like tight movement. It's a good mixmatch though
Am I the only one left in the world that likes to go slow sometimes? Like... Early Twilight Princess Link. A villager doesn't simply roll his way house to house.
Noodle shot is here, boys.
A natural ceiling for a game like this but not set in caves could be thinning air, upwards flight becoming gradually less effective with hight until reaching an equilibrium where you cannot rise any further and you fall very quickly when you stop trying to ascend.
that happens in one of the later levels.
I saw the noodle and a tear of happiness came in my eyes.
Hey George! Are you playing tyranny for next week? it surprisingly came out relatively stealthy, not much people are aware of it, which seems strange because, you'd think after the sucess of Pillars of Eternity, Obsidian would inject a bit more fanfare into the follow up
I'm glad you brought up how easy the games difficulty is I seen way too many gush about the graphics and simply gloss over it
god damn 9 years wooow
Does anybody know what game was shown at the 7:37 mark? I don't think it listed in the source footage at the end... Whatever game that was, caught my attention.
It's good that you mention Aquaria, because yeah, Owlboy's development started right on the heels of Aquaria's release. In a lot of ways, Owlboy was really just the more "traditional" answer to Aquaria's inspirations, switching out Aquaria's cold tale of isolation with a warmer classic adventure story starring a cute mascot & friends. Everything Indie was reviewed in contrast to Braid and the mighty Cave Story back then, and no doubt the developers were originally expecting to release the full game within the circle of other upcoming releases at the time like Fez, Noitu Love 2, Limbo, Super Meat Boy, and other indies that were just starting to branch out.
Therefore, we sort of need to think about the game's philosophies in that context. If you imagine modern indies as advancing like how console gens do, Owlboy was basically like an ambitious NES title that got released after the console's lifecycle. Even though a lot of gamers have "moved on" in a way, Owlboy still accomplishes what it set out to do, and would have stood out from the crowd immensely if it had been released back when D-Pad originally wanted it to. (I guess the same thing kinda happened with Shantae on the GBC.)
And as someone that followed Owlboy's development since its initial trailers, I can't help but feel an amazing sense of inverted nostalgia when I boot it up. It's literally a game I grew up with, but am now experiencing for the first time. I'm expecting to have the same kind of feeling when Iconoclasts and Heart Forth Alicia are finally released too.
So wait, what was the indie response to _Dark Souls_ mentioned around 7:30? I don’t think it was listed at the end.
Salt and Sanctuary.
SoloMael Yeah, it’s not listed. And _Fez_ is listed twice. But thanks!
9 seconds in and I already agree completely with the review. Amazing.