That’s “Owlboy” in a nutshell: one game that is constantly brought down with the mechanics of another. Imagine playing any other puzzle game that switches to a bullet-hell every two minutes. However, the meandering key-to-lock puzzles that make up a vast majority of the experience are punctuated with an absurd amount of combat that requires quick button presses and a nearly supernatural amount of precognition. The actual mechanics of “Owlboy” (the flying speed, the grabbing and dragging of characters and objects, the properties of your allies’ guns, etc.) are better suited for a slower puzzle game, which, thankfully, “Owlboy” mostly is. This is difficult to explain, but to elaborate: It manifests itself more in the conflict between its mechanics and its gameplay than any of the individual obstacles in the game. That’s not to say the game is not challenging, but its challenge is inconsistent. With no momentum, weight or anything preventing Otus from flying to his heart’s content, the feature feels more of a chore than an exciting prospect. Meanwhile, the most complicated aspect of flight in “Owlboy” is avoiding running into hazards. Without a slight rise or push forward, taking off feels wholly unremarkable and is treated as banal as any other jump.Ĭontrast that with, for instance, the Wing Cap from “Super Mario 64,” and the difference is night-and-day: The Wing Cap lets players launch off the ground with a rocket-like jump and glide around maps with a type of movement that is carefully crafted to give a sense of gravitas to the experience. To fly, all one has to do is press the jump button whilst in the air, and Otus, the main character, remains fixed in place. Despite being the core mechanic of the game, the feeling of flight is almost never delivered during the ten hour run-time. However, because they often do not have the experience to know better amateurs can miss details that are absolutely torturous when absent. Amateurs, hobbyists and the like can often make spectacular work, and sometimes that work can be some of the best out there. The one word that best summarizes “Owlboy” is amateur which, by itself, can be both a good and a bad thing.
A deliberate call-back to the retro games of old, “Owlboy” is certainly aesthetically charming, but is ultimately mediocre to a fault. Announced nearly a decade ago, the product from developer D-Pad Studio slipped in and out of the public’s eye and made a surprise return earlier last month. If “Owlboy” is anything, it is certainly an interesting case study for what mistakes can happen over a long development time. It is currently only available for Microsoft Windows, but the creators have expressed in interest in a console release. “Owlboy” began development in 2007, and didn’t see release until Nov.
0 kommentar(er)
