Fighting against rooms full of enemies, surprisingly excellent stealth sections in which you sneak past pirates, some clever puzzles that involve dragging clouds around, numerous examples of using Otus’s flight to solve problems in a variety of ways. Ideas and solutions are reused regularly throughout the game, constantly tweaked and adjusted so they never get old. Various switches require characters of certain weights, while Twig’s grappling hook allows you to traverse areas in which flight is impossible. Mostly this leads to the combat being airborne shootemup style, but the additional characters - Geddy, Alphonse and Twig - also serve a purpose in puzzle solving. Things are mixed up by the inclusion of Otus’s friends three characters whom Otus can teleport around and switch between, gripping them in his talons so they essentially function as three different weapons, albeit living weapons who can be flung around on a whim. This decision could’ve weakened the game in the hands of another team, but D-Pad make great use of the flight mechanics, designing the levels so it’s never simply just a case of floating your way through. Once you reach a dungeon, you’ll spend most of your time flying around as Otus you can land and jump around, and there are sections in which regular platforming comes into play, but the majority of the game takes place in flight. It’s one of the most evocative video game worlds I’ve ever inhabited, and the 20+ hours I spent in the company of Otus and his friends was a visual treat. You’ll traverse dingy, dank caves overgrown with vines, teeming with shrubs and wildlife, or circle and wheel through the skies above your hometown Vellie, as tiny birds flit in and out of the screen, leaves drift through the air, trees shudder and ripple in the wind.
Everything has been crafted with love and an immense attention to detail, from the animations of protagonist owlboy Otus to the individual clouds in the background as you soar through the stratosphere. And make no mistake, the game is absolutely stunning. Rather than go with a retro throwback feel, D-Pad Studio uses a style they describe as ‘hi-bit’ - incredibly detailed, luxuriously animated pixel art that thrusts the generally retro-styled aesthetic into the 21st century. The pixel art style is an example of where this game manages to be incredibly modern despite the lengthy dev cycle. Not that Owlboy lacks anything in the looks department, mind. Contrary to the way that many games with huge development cycles turn out, Owlboy is an absolutely stunning, contemporary experience. In fact, having played the game intensely over the last week or so, rinsing out every single secret, collecting every single optional collectible, finding every last hidden item and area on top of completing the main story, it’s hard to imagine a game that could be any more polished, any more precisely and lovingly crafted. The almost decade-long development did nothing to harm it. The risk of being outdated is mitigated with Owlboy somewhat, at least in terms of its pixel art visual style, but it’s a risk nonetheless.Īs you’ve probably heard by now thanks to fantastic pre-release reviews and launch day sales, Owlboy’s risk paid off. Tech changes, tastes change, and sometimes you can be left with something that feels like a product of its time, even though it’s only just hit stores. And there’s a serious risk with any game that’s been in development for so long.
It’s a long time to be excited about something. Developers D-Pad Studio have popped up with info, updates and even a demo over the years, so there’s never been any suggestion that the game wouldn’t come out, but… almost ten years, for an indie platformer. It’s been almost ten years since we first heard about Owlboy.
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