Planet Zoo
No corridor fight scenes in OWLBOY
Otus, the hero from Owlboy, is terrible at everything. His fellow villagers seem to hate him. Everything he does seems to go wrong. He’s even mute, the poor lad. And that’s probably why guiding him to some degree of success is so pleasing. However bad he is at the start, I take comfort in knowing I can’t make it worse. That said, even the earliest attempts to fix things go wrong.
The first beat of the story sees Otus and his soldier friend Geddy chasing a ‘troublemaker’, only to miss the entire fleet of pirates that descends on the village. The lovely animation just makes things worse: Otus’ simple sprite is still capable of expressing fear and doubt, and I just want to pat him on the feathered shoulder and pretend everything will be OK. Generally, this is one of the best bits of a game that already looks glorious: Despite the 16-bit trappings, it’s quite capable of making you understand what the characters are feeling.
Otus’ unique movement poses some challenge. He flaps about between platforms, clutching a friend in his talons. It’s an unusual setup that makes Owlboy sometimes feel like a bullet hell game in a bird costume, and it’s not always wholly satisfying. Swapping and dropping teammates can feel clunky and unintuitive. And Otus’ agility isn’t quite up to the game’s more frenetic boss battles. It often feels like you’re drifting or flapping into projectiles you were knowingly trying to avoid. It’s not terrible, but it does mean that the slower, puzzle-based sections of Owlboy leave a more positive impression than the otherwise enjoyable boss battles.