Owlboy is a game that was in development for almost 10 years and I hadn’t heard a thing about it until earlier this year. I saw rejoice on the internet the the game would finally be coming out. I looked for more info about this game that was sure to be a hot item and found a video showing a trailer of the game. Immediately I was taken away by the amazing pixel art graphics and music. The game was now on my radar and November 1st couldn’t come soon enough. I eventually ended up ordering a physical copy of the game through Indiebox and knew I’d have to wait a bit for my copy. Reviews came pouring in on release day to an overwhelming amount of praise. When I finally got my copy a little more than a month later, it being a physical one, I jumped in immediately. Was all the praise for the game genuine? Was the game worth such a long development time? Well...
As I loaded the game up I was greeted with the amazing art style and music but there was more this time, a story. Otus is a mute whose mentor, Asio, is kind of a dick. Actually, he’s a real dick to Otus. Nothing is ever good enough for him and you can see the emotion on Otus’ face when he lets his mentor down. I had a genuine frown on my face when Otus did and felt connected to him as I have in the past when I feel I let people down. The emotion of the game is a key component whether it’s happiness, sadness, or humor..looking at you, Boguins. The ending...oh man the ending. I haven’t felt that impacted by a video game ending for quite some time and the journey was well worth it.
While I didn’t track how long I played for I would say the game lasted 7-10 hours which is perfect length especially instead of the 40 hour long RPGs I’ve been playing this year. The levels are fun, combat flows well, and the difficulty was just right. The visuals made the dungeons feel alive and each enemy was unique. There are puzzles but they weren’t challenging, again, perfect for me. You’re able to freely fly anywhere in the game except for the last part of the game due to...circumstances, and luckily the game still holds up.
Overall, I’m in love with Owlboy. I haven’t stopped thinking about it and looking for more fanart since I stopped playing. I’m listening to the soundtrack as I write this and it brings back great memories. Owlboy is a feelgood game that can whisk you away to another world whenever the real one gets to be too much for you. I highly recommend it to anyone.
