Fruitless back-and-forths over Tomb Raider often put me in the same headspace: thinkin' about Oddworld. Now there's a solid cinematic platformer for the PlayStation 1, one with expressive characters, imaginative environments, a great sense of humor and actual messaging to compliment it's fun and often challenging puzzles. Lara can't like, mind control a bear and make it explode. I rest my case.

But opening up my copy of Abe's Oddysee immediately presents something bleakly funny: the definition of a quintology. Oh Lorne. Poor Lorne. They screwed the man at every turn. From pressing the first run of discs with a repeatable, game breaking bug (in Lorne's words, the person who made this call was not "a Gamer"), to Gamestop publishing a guide that immediately funneled new players into the most difficult hidden screens of the game, to his regrets over Exoddus and Sony throwing Soulstorm up on PS+ to die... Like Xenosaga and Shenmue, it doesn't matter if you have a story to tell or the creativity and temerity to do it, the games industry will chew you up and spit you out like some form of tangy meat popsicle. New n' tasty indeed.

Listen to Lorne Lanning talk about Oddworld for any length of time, and it becomes quickly apparent just how passionate and creatively driven he is. Ars Technica's extended War Stories interview is something I throw on at least once a year because I find his background to be fascinating, and his recollections on navigating creative and industrial fields leading to the formation of his studio, Oddworld Inhabitants, provides a considerable amount of insight as to how his worldview - and consequentially, the themes of Oddworld - formed.

Abe's Oddysee was always intended to have a message, and so gameplay was appropriately designed around the particular anxieties and beliefs Lorne wished to express. As funny as it would be to find Abe strapped, you don't shoot guns, something that was a point of contention with staff at Oddworld Inhabitants. Instead, you "shoot words" (and farts) through gamespeak, a mechanic that allows the player to interface on a more personal level with the game than simply pulling a trigger... Though through mind control, you do still do that. Sometimes the creative process demands compromise.

One complaint I would have about this system is that much of your time rescuing Modokons is front and backloaded, with an extremely lengthy middle game chronicling Abe's trials outside of Rupture Farms tucking most Modokon rescues behind hidden screens and portals. To a certain extent, loading the game so full of secrets is good and provides replayability, but I found the puzzles in which you're trying to disarm a hazardous area and lead as many Modokons to safety as possible to be more engaging than the segmented puzzle rooms of Paramonia and Scrabania. Elum, Abe's mount, does fill this role somewhat, but I twice had him despawn requiring me to reload a save and lose progress, so I'm a little upset with him right now.

The end game also gets absolutely brutal, placing checkpoints far and between sequences that require precise timing and manipulation of enemies. Controls are rarely the issue so much as understanding the order of operations to get through the multiple levels of Rupture Farms, but when everything clicks and you execute on a perfect run, it feels good. The end of Abe's Oddysee has some of the most genuinely tense moment-to-moment gameplay on the system, it is agonizing as it is great. Wait, what do you mean I didn't save enough Modokons? Hold on, why am I being teleported back to the start of Rupture Farms, wait--

While the experience of playing Oddysee can at times be a bit uneven and even frustrating, I do think it comes together into something really special. The texture of the pre-rendered environments, the clay-like quality of the character sprites, the ways in which Rupture's oppressive and hostile factory gives way to barren wastelands drained of resources and life all for the sake of capital, and how that is conveyed humorously both through the game's writing and the player's own machinations... it's great. I really like Abe's Oddysee. 3.5 out of 5 smooches on the cheek for Mr. Lanning, but not 5 because Lorne is apparently never allowed to have a quintology of anything. I don't make the rules.

I love me my anti-capitalist breakdowns especially with an aesthetic this strong and a core puzzle idea so intertwined with said aesthetic that it itself requires large amounts of praise, but this puzzler in many ways underwhelmed me. A lot of it to me, is due to the difficulty or to be more clear, how obtuse solutions can be at times. And at the same time, the puzzles also become pathetically easy past the halfway point. I found myself more often than not going through the motions. I was certainly in the zone a lot of the time, it's incredibly competent even with the large amount of cracks in the seams that irk me, but any recommendation I can do of it comes with hesitation.

It's a competent goodish puzzler that mostly holds up due to incredible story meets gameplay systems, and I can recommend it just on that.

Classic game I've always wanted to play. I wasn't aware of it's play style, just the world. But I wasn't disappointed. You guide Abe around in a 2d world with prerendered 3D backgrounds. He is very weak and dies to everything. So essentially you are playing a puzzle game where you die when you're wrong. Really loved the graphics and environments. Of course the anticapitalist story apealled to me as well.

The age of the game does come through in places. It uses a check point system that is very challenging, sending you way back when you mess up. Playing on the RP3 I could avoid this with save states, but without this convenience Im almost certainly I wouldn't have finished the game or gotten very far at all. That being said I couldn't get enough of the smooth controls and general comedy. This is worth a play, but my god do you need save states.

I'm not very high on cinematic platformers. Hell I find trial and error gameplay frustrating beyond belief. But for once a game with that kind of energy hooked me. The world of Abe's Odyssee is something to behold, the drop dead gorgeous pre rendered backgrounds, the atmosphere and the story is all masterfully done. Unlike most games in the genre the deaths are entirely your fault and you will learn from your mistakes. This isn't like Heart of Darkness where you die by random BS. This is the pinnacle of the genre for a reason. If you enjoy the genre or want a fantastic game to stare at this one is for you

Between the bleak dystopian setting, the need to rely on your wits more than your brawn to survive in a hostile world, and the complete lack of a UI that helps things feel more immersive, Abe's Oddysee wears the "Another World" influence proudly on its sleeve. It does have much stronger puzzle elements compared to Another World's largely trial-and-error gameplay, and that mostly works in this game's favor.

The puzzle elements largely revolve around manipulating the various hazards and hostile creatures in order to make it through the levels in one piece, whether it be sneaking past two fiercely territorial scrabs as they fight to the death, luring an enemy into a land mine, or 'possessing' a slig to have him take out some of the threats ahead. While some of the puzzles do get quite difficult, the AI is remarkably consistent and the various enemy types will always behave in a very predictable way which means you will actually get better and better at the game mechanics the more you play (as opposed to the rote memorization of 'gotcha' moments that plague many similar games).

The puzzle mechanics are greatly enhanced by the game's great sense of atmosphere, and in how much personality they infused into the enslaved Mudokons (who you spend most of the game trying to rescue). These ugly adorable flatulent dudes with the minion voices retain their spirit and sense of humor even in the face of frankly horrific treatment, and it gives the setting a very distinct and somehow very effective fusion of humor and tragedy. More importantly, it enhances the gameplay by giving you 'puzzle pieces' that you actually care about. Sure, you can get to the next area by using the other slaves as human mudokon shields but it'll also make you feel like a dick; conversely, when you find the perfect solution to set all the slaves free and (often barely) just survive yourself, it's doubly satisfying.

This ties in very well with how the game cleverly sidesteps my frequent gripe with puzzle games: the difficulty. Puzzle games have it tough because unlike other genres, you either know the solution or you don't, and there's no in-between; this makes it difficult for games to find the tiny middle ground between "braindead easy" and "so difficult that you get stuck and consult a guide". Abe's Oddysee has its share of difficult puzzles, but the majority of those are optional and just lead to you being able to rescue more Mudokon slaves (who as we've established, you tend to feel honor-bound to try to save). What this means is that you will want to save as many slaves as possible, but if you find yourself really stuck you can just continue with the main game without having to consult a guide.

Abe's Oddysee unfortunately also suffers from a common issue with similar games: the stiff controls. For the most part they don't spoil the experience, but there are just a few too many time-sensitive situations that you need to rush through and demand near frame-perfect timing that I can't also give the game a free pass on that.

In the end, the frustrating moments were far outweighed by the game's strengths. When I used the experience gained in my first playthrough to save more Mudokons the second time through and was rewarded with a different better ending, it gave me a real sense of accomplishment (and guilt about the two guys I allowed to get beaten to death). I'm looking forward to playing its sequels!

Oddworld Abe's Oddysee is one of the earliest games I remember playing. This game is super nostalgic to me. The atmosphere in this game is just Godly. The early levels of Rupture Farms especially, which I'd play through over and over as a kid, are just iconic to me. The huge factory with barrels in the background and blood all over the place. It really is unmatched in setting the tone of the horrible world this takes place in, and then you get beautiful locations like the stockyard at night, and the areas with all the giant statues of the unique creatures that inhabit Oddworld.

The game controls very well thanks to the consistency and tightness of controls, like a jump will always move you 2 spaces and a running jump will move you 3.

Gameplay varies between slow stealth sections that involve a lot of waiting, some puzzles which will have you feeling satisfied once you figure out how all the pieces come together and some intense chase sequences with split second decision making to add some faster paced gameplay into the mix. The faster paced parts are a nice break from the majority that require a lot of patience. I don't mind that, but what I do mind is the times when you need to throw a rock/grenade perfectly, and if you miss you need to waste time going back to get more.

It's not perfect, and there's some inclusions in the sequel that this game desperately needed, such a quick save to help with those stingy checkpoints - especially if you're trying to save all the Mudokon's. Also the fact you can only ever have 1 person following you at a time becomes a real time waster in some parts.

I'm also not a big fan of the Elum sections as he tends to be very slippery which makes those jumping sections that require perfect timing harder than it is with Abe who controls so smoothly.

Basically the game is unmatched in its aesthetics, while gameplay is generally very fun and unique, but can become a bit too slow, or even trial-and-error'ry at times.

Anyway I saved 98/99 Mudokon's and now I'm kicking myself for missing 1 and being unable to set the game to mastered :')

I'm sad this game didn't click with me much, because the art direction and personality of this game is top notch, and there's a lot of really good ideas here. Unfortunately, I found that I was often required to act quickly or die, with controls that don't really complement that sort of design. On top of that, respawning takes quite a while, and trial and error feels frustrating and punishing. There were a good number of rooms that felt fun to solve, but they were offset by the times that the game would be overly cryptic or tedious. The game's cool, but just has too many issues that stack up for me. I could understand why some would really like this game, but I just found it to be an uneven blend of cool, fun and really annoying.

This is one of my favourite games of all time. The atmosphere is so immersive and I still remember when I played this game as a child.
The dark theme of the entire games sets the character development and story up complete. You find yourself immersed in the creatures and environments of the game.
Mechanically, the game has seen better days with it playing best on PC rather than PS. The puzzles can be hard for new time players but ultimately rewarding when you get them right.
Highly recommend this game for someone who enjoys dark themes and platformers

Oddworld is one of the most artistically, narratively, and sonically beautiful, dark, funny, and mysterious game worlds ever created, and it all began here in Abe’s Oddysee, the original, iconic, first chapter in its saga.

If it weren’t for one major drawback in the gameplay department, I would genuinely consider Abe’s Oddyssey to be one of the rare examples of a truly perfect game, seeing how everything else besides this lone design oversight is masterfully executed, like a great film, lean and mean with zero fat on its bones, brilliant in its visual storytelling, filled with flawless character design, classic physical comedy (I view Abe as the Buster Keaton of gaming), and often Rube Goldberg-esque, ingenious puzzles.

That’s just it, though. Its deadly gauntlets of perfectly-timed obstacle-dodging, enemy-outsmarting ingenious puzzles can sometimes feel like they literally require you to be a genius. Now, I’m obviously aware that it’s an older game, the studio’s first attempt at a game, and, frustrating or not, young children were able to complete it at its time of release. Thus, its high difficulty is by no means an objective design flaw. It’s a deliberate design choice. However, it could certainly be a barrier to much of the game’s imaginitive and inspiring later content for someone not used to such brutally unforgiving retro game design.

If the difficulty, itself, is not its one major flaw that keeps it from being the otherwise perfect game that it could be, then what is? Well, it’s definitely Abe Odyssey’s checkpoint system. Firstly, there’s no quick save. Again, this is, in itself, not a flaw per se. However, being able to try the hellishly challenging puzzle in the room you’re in over and over until you get it right would be just fine. Some might even still give up and quit, as it would still retain each individual room’s challenge. You can’t do this. Instead, you’re often forced to also do the past 4-5 dangerous, difficult, “miss a jump by a pixel and die” puzzles in the rooms before the one you’re in if you die and it wasn’t near one of the uncharitably-placed checkpoints.

So, “Checkpoints punishing. Checkpoints bad.” That’s it? Well, no. To compound their poor implementation even further, in the original PS1 version, there is no indicator, be it visual or aural, to signal that you’ve even reached one. You have no clue where the last one you passed was (except for load screens, which one can typically assume do signal a checkpoint, but which aren’t always super frequent).

There is a “Save” option on the pause menu, but this only saves up until your last check point, meaning that if you save and turn off the game six difficult rooms after a checkpoint (and, remember, you likely won’t even know that you passed one), you’ll be brought back to wherever that mystery checkpoint was upon the next time you load your save.

I think it’s telling that the sequel to this game was not released decades later, with changes made to the checkpoint/save system in order to appeal to “babies” used to modernized game design, who know nothing of the days of “actual challenge”. Instead, the sequel to Abe’s Oddysee, Abe’s Exoddus, came out very shortly after and (what do you know!) included the ability to quicksave anywhere. Given the fact that the sequel is not notorious for being some dumbed down or overly easy entry, this can really only be interpreted as the developers, Oddworld Inhabitants, admitting that there WAS one element that wasn’t perfect in their previous work of art, and they wanted to fix it.

So, that’s why a perfect game has a big enough flaw to rob it of a perfect score from me. Thankfully, while I write and share this review to both organize my thoughts on something I love and potentially help someone who’s thinking of playing the game, it won’t be playing any part in the public opinion of the game. This game has already been long-cemented as a classic, and rightly so.

The story of Abe’s Oddysee is a tale that could easily come off as preachy, but while it is surprisingly heavy and dark, it offsets this with moments and characters that are anything but serious. In a way, this is the perfect example of a “message game” and how to do it right. It’s an admirably empathetic, but also highly critical story of greedy corporations, environmental plundering, and an obvious love for and goal of a wider-spread understanding and respect for everything from nature’s underdogs to the shamanic rituals of indigenous tribes and the overall power of myth. It posits that an epic and noble quest, the kind that can be found mirrored and shared across cultures and best summed up by Joseph Campbell as “The Hero’s Journey “, can begin within the soul of even the most unassuming of “heroes”.

Abe’s journey takes him from a cynical, vicious, mercenary world of industry and apathy into one of old, grand temples, new cultures, and strange species. There’s an unspoken emphasis on using the land while being in harmony with it (rather than striving for control over it), a connection with beasts for mutual aid, the mysterious power and magic of ancient music, and, of course, the universal, healing humor of flatulence.

The way Abe Oddysse’s checkpoints were handled is a shame, and it can sometimes make it harder to get lost in some of its puzzles, trying again and again, and happy to, due to a brain-teasing drive spurred on by fair design, rather than frustration. However, absolutely nothing in the game hinders the player’s ability to get lost in the game’s world, one that, odd as it is, often reflects our own in both ways that one may not wish to admit and ones that, in their relatable struggle and mysterious beauty, could very well inspire one to go on their own odyssey, with a newfound interest, perhaps, in researching the equally surreal creatures, ancient stories, and fascinating cultures of our own world.

To me, that’s an astounding legacy for Abe’s Oddyssey to have and one that will easily overshadow its main design issue in the long run. I can’t stress enough just how perfect of a game it would be without its lone, but significant aspect that is so often a source of frustration. Frustration does not, however, rob Abe’s Oddyssey of its timeless magic and, with what I’ve covered in mind, if you feel that you possess the expectations and patience necessary to face it, I highly recommend that you give it a play and experience the genesis of one of video games’ finest fictional realms and the debut of one of its most unlikely, but most likable heroes.

This definitely has a few difficult moments that seemed like mistakes that turned out completely intentional. I guess that's archaic game design for you. Despite those select occurrences of N.K.W.T.D (Not Knowing What To Do), this was an absolute blast. I've been wanting to try this out for six years, and finally playing through the whole thing was cathartic. The visuals are insanely well done and the atmosphere surrounding this narrative is brilliant. The level design has some really cool puzzle ideas and mechanics that keep getting better and better the longer it goes. The PS1 keeps blowing my mind with how much these developers were able to pull off on this hardware. Truly the wild west of video game generations.

I should really play Wild Arms.