As I was nearing the end of playing Olija, I had the review all set up in my mind. A solid 3/5 game. One worth grabbing on a sale and whizzing through in an evening. Why? Well its very short for one and its also not very difficult.
A bigger issue though is just the overall gameplay and graphics. While the pixel-art graphics look interesting in some places, in others it all comes off as rather muddied and lacking in detail. The same goes with the combat. On first play, it feels snappy, reactive and fast-paced. Good right? Well no. Its all this but it also at the same time manages to be muddled when it comes to the more damage sponging bosses. You're also given a load of different weapons to play with but none of them feel worth using since the starting rapier is really the only thing worth using.
But as I said, all this would equal a 3/5 game for me. Some good stuff, some negatives but one that ultimately feels fun to blaze through. Then the ending came in the most abrupt, mean-spirted and confusing way possible. It really does feel like the videogame equivalent of having a door slammed in your face. There's no warning, no indication and when it does happen, the game autosaves, locks out the continue button on the main menu and forces you to restart the game if you want to return for achievement cleanup.
Oof. Thanks game. That wasn't pleasant and really left a bitter aftertaste to what should have been a pleasant runthrough. So now I cant really recommend. Annoying.
A bigger issue though is just the overall gameplay and graphics. While the pixel-art graphics look interesting in some places, in others it all comes off as rather muddied and lacking in detail. The same goes with the combat. On first play, it feels snappy, reactive and fast-paced. Good right? Well no. Its all this but it also at the same time manages to be muddled when it comes to the more damage sponging bosses. You're also given a load of different weapons to play with but none of them feel worth using since the starting rapier is really the only thing worth using.
But as I said, all this would equal a 3/5 game for me. Some good stuff, some negatives but one that ultimately feels fun to blaze through. Then the ending came in the most abrupt, mean-spirted and confusing way possible. It really does feel like the videogame equivalent of having a door slammed in your face. There's no warning, no indication and when it does happen, the game autosaves, locks out the continue button on the main menu and forces you to restart the game if you want to return for achievement cleanup.
Oof. Thanks game. That wasn't pleasant and really left a bitter aftertaste to what should have been a pleasant runthrough. So now I cant really recommend. Annoying.