This review contains spoilers
I was interested in Orbo's Odyssey after seeing the developer made Peeb Adventures, one of my favorite games of the 2021 Haunted PS1 Demo Disc. I'd say I enjoyed this game enough. The controls are fun, it's very satisfying shooting Orbo like a rocket. I feel like the levels don't entirely suit that though, and I think there should be more open levels. The art style is also strange as well. I understand it's got this mixed media approach but a lot of it doesn't feel like it has a sense of thematic cohesion, or really appeal when it comes to the more realistic looking characters. The soundtrack is nice, though I'm not sure how well DnB fits for this type of tone? (I won't complain though, I love DnB.)
I'm giving this thought its own section because I have quite a bit to say on it, and that's the writing. I feel like comedy isn't necessarily this developer's strong suit, and granted, that's an incredibly subjective thought. But the direction they took the character Peeb aggravated me intensely. For context, the adorably phallic character Peeb was the star of his own small game demo, Peeb Adventures as mentioned before. In that game, the only dialogue was spoken by the other characters and Peeb himself was relegated to squeals during his death and the word "BONER". His cute but strange design couple with his limited speech is part of what makes him such an endearing character. In Orbo's Odyssey, they abandon all of that by giving him dialogue and its AGGRESSIVELY unfunny. They've forced this cutesy dim-witted and slightly annoying attitude onto Peeb coupled with emoticons in his speech. The bit with him lying about having a wife and kid and crying about it was the significant moment I realized he's effectively lost what made him likeable in the first place. That being said, I think Orbo works well as a protagonist. His irascible attitude and facial expressions are pretty funny, and definitely warranted given the situation and weird people he's subjected to interacted with. He's pretty much the only character in this I like though, as Peeb has been ruined and the other characters aren't particularly funny or interesting.
Comedy aside, something equally strange is the story. Not necessarily the plot, the plot is simple. Orbo wants to quit his job but he can't open the door to the boss's room due to neither him or Peeb having arms or hands (which I admit is pretty funny), so he must travel though various worlds in order to find enough parts to build a robotic arm. The strange thing is this horror element that underlies with the game and the need to tie it into another game the devs are working on, Nowhere, M.I. I feel like it's unnecessary and doesn't really add anything to either game, I know that Orbo and Peeb cameo in that demo but I didn't assume it was a part of some crazy link to their universes. It didn't really interest me to know but if it's something the creator has fun writing there isn't much harm to it, I suppose.
Overall, I think Orbo's Odyssey is fun but a bit lacking, though I can't get too mad for just 7 dollars. I really did have more overall fun with Peeb Adventures, and it unfortunately seems like the creator won't return to that game with the full commitment to developing Nowhere, M.I. I hope that game will be good, but it's hard to say if it will keep my personal interest.
Rest in Peeb, Peeb. Killed too soon, but not soon enough to be character assassinated.
I'm giving this thought its own section because I have quite a bit to say on it, and that's the writing. I feel like comedy isn't necessarily this developer's strong suit, and granted, that's an incredibly subjective thought. But the direction they took the character Peeb aggravated me intensely. For context, the adorably phallic character Peeb was the star of his own small game demo, Peeb Adventures as mentioned before. In that game, the only dialogue was spoken by the other characters and Peeb himself was relegated to squeals during his death and the word "BONER". His cute but strange design couple with his limited speech is part of what makes him such an endearing character. In Orbo's Odyssey, they abandon all of that by giving him dialogue and its AGGRESSIVELY unfunny. They've forced this cutesy dim-witted and slightly annoying attitude onto Peeb coupled with emoticons in his speech. The bit with him lying about having a wife and kid and crying about it was the significant moment I realized he's effectively lost what made him likeable in the first place. That being said, I think Orbo works well as a protagonist. His irascible attitude and facial expressions are pretty funny, and definitely warranted given the situation and weird people he's subjected to interacted with. He's pretty much the only character in this I like though, as Peeb has been ruined and the other characters aren't particularly funny or interesting.
Comedy aside, something equally strange is the story. Not necessarily the plot, the plot is simple. Orbo wants to quit his job but he can't open the door to the boss's room due to neither him or Peeb having arms or hands (which I admit is pretty funny), so he must travel though various worlds in order to find enough parts to build a robotic arm. The strange thing is this horror element that underlies with the game and the need to tie it into another game the devs are working on, Nowhere, M.I. I feel like it's unnecessary and doesn't really add anything to either game, I know that Orbo and Peeb cameo in that demo but I didn't assume it was a part of some crazy link to their universes. It didn't really interest me to know but if it's something the creator has fun writing there isn't much harm to it, I suppose.
Overall, I think Orbo's Odyssey is fun but a bit lacking, though I can't get too mad for just 7 dollars. I really did have more overall fun with Peeb Adventures, and it unfortunately seems like the creator won't return to that game with the full commitment to developing Nowhere, M.I. I hope that game will be good, but it's hard to say if it will keep my personal interest.
Rest in Peeb, Peeb. Killed too soon, but not soon enough to be character assassinated.