Owlboy is a diet metroidvania with a 9 year dev cycle. While it does have some flashes of brilliance, it also sports some puzzling issues. Here's what I found.

Story: I won't get too deep into this, because the story is pretty run of the mill. The only thing that stood out to me about the story was the way the characters, and most specifically the protagonist Otus, was presented. The idea of having a mute main character that also gets relentlessly bullied by both his peers and his elders was fresh enough to get me invested to the character, but little else.

Gameplay: I liked the idea of carrying everyone around and switching on the fly to make my way through the world. It's a mechanic I would like to see expanded upon, though not necessarily in a sequel. The controls were tight enough, but it's certainly not the most responsive 2D metroidvania I've played.

Aesthetics: The art in this game is fantastic. It's the one part of the game that makes me believe that it had almost a decade of dev time. The sprite work is fantastic and the parallax layers really sell the background. I was thoroughly impressed by the visuals. The music was rather middling though. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. I would say that it always felt appropriate and never seemed out of place, so that's something.

Overall I really respect the studio's effort on this title. It's worth a playthrough if only just to experience what it's tried to do different and get some ideas for other ways the genre could be pushed. Hardcore fans of the genre will likely find the experience lacking, so if you're looking for something to fill the void that Hollow Knight left behind you will likely be disappointed. If you value charm and aesthetic perhaps put a couple of hours on it and see what you think.

Pixel's legendary freeware classic gets a controversial port with slightly more content. I won't cover that here, just Google the drama between Pixel and Nicalis if you're interested in that. On to the game.

Gameplay: The original freeware release ran at 50 FPS, but this version is locked at 60 FPS. This caused issues for me as even on Easy mode the game felt harder. Way harder. The controls didn't feel as tight either. They were still passable, but I'm willing to chalk that up to the joy con's not being the best designed controller for 2D platforming applications. The game was always hard, but this feels harder. Prepare to get good or die trying.

Aesthetic: The overall tone and feel of the world, characters, and music is what makes this game resonate so much with players. Even if this kind of game isn't your thing, I believe you would be hard pressed to not enjoy these elements for how good they are. It truly is exceptional and I consider this to be the primary reason the game has the reputation and fanfare that it rightfully deserves.

Story: For a 2D platformer, this story is deeper than most. It gets a little silly in a couple of spots, but that doesn't detract from the experience so much as it adds to the overall charm of the game. I found myself pleasantly surprised. I definitely liked the expanded interactions with Curly Brace. Those alone may be the best argument to play this version, or at least watch them on YouTube.

Design: The game sports a fairly stout learning curve while accomplishing to keep it manageable until the endgame. Without giving anything away, just know that once you reach the point where the game informs you there's no going back the design goes full on artificial difficulty mode. We're talking no save points for what is around an hour of endgame content which features numerous multi-stage boss fights. It's absolutely absurd and will always remain one of the primary reasons I refuse to laud this game as much as some do. I simply can't commend that type of design.

Overall: Personal gripes aside, this is still a brilliant game and I highly recommend it to platform or retro enthusiasts. There's a lot to like here and it's well worth your time. Just be aware of what you're getting into with a little research and try to enjoy the experience. Games like this are what paved the way for something like Celeste to be created and get a wide audience, and that's perhaps the best compliment I could ever pay this title.

Platinum games attempts to re-invent their formula of third person button mash action by giving you a dog on a leash, both literally and figuratively.

Story: The story was predictable, yet it wasn't corny by modern game story standards. Overall I actually expected less and without giving anything away I am actively looking forward to a sequel. I would be interested to see where this franchise can go next.

Art: I really liked the aesthetic of this game. The partially cell shaded graphics mix surprisingly well with the background of the game. The characters never looked out of place and the environments, while maintaining a cohesive theme, largely had their own identity. The art team really nailed it for me, but people who aren't into anime styled sci-fi cyberpunk settings will probably feel different.

Gameplay: I've never been a big fan of the Platinum Games approach to action titles. That being said, I respect the main gimmick of this game and commend them for what they accomplished. I am genuinely shocked that it's as passable as they made it controlling two characters on the Switch control schema. However, the platforming sections of this game really show off the sacrifices that were made to make this setup work. You will either be able to look beyond the control quirks and enjoy the title or abandon it due to control based frustration. They honestly didn't leave much middle ground here.

Music: There's a pretty solid mix of J-Rock, Trance, and oddly Djent to keep things feeling either frantic or chill depending on the moment. I enjoy those genre's so I have no complaints here. Others may walk away wanting more in this department.

Overall I enjoyed this title more than any other Platinum Games release that I've played, which is most of them at this point. There is some definite room for improvement in the controls department, or perhaps even just some clever level design that could mitigate what exists. Either way, I recommend this title as a must play for Switch as it is one of the more unique game concepts I've seen in a while.